<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; border-collapse: collapse; ">It seems that snow wasn't the only flakes that fell on Riverdale Park over the weekend. TownTalk poster Michelle Burns hit the nail on the head, particularly with the observation that things here have gotten really nasty for no good reason. Some posters appear to have a personal grudge against the town's leadership and they regularly use this space to become the cyber equivalent of suicide bombers. Their cause might better be helped not by sniping at the leadership but by legally campaigning for elected positions at the proper time. (In the meantime, their using spell-check for their e-rants would not lose them any future votes.) </span><div>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">The posted criticism that claimed this region has terrible winters and that the town should have been better prepared, is a matter of perspective. This is the mid-Atlantic region of the United States, not generally recognized for its harsh winters. It does, however, SUFFER through occasional blizzards.) What makes almost every winter here crazy is that we have an absolute collision of world cultures: a driver from Arizona or Saudi Arabia entering Dupont Circle -- you pick, the one in Northwest Washington or the original one in Riverdale Park close to the Chambers' operation -- next to a driver from Minnesota or Denmark. Each one's take of the road and weather is different and almost always at conflict.<br>
</span></font><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><br></span></font><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; border-collapse: collapse; ">Back to the main news: Consider The Washington Post Monday editorial (A18) which said, in part, "The storm that hit Washington and its suburbs was ranked by the National Weather Service as among the biggest in local history, with 16.5 inches of snow recorded at Reagan National Airport and as much as 23 inches elsewhere. That's more snow than the region gets in a typical winter, so it's understandable that the area, virtually paralyzed on Saturday and Sunday, is only now regaining some normalcy."</span></div>
<div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br></span></font></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; border-collapse: collapse; ">Look at it this way: the good news is that none of our cops pulled a gun on snowballers, there were no house fires in RPMD, and by now, public works has begun resting up for the next storm, either from the heavens or from cyberspace. </span></div>
<div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Jeffrey Yorke</span></font></div>
<div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Natoli Place Apartments -- now, with openings!</span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">301-502-1243</span></font></div>
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></div><div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
<div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Dec 23, 2009 at 12:35 PM, michelle burns <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:mishburns@yahoo.com" target="_blank">mishburns@yahoo.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" style="font:inherit">While some residents may have legitimate reasons to feel that they were unnecessarily inconvenienced by the town's response to the recent storm, I thought that the mayor's explanation was clear and reasonable: confronted with a record-breaking storm, emphasis was placed on keeping major roads and emergency lanes open. In a perfect world, no one would ever run out of salt and no machine would ever break down, but the tone of some of these messages is downright nasty. Saying that the town's response was "unitelligent" [sic] or suggesting that town officials are just collecting paychecks and shirking their work is offensive. If and when mistakes are made, measures should be taken to ensure that they're not repeated, which it seems the town is doing. If people are so critical of how things are being handled, why don't they run for public
office, get elected, and do it better? <br><br><span style="font-style:italic">My </span>real question is: Does someone have a particular axe to grind and is that why they jump on every mistake, real or perceived, as an excuse to complain? <br>
<p><br></p><p>Kumbaya and Merry Christmas,</p><p>Michelle Burns<br></p><p><br></p><p>--- On <b>Wed, 12/23/09, Andrew Waldron <i><<a href="mailto:andrewwaldo@gmail.com" target="_blank">andrewwaldo@gmail.com</a>></i></b> wrote:<br>
</p><blockquote style="border-left:2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255);margin-left:5px;padding-left:5px"><br>From: Andrew Waldron <<a href="mailto:andrewwaldo@gmail.com" target="_blank">andrewwaldo@gmail.com</a>><br>Subject: Re: [RP TownTalk] Complaint<br>
To: "<a href="mailto:blueheron66@verizon.net" target="_blank">blueheron66@verizon.net</a>" <<a href="mailto:blueheron66@verizon.net" target="_blank">blueheron66@verizon.net</a>><br>Cc: <a href="mailto:towntalk@riverdale-park.org" target="_blank">towntalk@riverdale-park.org</a><br>
Date: Wednesday, December 23, 2009, 11:02 AM<div><div></div><div><br><br><div>I completely agree. 47th Ave was plowed for the first time last night, THREE days after the initial snow storm. And was salted today, FOUR days after the
storm. Clearly there is something wrong, and I concur. We should not just ignore the problem by 'cuddling up with a good book.' <div>
<br></div><div>-Andy<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Dec 23, 2009 at 9:09 AM, <a rel="nofollow" href="http://mc/compose?to=blueheron66@verizon.net" target="_blank">blueheron66@verizon.net</a> <span dir="ltr"><<a rel="nofollow" href="http://mc/compose?to=blueheron66@verizon.net" target="_blank">blueheron66@verizon.net</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex;padding-left:1ex"><div><div style="font-family:times new roman,new york,times,serif;font-size:12pt">I'm extremely disappointed in Riverdale Park's <span>lax</span>, unitelligent, ineffectual response to this recent snow. The town's excuses for delayed or even <span style="text-decoration:underline">no</span> <span style="border-bottom:1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204)">snow plowing</span>
and salt spreading are just plain unacceptable. We pay good,
hard-earned tax money for supposedly professional services to keep our
streets clear in a winter emergency. We should <span style="text-decoration:underline">not</span> have to clear the streets ourselves. <span>Maryland</span> is <span style="text-decoration:underline">not</span> the Sun Belt, for pete's sake. <span style="border-bottom:1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204)">Winters</span> are often harsh here, and our town services need to prepare accordingly. For the money we pay, there should be <span style="text-decoration:underline">no</span> salt shortage, <span style="text-decoration:underline">no</span> malfunctioning equipment....<span style="text-decoration:underline">no</span> boatload of lame excuses! To echo another Towntalk poster, if I displayed the same kind of attitude and weak response on <span style="text-decoration:underline">my</span>
job, I'd be fired. It's disgusting to read the comments along the lines of
"Oh, Kumbaya, Kumbaya....shoveling snow brought me and my neighbors
closer together" Folks, quit settling for mediocrity. Quit <span style="text-decoration:underline">enabling</span> the Town of <span style="border-bottom:1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204);background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">Riverdale Park</span>!
<br><br>Signed,<br>Art Saggs<br>
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</div><br></div></div>-----Inline Attachment Follows-----<div><br><br><div>_______________________________________________<br>TownTalk mailing list<br>To post to the list, send mail to <a href="http://mc/compose?to=TownTalk@riverdale-park.org" target="_blank">TownTalk@riverdale-park.org</a><br>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br></div></div><font color="#888888">Jeffrey Yorke<br>Yorke Property Management, Inc.<br>Yorke Partners<br>Jeffrey@YorkeRents.com<br>301-502-1243<br><br>
</font></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Jeffrey Yorke<br>Yorke Property Management, Inc.<br>Yorke Partners<br>Jeffrey@YorkeRents.com<br>301-502-1243<br><br>
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