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The D.C. Department of Public Works suspended street cleaning for the winter starting on Friday, Nov. 6, a fact which they did not announce until Monday, Nov. 9. On top of not getting the word out until the following Monday, it appears they didn't manage to let all of their parking enforcement officers know of the change on time, either. Several residents reported getting street-sweeping related tickets on Monday and Tuesday, which led to some fairly intense back-and-forths on various neighborhood email lists. Here's a sampling of what went down on Tuesday on the Columbia Heights community email list:
- "What is someone from DPW giving out incorrect information? folks in Columbia heights be on alert ... street cleaning doe snot end until Nov 20"
- "No. Street cleaning ended. It's just that the enforcement agencies didn't pay attention.
http://newsroom.dc.gov/show.aspx/agency/dpw/section/2/release/18532
The problem is not DPW. The problem is lack of communication between those who make policy and those who enforce policy."
- "Sarah the operators at 311 do NOT have this information .... I repeat the operators at the mayor help line 311 do NOT have this information
I was told rather emphatically that street sweeping has NOT ended and I will get a ticket today if my car is NOT moved."
The discussion went on and got even uglier from there, with colorful descriptions like "half-assed Southern backwater local government" and "Kafka at his best" tossed about freely. We'll note for clarity's sake that DPW is responsible both for street sweeping and for on-street parking enforcement, so the opinion expressed above that this was somehow the fault of an agency other than DPW simply is not true.
We've been trying to get a more thorough explanation of what really happened from DPW since Tuesday morning, and they finally got back to us today. We've republished their statement in its entirety below the jump, but the gist of it is, DPW Director William O. Howland, Jr. says he made the decision to suspend street sweeping at the last minute on Friday, and both apologizes for the confusion and promises to void any ticket that was mistakenly issued this week for a street sweeping violation. If you think you got a bunk street sweeping ticket, contact DPW at (202) 673-6833, or try emailing Nancee Lyons at Nancee.Lyons@dc.gov.
From DPW Director William O. Howland, Jr. on the Suspension of Street Sweeping, as of Friday, November 6:"I made the decision at 12 noon on Friday (November 6th) after watching a street sweeper on its route. There was a trail of leaves behind the sweeper. I then went to the shop to see if the mechanics could modify any part of the sweeping mechanism so that we could continue the program through November 20th. Unfortunately they could not. The manufacturer changed the design of the sweeper on the newer models.
"It just didn't seem to make any sense to continue the sweeping program when we were not doing an effective job. A lot of folks move their vehicles for the program. It seemed to be the right thing to do to give them some relief even if I didn't give them a lot of notice.
"I apologize to anyone who received a street sweeping ticket because they should not have. I will administratively void any ticket that is issued this week for a street sweeping violation. It is not necessary that you send me your ticket number for the street sweeping violation. I can look it up and void it."
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"What is someone from DPW giving out incorrect information? folks in Columbia heights be on alert ... street cleaning doe snot end until Nov 20"
Doe snot. On a whale cake?
I probably should have said "The problem is not DPW making the decision, the problem is the failure of the DPW director to notify anyone other than the street sweepers and the press."
hell yea, now when i wake up hungover on a monday, i wont have to bother moving my car!
sigh.
In case anyone's wondering, no, this shit doesn't happen in other cities.
This sounds like the perfect premise for one of Stephen Colbert's "Nailed 'Em!" segments.
Every year it's the same crap. DC is the only place on earth where the parking regulations in effect are actually, as a matter of policy, not necessarily the same as those on the signage.
How hard would it be to just pick a date on the 1st of the month when street sweeping is suspended and make it the same every year?
This way you could just have the signs in street-sweeping zones say "No parking 9:30-11:30 AM except Nov-Apr which would make it abundantly clear.
I know people who've lived in DC for years and were unaware that street sweeping is suspended in the winter. Why would the average person parking on a street that says you can't park on a Tuesday have any reason to think that wasn't the case in winter? It's just idiotic.
You know this commenter has a point. I didn't know until DPW sent everyone one of those nifty calendars that one year.
I saw a street sweeper parked on West Virginia Ave in Trinidad this morning. Another one was coming out of the facilities lot.
I don't know what the situation is, particularly because I have seen DPW state that street sweepers do not run in the winter because of safety concerns, but I see street sweepers operating every year during the suspension of parking restrictions. However, it has always been on 100% no parking areas (such as on traffic circles). I don't know why that is.