Let me start off by saying I not only clear the sidewalk in front of my hose, but also help my neighbors clear theirs. However, the City owns the sidewalk so why am I required to keep it clear of snow? I am not required to repair the sidewalk am I? Isn't this involuntary servitude?

Salem Police: "We would prefer not to issue tickets - for anything, ever."

My issue is the bus stops. Right now my son's bus stop is in the middle of Jefferson Ave because the businesses have not cleared their sidewalks. Just their parking lots. I feel that it is the City's responsibility to clear ALL BUS STOPS! They want school in session yet we have to depend on others to make sure that our kids are safe while they wait for the bus. I can't possibly shovel out all of the bus stops...nor should I have to. If they want school to be in session it should be safe for our children. Tons of kids are walking in the street to get to the Middle School, half that street isn't shoveled. One side of it doesn't even have residences so who is responsible for that????

X a bucket loader to pile up more snow on the sidewalk in front of my house AND on part of my lawn. Anyone walking past my house would have to walk in the street. So here are my questions. Does the city have the right to deposit snow on private property? Am I in any way responsible for clearing the huge piles deposited? I very recently bought the house and was planning to put a fence around the lawn as a couple of neighbors seem to be under the impression that private lawns are doggie loos and even smile sweetly while walking their pets on my grass. If the snow pile deposited by the city knocks down said fence will the city replace it?

The first part of the above should read that the city always piles snow on my corner. Some day I'll learn how to use this infernal iPad.

Will the city also be fined daily for only plowing 1/2 of all the streets in my neighborhood turning them all into one ways, and leaving no place to park?

Couldn't agree more with many of these comments, including those about the police and their lazy approach to enforcement (more on that later).

We live on a corner lot near Salem State & shoveled our entire walk on Saturday & Sunday. We also dug out the fire hydrant and the drain in front of the house, and a path through the corner to allow access to the walkway. Our neighbors to East & West didn't shovel so our work means nothing to pedestrians, but we did our part. DPW kept burying the hydrant, access to our walk from the road and the drain, thanks! We kept digging them out. Last night (well after 11pm) DPW plowed head first into the area where the drain is (even though it was only under a foot or less of snow that THEY put there), then used a front end loader to dump a huge pile of snow & ice - right on the sidewalk, blocking our shoveled sidewalk AGAIN, and damaging the iron gate that surrounds the house. So go ahead and ticket me, I'd love to get in front of a judge.

Of course, why worry about a ticket anyway? The cops will only ticket what they feel like or what they are under pressure to deal with (seemingly outstanding warrants lately). For example; two weeks ago I called Salem Police about SSU students illegally parking on the street. (cont'd)

They were able to send an officer (great!), but they only ticketed 1 of 5 cars that was clearly illegally parked (wtf?). When I called the Police back the OOD told me that the ticketing officer decided not to ticket them, except for one SSU kid who parked too close to the hydrant (except he didn't ticket him for parking too close to the hydrant, he wrote him a less expensive ticket for a lesser charge). First of all, I didn't realize the Police gets to decide which laws they want to enforce. I'm pretty damn sure they don't.

But let's add insult to injury. The reason the area is a no-parking zone is twofold - the street is too narrow and every house on the street has a driveway to park in, so there's no daily need for residential street parking. When cars are parked there during busy times of day (when parking is illegal) it's impossible for someone leaving a driveway to have visibility to oncoming traffic, which makes the street extremely dangerous.

On top of that drivers coming from the south on Lafayette make illegal turns onto the side street everyday, often at high speeds (so they won't get rear-ended by drivers coming over the hill at dead man's curve and because they know they are breaking the law and are trying to not get caught). (cont'd)

Since the police have completely failed to shut down that illegal activity (it happens on an average of every five minutes daily, much worse at rush hour), it's even more unsafe than it would be if the neighborhood were ONLY dealing with illegally parked cars that the cops can't be bothered to ticket, even when they are already RIGHT THERE.

I've had more than one Salem Police Officer tell me they try to "give students a break" (haven't we already given them a break if they can't read and obey a posted sign, yet they get accepted to college?). That's not up to them - you don't get to be judge and jury out there and decide who is "deserving" of a ticket. I'm pretty sure anyone who gets in a fender-bender accident (or worse) coming out of their driveway isn't going to care about who the cops "gave a break" to, only that they failed to do their jobs, protecting the citizens of Salem.

The residents of Salem urge the city to plow the streets from curb to curb, a service we have already paid for with our tax dollars. We "would prefer" not to withold our tax payments and are asking city officials for help in complying with this rather elementary request.

Occupie Salem!! It's comming, let's see how violent Big Brother will get this time! It's ALL BUILDING my friends! Pay Attention...

So much for the Modified Parking Ban...

Just wondering how this works. We shovel our sidewalk in front of our house, but it dead-ends into a long section that never gets shoveled due to a vacant house and a neighbor whose property frontage is actually on the next street over. To me, it's rather pointless to shovel as the sidewalk is impassable starting at where our property line ends.

On my street, there is a large parking lot that isn't part of any resident's property. The sidewalk adjoining this lot takes up over half my street, and the majority of on-street parking locations. It has not been cleared. Who's job is this?

We have no lawn or open space at all at our apartment building. So where does the snow go? Not back into the street. Not up - it can't go any farther up safely. We've done what we can to clear walkways, but I doubt a large wheelchair could get by in places easily. But that's largely because the plows brought extra snow to our corner from two directions and dumped that excess on us too.

Do we get ticketed for the act of god compounded by the acts of the city? Do we get a chargeback code?

I have lived in Salem for over 50 years and have never heard of a resident being fined for not clearing there sidewalk. Mayor Driscoll will stop at nothing to continue to take money from Salem taxpayers. Plows put over six feet of snow on my sidewalk and front lawn, you put it there you take it off.

I am 34 years old, I grew up in Woburn and moved up to Salem in Nov. The snow removal situation in this city is a joke. I regret the day I decided to move to this city. I love it, but one way in and one way out. Also, when it snows eff the pedestrians. I thought the gov't served the people, not the other way around. I won't be touching a shovel. Ticket me all you want.

I think I might have a solution. Why don't we have people using city services for free shovel people out that aren't able to on their own? Right Mayor?

I'm a home owner in Salem who pays property taxes. I have a deal for you, Mayor Kim. I will personally shovel the sidewalks on my entire street every time it snows in exchange for paying property taxes.

I have read a lot of these posts and agree that the city should be responsible for sidewalks not on a residential street. It can be frustrating to residents when you shovel your sidewalk and the plows come and dump a huge amount of snow practically on your door! I live in an apartment building where management is supposed to shovel the walkway but no one showed up,there are people living here who cant walk,people living here with serious medical problems if the EMS had to get in the building they would have had to climb over three foot piles of snow thanks to the plows and the city wants to put it on residents to take care of, just wrong.

I feel for people driving, parking is still a mess. Thankfully I do not have a car anymore! I walk everywhere and when I went out yesterday to do a few errands the public sidewalks were not clear at all! Trying to cross a street was a nightmare. The snow piled up on the corners of the street were impossible to see over. I could not see cars coming and they could not see me. The intersections where there are crosswalks were not clear at all!! I almost got hit several times,it scared me and it scared the driver. I was so angry by the time I got home I was shaking.

Salem Residents,homeowners,pedestrians PLEASE CALL THE MAYOR AND COMPLAIN!! We pay taxes and should not be responsible for the snow plows dump on our doorstep! The more people complain about this issue the better the results...hopefully...

I know John! Regardless we should make an effort to get something done! Even if it does not help at least you know you tried!

That is a good idea John!

I was just downtown -- the whole "red line" walking path for the tourists is cleared three feet across and is sanded and salted -- clearly work done by the city. Yet here on this post we read of people walking in the streets and their kids lacking bus stops. What, exactly, are the priorities in this city? It's becoming increasingly obvious that those of us who live outside of the business district -- you know, the tax base that funds the city -- are Kim's "47% -- " she's not going to worry about us.

Just walked up and down Becket street with my dog, there are 18 houses that have not yet cleared their sidewalks; eighteen out of twenty seven homes.

Canal St. needs to clear the sidewalk along the train tracks (city property?). Jefferson Ave. needs to clear the sidewalk on the bridge over the train tracks (city property?). Plus the countless homeowners who don't shovel their sidewalks. It's been 6 days since the first snowfall and with all this talk about the city issuing citations, they clearly haven't made the effort to actually do it yet. I am tired of walking in the street to get to the bus stop and then standing in the street waiting for the bus.

They are ticketing people now.
http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1746088800/Clearing-things-up

The city plowing is barricading the elderly and others whom cannot shovel or even even hire someone to do it, since they are pushing huge boulders into driveways and at the doorway of many residents. Therefore the city sidewalks should be plowed by the city and leave the home owners ONLY responsible for any effects caused by the home owner, such as leaves from their trees or rubbish etc.
Quote: "What archaic government system can hold a double standard so to subject the people to laws that they themselves are not also being held accountable to. Oh yea, this was (for one ) in 12 century England, before the Magna Carta Charta, before the liberation of its people, also recent history the U.S.A." The city will not just throw the snow onto the sidewalks but also hold citizens accountable to clean it up. "This causes monetary and or physical pain to its citizens."

Laws causing pain to the people or are a double standard or even those laws not equally enforced is a violation of civil rights and unconstitutional.