Well, someone has to say it! Nice job Jonathan!

I will be driving my son to school today due to the fact that on my street nor the sidewalks on OAKHILL AVE (Attleboro speedway) are plowed. It is so dangerous.

I hope the discussion does take place. I believe there is room for improvement in how this storm was handled. Good job, councilor.

Ward 4 is so lucky to have such a passionate councilor. Jonathan listens to his constituents and speaks for them before the city council. Only wish Ward 3 councilor had the same passion as Ward 4. My friend in Ward 5 is livid about the conditions on Oakhill Avenue. He does not plan on voting for Denlea come election time. Councilors, are you listening?????

Oakhill Ave was fine. No sidewalks done but the road was just fine!

What is this?? Kevin's little "fiefdom", Noone is allowed to speak without approval from John Cook (aka: Kevin Dumas)
As MLK once said "Let Freedom Ring", You have to have an orderly discussion, I agree, but let us have the discussion.
How else are we to improve the situation??

F
Do people of Oak Hill Ave think they are the only road in Attleboro who do not have
sidewalks...plowed or not plowed?

You are so right and those of us who live in Ward 4 know exactly what you are talking about. The rest who did not lose power for three days and could not get out to go someplace warm will have no idea what you are saying.

that's right James...let the parents drive them to school - esp. middle school and elementary kids. What's wrong with that?
Or the parents could walk with them all, to the bus stop or the actual school carry an orange flag to 'warn' or keep drivers alert.
A little 'struggle in life' is good for the soul!

Sounds to me like Blais and Cook want to live in a perfect world where no one ever has anything bad to say about anyone else and everyone is wonderful and happy. It's unsettling that they tried to silence Weydt for speaking out against their naivety and speaking up for the people of Attleboro.

I am just curious, I haven't seen a plow since Sunday - schools were out Mon & Tues. & delayed today, what have they been doing?

Brandy, the more they try and silence Jonathan or any other councilor who speaks for "the people" the more they hurt themselves and the louder Jonathan is heard. Jonathan is a good Ward Councilor and this is not the first time that he has stood up to the old schoolers. He was voted for by the people to speak for them and he has done his job very well. Jonathan speaks for the people because....."It's the right thing to do!!"

The effort started nice but it seems like once the snow stopped so did the plowing. I understand these people put in long hours and needed to sleep but seeing that a lot of other towns actually had roads on sunday made me a little upset with the effort. We knew this was coming and should have been more than prepared. It has been 5 days since the storm and a lot of streets are still barely 2 lanes and sidewalks are just starting to appear. If it was okay to compliment at the meeting why wasn't it okay to criticize. I don't want to join the complaining bandwagon as I understand there job is a hard one. Main street was a snowmobile track for a few days after the storm and I probably wouldn't have been very upset if I hadn't ventured out of Attleboro and seen what great jobs other towns did.

Jonathan Weydt keep up the good work!! Mr. Blias excused himself from the vote because he used his influence to get all of his kids jobs for life in the public works department. Of course he is praising them. Because Mr. Weydt was not allowed to bring the issues forth you people don't know what the problems were and they may never be corrected. Where did President Cook go halfway through the meeting? Who is the Parliamentarian?

Gigi, the first part of the meeting attended by President Cook was a regular meeting. After the session on the cost of the storm, the regular meeting ended. Then they started committee meetings. President Cook usually doesn't attend committee meetings because he is not on a committee.

I think this was just a storm that was so large, it got ahead of people. Cities can only be prepared for so much, and people some people seem to think that if it wasn't done as perfect that they wanted it done, then it's as if they did nothing at all. Plow workers weren't just sitting around, drinking coffee, and having a marvelous time. I don't know if that little sidewalk plow I see is any match for these 4-5 foot mounds of snow on the sidewalks. Frustrations when something like this happens in inevitable, but that's the nature of the beast. Maybe instead of trying to place blame, people should come together and figure out a solution. It's not like the city can just "wish" the snow away.

What the video clip demonstrates is that Councilor Blais did not want to have such discussions in front of the cable TV cameras----he would much rather have any such discussions off-camera. This is pure cowardice, in my opinion. Anybody agree?

Another video clip that would show what a rat Frank Cook is, would be his statement near the beginning of this meeting, per the report by Patch's Jonathan Friedman
above, that " . . 'critique' of the City's handling of the snowstorm recovery would not be allowed, blah, blah." This is also pure COWARDICE, trying to stifle legitimate debate among those elected to do this sort of thing, and in front of TV cameras.

It almost seems like a constant contest to see which city councilor can drink the most of "the mayor's kool-aid". Absolutely disreputable, dispicable, and disgusting!

I do! Councilor Blais is known for off-camera discussions/antics/temper fits.

I called it here in the Patch on Monday stating that Blais or as I call him "Mr It's the right thing to do", would compliment the "150%* effort guys in the DPW" for doing a great job. My guess is that the "guys" hit Blais' street with the plow atleast a half a dozen times.
*psst... Blais...psst..no effort can exceed 100%

Hopefully, the next Council president assigns councilors to the Public Works Committee that aren't so "unusually co-operative" with P. Blais, so that said
TYRANT can't get away with UNFAIRLY shutting down another councilor that
has legitimate things to say when he has the floor. Such move was dispicable;
yet would not elicit "critique" from the current coward of Ward 3.

The 'shut-down' by Chairman Blais was not only unfair to J. Weydt, it deprived the citizens of information that is properly theirs. Let the VOTERS "send a message".

I'll whisper this to you Bill K and only you... YOU'RE WRONG! If you exert effort equal to, let's say 10 lbs. and then you increase that effort to, let's say 50lbs., you have now increased that effort 400%. So if you were to use 150% as your math, you would be exerting 1 1/2 times more than zero. And you thought you were so smart :)

In wards 2A-and 2B roads were bad and took forever to be done. Then when done had 5 inch layer if not more left after they went by with 2 trucks and left only one lane. Never in my life of 42 years in Attleboro have I ever seen such horrible roads and not to mention the days off from my kids school with absolutely no sidewalks done but the ones we all did over where we live. Where have the workers been? I understand they have a life ad need sleep... But the workers up until this year have done an overly wonderful job. So I'd say fire some that are in now and re-hire if possible the ones that really like "a job well done". I shoveled out neighbors and spots to walk and some of street. I didn't have to, but it needed to be done. Even school streets of Studley, Brennan, and Attleboro high school sidewalks were not done. Thanks for letting my kids walk in the street.

Bush move...just bush

After reviewing this video clip a second time, it was not clear as to who the third member of the Council's Public Works committee is. It would be good to know.
The City's website lists the chair of each of the ten standing committees, but it
does not list the other two councilors that are members of each.

From the other paper
Mayor Kevin Dumas said at one point Public Works Superintendent John Clover and Public Works Foreman Bobby Araujo were out checking conditions and got lost.
Defiantly a management problem!!

It is time for Peter Blais to go. I think all his children have city jobs now, so his mission is complete. Step aside and let someone come in to represent constituents, not family members.

My son Curtis who is eight said, "Dad, you did all that work and now it's all melted."

City Council President Frank Cook said near the beginning of the meeting Tuesday that "critique" of the city's handling of the snowstorm recovery would not be allowed, and, if needed, had to take place during a later meeting. Councilor Peter Blais believed that praise for city workers and contractors was allowed, and gave it at the end of the portion of the evening dedicated to his Committee on Public Works.

"critique"
noun
analysis, evaluation, assessment, appraisal, appreciation, criticism, review, study, commentary, exposition, exegesis.

If Peter Blais has the right to critique the DPW in his committee, after President Frank Cook specifically said it wouldn't be allowed than so does Johanathan Wedyt or any other member of that committee. The only one out of order at that meeting was councilor Blais.

The sidewalks near schools were done hense why a delay was needed and when the mayor says he wont pay anymore on snow removal well that's why the roads stopped getting plowed and for the amount we did a good job

I hope Coucilor Weydt is allowed to discuss the problems and help improve that nightmare. In order to get my parents out of their cold, dark house . I had to walk them down their unplowed street through snowdrifts to my car at 8:30 on Saturday night. From what I saw this was typical of most side streets in ward 4, and this was more than 24 hours from the start of the storm. I'm just happy this didn't happen in ward 5 because our ward rep is a no show and doesn't have the gumption as the ward 4 councilor.

I have just deleted a comment that was extremely off-topic. Please have some restraint with what you post. There is no need to write about people's personal lives, especially rumors about people's personal lives.

Mr. Friedman, I disagree. The comments are pertinent to the ability to function as a public servant. Most policies, bylaws etc. specifically state that one may not participate if one is under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Shall I find that or will you?

You're free to disagree with me, but I will not allow posts on this site that state "I heard so and so did a criminal act." If you really need an explanation for why that is unacceptable, feel free to email me at jonathan.friedman@patch.com.

The Council President presides over meetings of the full council, Technically, he had the right to stifle free speech for discussion that would take place before the full council, but this authority does not extend to committee meetings.

When Peter Blais complemented the DPW for the storm damage, Councilor Weydt had every right to critique the effort. When Weydt legally had the floor, Blais violated Roberts Rules of Order by abusing his position as chair in shutting down a Councilor who legally had the floor, and was addressing the topic at hand. Blais is an embarrassment.

Even though President Cook's declaration had no standing during committee meetings, where does he get off dictating testimony in a democracy. What's next? Will he dictate the votes of Councilors? The council needs a return to democracy.

I work for the city and i plowed and. sanded for the storm we did the beste could lets put Mr weydt in a plow truck or sander for 24 hours straight and than sand for another 12 hours and go home for a shower than come back to remove snow from the streets and than go uptown to remove snow so before you put us down jump in my shoes

Pleasant Street needs to be addressed NOW! A 4 lane road with NO SIDEWALKS for pedestrians. The center of town (where no one goes) is chrystal clear, and they have tiny little trucks moving snow on Maynard street. However, were there is the MOST traffic and the MOST pedestrian activity NOTHING! ... shame on you Attleboro. SHAME on you. Someone going to the laundromat or to Stop and Shop is going to get hit. (Thank you guy from DELS who actually cleared a little bit of sidewalk in-front of his store..)

Frank, I'd take your offer in a New York minute and the $$ you earned to do it as well. You accepted the job and therefore all that is required to complete the job. you can use the OT money to buy some cheese to go with that whine of yours. Apparently you don't know Mr Weydt, he'd take you up on the offer as well.

For the record Jonathan Weydt was at Jonathan's Coffee Cafe, located at 68 Union Street, last Friday morning talking about how he does snow plowing.

What a bunch of wash women, really how about getting a shovel and clear the sidewalks. Talk is cheap stop whining do some work.

Sure u would bill k . After 24 hrs u would be peeing in your panties crying to go home . Buy a plow truck and put it on the city an then u can shoot your mouth off

What's he plow your coffee shop parking lot and his driveway

Whaaa whaaaa whaaa listen to yourselves - you should be working together!

To Richard Lunt: I would be pleased and proud IF Frank executed the obligations by law, ordinance, and council rule . . . and upheld and honored the spelled-out, written obligations of being the Council president. But, HE DOES NOT: he routinely compromises, ignores, flouts, and/or disregards established written laws, ordinances, and council rules . . . so that he can "accomodate" requests by a certain few people. I'll simply point out these facts, and we can disagree as to whether his performance is "a good job" or not. The evidence, however, strongly suggests, if not proves, cowardice. How can we ignore FACTS? The truth sometimes hurts.

Frank, I my comments were directed at the process used during the council meeting. It dealt with free speech of a councilor, and not the work done by snow plow drivers.

Having said that, this storm seemed to be handled differently than other storms. I saw some side streets plowed, and while main streets like West Street and North Avenue not done near as well. This is not the snow plow drivers fault. It appears they were deployed differently this time, and which is a management or deployment issue. It would be a good idea for management to conduct a lessons learned from the storm, and to improve the response to the next storm.

He a city official he gets paid and why not he can personally attack others

Hey Jim, Back off Councilor Weydt, he doesn't get paid to shovel out fire hydrants. He, along with the 10 other councilors receive a stipend for their service as a city councilor.
Further more as a Ward 4 resident, he was speaking on my behalf, representing me and my concerns. Not off on a self serving agenda like some. While Jonathans comments got the press because it was confrontational to one of the old guards, what was I feel lost was a pretty good question by one of the councilors.
With 300 miles of road in attleboro and 75 vehicles clearing snow averaging a four mile responsibilty per vehicle.....Who creates the routes? Who dispatches the crews? Who is coordinating these efforts? Please tell me that someone is not asleep at the switch? Please tell me that Attleboro didn't piss away $300,000.00. The guys in the trucks putting in the windshield time did their jobs. The leaders failed.

How about Frank's breaking of state law by misinterpreting or ignoring the state requirement for local bodies voting on zoning issues, per the example of Orion Realty's petition to re-zone a parcel on North Main Street. Massachusetts law stipulates that the requirement in the case of 20% or more within so many feet or actual abutters, requires a three-quarters vote OF THE ENTIRE COUNCIL. Frank declared wrongly that the requirement in that case was three-quarters of the members voting. On the night of the vote, one councilor was granted the right to abstain and one was absent. Frank said that it was thus 3/4ths of nine. State law
REQUIRES 3/4ths of the entire council, which is eleven. This is just one example.

Hey u back off he new the pay when decided to run and I'm one of those guys behind the windshield

Just fine bill k I was in panama too on the USS Kalamazoo AOR -6 tiger team six and what does that have to do with this

Just like everybody has said about us

I must say IF there was a plan,it was a poor one.If there was no plan then things went pretty well.Either way management needs to take some responsibility.
Just heard Bostons Mayor state that there were problems with the storms management and he will get together with those responsible and make sure it doesn't happen again. Why do our trusted servants close their eyes and think everything was wonderful? It seems that only one out of 12 has the guts to do the job assigned to him, make sure the people are fairly treated for the taxes they pay.

Here's another example: In early 2008, the nomination of Barry LaCasse, former city councilor, came before the municipal Council, as an "emergency appointment", for the post of Director of Budget & Finance (or similar). I objected because said post had been vacant for the previous eighteen months, and was thus not an emergency. Neither did it qualify under the definitions within the City Charter.

The Coucil leadership also decided to ignore the (state) law which required a minimum of a six-month period before a city councilor can be eligible for such a post for the same municipality. Thus, "leadership" decided to take the sleaze approach,
trying to take advantage of the legal requirements, both local and state. I voted no,
strictly because the Charter and state law were being violated in the process.

And just like a grunt bill doesn't know his ass from his elbow

My skin is just fine George just sick of pinheads like u 2 spouting off at the mouth like nobody did anything just drove around

The person who used an inappropriate word regarding the male anatomy appears to have wisely deleted it. I would like to spend this Valentine's evening with my girlfriend and not moderating this comments section. Please behave yourself and use appropriate language while I'm gone. Thank you.

Why should I be grateful I pay me salary too I pay taxes to and did my job just fine whether u like it or not

I live in 2A and thought the job done was pretty good. The streets weren't perfect, but they were passable. There was so much snow, that I understood, until today. I read the story about how much was spent on the storm and how much overtime was used. Then, why was a plow on my street in the middle of the night last night plowing and moving snow. I live on a side street off of West St. There was no need for my street to be plowed again. It was fine! I woke up around 12:30, had only been asleep about an hour, from a plow in front of my street. The back up ringing from the plow over and over in front of my house. I kept thinking it would stop. This sound went on for over an hour.
I got up this morning and saw they had moved all this snow that they picked up from the streets to my front yard. This is why this plow was constantly in front of my bedroom making this noise. I had mounds of snow in my front yard. Is this legal. Can they just dump all this snow on private property? That's not even what angered me. I go to leave my house at 7 am and the whole bottom of my driveway is covered with huge snow boulders. I couldn't move them. They were huge and heavy. I tried to break them with the shovel. They were complete ice. I got down to the ground and rolled them over and over to the side of my driveway. I couldn't lift them. I didn't want to leave them in the street as someone would ruin their car or get in an accident if they hit it.

I did call city hall from work today. After giving my story, I was told that they were on a project to widen the streets. My street was fine and wide enough. They certainly didn't need to be doing this in the middle of the night and making all the noise. They transferred me to John Clover's voice mail. I left a message. When I got home, the larger boulders were still to the side where I pushed them. My son managed to drive over the smaller ones and since it was in the 40's today, they were just slush. It just shouldn't have happened. I live next to elderly neighbors and their driveway was also covered. They would never have been able to get out of their home if needed.

Linda
You should call your Ward Rep - Mark Cooper. He is very responsive to his Ward 2 people.

You all. Need to grow up and most of you would cry plowing sorry we have a cheap mayor who made half the trucks go home Saturday morning

A comment was deleted. Please do not speculate on the identities of fellow commenters. It is not fair to those people. As always, it is strongly encouraged that you use your real name when posting on Patch.

I agree - this first day or two after the storm I think the snow removal was done to the best of everyone's ability considering the volume at least in my area. It seemed though the snow removal really lost steam after that. Tired crews needing rest? Poor decisions regarding dispatch? Equipment spread too thin? I wish someone in charge would admit some things could have been done differently and what they learned. It is frustrating to read quotes that 'most roads are down to pavement', yet I end up slipping and sliding on partially plowed roads while going to work then running errands.

We were just watching AACS and they had a report on the storm. Pike Ave. area has snow thunder and downbursts of snow. And blowing snow adds to that. So the next morning it looked like the plows hadn't come through.
If you live in New England, you have to accept that life slows down and you stay hunkered down in a snowstorm.

Suppose it was a committee chairperson which the Council prez was not inclined to give 'em "a pass"? Would said prez issue any words regarding a "chair" shutting
down another councilor in violation of the Rules? The Rules call for the president to enforce the Rules at ALL meetings, regular and committee. But Frank will speak against some who execute a minor infraction, but will not say a word if a "favored" councilor does the same. It's the "double-standard" which is objectionable . . . among some other things.

I don't know the incident you are alluding to.
But my general opinon as a member of Ward 3B is that this ward needs a new City Councilor and a new State Rep. Both Frank Cook, and especially Betty Poirier, are entrenched. New blood is needed.