Dear DUers of the US Northeast...

[Omaha Steve]

How would you feel IF the snow plow jobs were contracted out?

Just wondering.

OS

[LiberalElite]

1. Actually in NYC

the plowing of the so-called "tertiary" streets is subconctracted out. Tertiary streets are side streets with light traffic.

http://www.timesledger.com/stories/2014/8/snowplows_all_2014_02_21_q.html

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/01/private_contractors_get_big_bu.html

[Renew Deal]

2. Contracted out to who?

Not sure what you mean.

[Omaha Steve]

4. Ask Chicago residents (Welcome to Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago, the privatized metropolis of the future.)

It may be the model for most US cities in the near future.

http://inthesetimes.com/article/17533/how_to_sell_off_a_city

FEATURES » JANUARY 21, 2015

Welcome to Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago, the privatized metropolis of the future.
BY RICK PERLSTEIN

In June of 2013, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel made a new appointment to the city’s seven-member school board to replace billionaire heiress Penny Pritzker, who’d decamped to run President Barack Obama’s Department of Commerce. The appointee, Deborah H. Quazzo, is a founder of an investment firm called GSV Advisors, a business whose goal—her cofounder has been paraphrased by Reuters as saying—is to drum up venture capital for “an education revolution in which public schools outsource to private vendors such critical tasks as teaching math, educating disabled students, even writing report cards.”

GSV Advisors has a sister firm, GSV Capital, that holds ownership stakes in education technology companies like “Knewton,” which sells software that replaces the functions of flesh-and-blood teachers. Since joining the school board, Quazzo has invested her own money in companies that sell curricular materials to public schools in 11 states on a subscription basis.

In other words, a key decision-maker for Chicago’s public schools makes money when school boards decide to sell off the functions of public schools.

She’s not alone. For over a decade now, Chicago has been the epicenter of the fashionable trend of “privatization”—the transfer of the ownership or operation of resources that belong to all of us, like schools, roads and government services, to companies that use them to turn a profit. Chicago’s privatization mania began during Mayor Richard M. Daley’s administration, which ran from 1989 to 2011. Under his successor, Rahm Emanuel, the trend has continued apace. For Rahm’s investment banker buddies, the trend has been a boon. For citizens? Not so much.




FULL story at link.

[Omaha Steve]

10. Some cities, counties, or towns hire contractors to do the snow plowing

They don't use government equipment or employees.

I'm wondering how good that works in those areas?

[elleng]

3. HA!

[shenmue]

5. That's not really funny

[cwydro]

9. I think it's hilarious

Watching the blizzard here from the comfort of my NC home.

[In_The_Wind]

6. Just get the damn kids building snowpeople off my lawn!

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

7. I believe they are, OS.

So, if they were contracted out to Haliburton or Blackwater (Ze, or whatever else they are called) would they plow our street before they carpet bombed our house or after?

[Omaha Steve]

8. After

[ChosenUnWisely]

11. In most places some if not all plowing is contracted out

Last edited Tue Jan 27, 2015, 08:36 AM - Edit history (1)

I know a number of people who have been plowing for decades that always have both private and Gov work. I have a family member who plows all winter and has been doing it since he was 16, he is 72 now and always had at least 1 gov contract be it state, county or town. If it were not for the contract plow jobs many folks would have no other work all winter and would just sit around and collect.

In my town to plow, appx 1200 miles of roads, there are 5 full time people to do the job, they also do other work to but they are the plow drivers and only 5 trucks for the job. If it were not for the contract plow drivers, the roads would bot be cleared in a timely fashion.

Contracting out gov services is not bad but it should only be used to augment gov workers as needed and not use contractors as a substitute for gov workers.