Dan Sullivan’s Not the Only One Who Can “Shovel It.”
Dan Sullivan can ’shovel it’ with the best of ‘em. But the Young Democrats can shovel too … only the four-letter “S word” they’re shoveling is snow.
The life of a municipal snowflake has a cycle. It goes something like this – Snowflake falls out of cloud, snowflake lands on road, snowflake meets grader and is piled up on the sidewalk, snowflake is cleared away so pedestrians can pass without risking life and limb by walking in the street.
And then came Mayor Dan Sullivan who decided he’d make some cutbacks so that the flake and a few zillion of its closest friends in neighborhoods across our fair city gets to hang out on the sidewalk, creating an uncomfortable and unsafe situation for winter pedestrians. Nice.
Fortunately, galloping to the rescue on a sturdy blue arctic donkey are the Young Democrats of Alaska!
(wild applause rises from the city!)
We have the hardest working city employees in Anchorage, and in no way to do we intend to deride the great work that they’ve done. Unfortunately, this year they haven’t been given much. Due to the cut-backs that the Mayor views as necessary, the Street Maintenance division has had to make do with less, and so has the city of Anchorage. They have stepped up to the challenge, but we feel the community should step up and help out.
We, the Young Democrats of Alaska, want to help out our diligent city workers and demonstrate our intentions to be an active and helpful part of the community. We will be shoveling the walkways in front of Mountain View Elementary School and the surrounding Mountain View/Fairview area on Saturday, January 9 from 1pm-3pm. We have volunteers that will be clearing the snow as much as we’re able, and taking it to an approved spot, even if it ends up being our backyard.
The Young Democrats of Alaska are here to show Anchorage, and the larger community of Alaska, that we’re willing to put in the effort to improve things where we can.
Ni-i-ce !!
Don’t let the son of fink (dan sullivan) find this out, but the best way Not, to get reelected in this one horse red town is to Not, clear the snow. I say let it pile up to the gas guzzling suv’s roofs!
((((((((The Young Democrats of Alaska))))))))!!!!
I don’t even live there but I heartily thank you and commend you for your actions. We need this kind of activism everywhere. Thank you for your inspiration!
I gotta say, that’s pretty awesome.
Good for them! Standing ovation from Georgia.
Wish I could be there to help. Too bad I’m so far away – they could dump snow in my 70 acre backyard.
This is awesome! I applaud the effort!
Yay {{{{{ Young Democrats of Anchorage }}}}}} !! Please be careful and do not hurt yourselves!
We are lucky in Juneau — it has been raining for 5 days and the ice is almost gone!
Hope you had time for some fun too!
I know the residents of Mountainview/Fairview greatly appreciate your efforts! The kids will have a safe walk to school at least part of the way and adults can more easily walk to work or wait for the Muni buses for school and work.
From another Alaskan who would help, THANK YOU! (Juneau is a 4 hour boat ride and 700 miles one way to Anchorage through 2 provinces of Canada).
Hey Mudpuppies! this is way OT, but did you see that Mudflats won the
2009 Best Political Blog!
Way to go AKM!
and more kudos, the old Mudflats.net got 2nd place
i’m tearing up here.
i am so darn proud of you shovelers.and, also too, i’m darn proud of that award there.
Pssstt… Pssst.. Young Democrats…..( over here…..>>>>>> )
If you need a backyard to dump that snow in….
here is Mayor Sullivans address. He said it was OK… he doesn’t mind.
Don’t even worry about keeping HIS sidewalk clear either. He’s on Strike against all those nasty sidewalks.
What a wonderful group your Young Dems are!
If I were not so far away, I’d volunteer my backyard, side yard,and front yard for snow dumping!
Huggggssssss!!!
The schools don’t have that in their budgets?
We must be bass-ackwards cuz each home / business or public school / etc is responsible for snow removal on public sidewalks. The homeowner / business or school can be sued for accident for failing to remove snow. The city maintains the “sidewalk structure” – but not the maintenance. (like snow, weeds growing in the cracks — that is our responsibility)
How about Sullivan’s back yard?
Congratulations! You definitely deserve the award. Thank you for keeping us sane!
AKM, congrats on taking 1st – and 2nd(!) – place in the Best Political Blog” awards!
Very cool indeed
Nan
I hope the Young Democrats of Alaska put up a Facebook page and a way to donate.
Uhm….. I hate to throw a damper on this wonderful idea, but the snowplows cleared the sidewalk in front of my house in Mountain View. I think it was right before Christmas and I live just a few blocks from the Mountain View school. I will have to check in the morning and see how much snow is down the street in front of the school.
AKM, thanks so much for spotlighting this event! And congratulations on the award! To say “you deserve it” would be akin to saying, “hey, it’s cold outside.” Kudos!
Writing from Alaska: The city’s street cleaning is a coordinated effort from private citizens, the municipality, and the state. You can get the full breakdown here: http://www.muni.org/Departments/operations/streets/Pages/Maps.aspx
We are sweeping the street alongside Mountain View Elementary School, which is maintained by the municipality, and is in dire need of help. Right now, children are forced to walk in the street to get to the front doors of their school. That’s where we are focusing on. I hope that helps!
And thanks to all for the kind words. The Young Democrats of Alaska are going to be concentrating on a campaign centered around community projects, and this is our first step in that direction. You can check us out at http://www.ydak.org
Cheers!
john aronno
Good for the kids!
If you show them that cutting the budget means liberals will give up weekends to donate free labor, don’t you think they will cut the budget again also?
Good job Young Democrats. These kinds of stories about young people just warm my heart and give me hope for the future. Their parents should be very proud.
Danny Boy should make sure to thank these young people because if they didn’t do this and someone falls and gets seriously hurt than than they could sue the local government for not cleaning the sidewalks.
I love this. — Community Organizing at its BEST!! — Warms the heart. Thank you so much.
Thank you for your time and effort! I enjoyed reading this post early in the morning. Nice set up for the day!
I have had my street plowed 2 this winter and I am just over 100 years from an elementary school. Our steet is so narrow and hard to drive no one can park in front of there house for school busses can not get though. Yeah, how much longer do we have this mayor?
The future of our country depends on the youth of today; when I read of spirits such as this, I’m highly encouraged. Way to go, Young Democrats!
Fantastic…in so many ways!
The Young Democrats should do lots of things like this, and should advertise it so everyone knows exactly who did it. Every place they shovel snow should have a sign posted that “This sidewalk was cleared by the Young Democrats of Alaska – we care about our community!”
Just mentioning something like this online or in print isn’t enough. They might even get permission from stores to clear their walkways and post a sign in their window. The signs need to be posted so everyone who drives by or goes into a store is reminded of exactly who is physically out there caring for and making Alaska better…so it rings a bell next time they vote.
I read somewhere recently that, “Republicans only care about Republicans; Democrats care about the Republic.” You guys are great!