Snow wars

South Enders, veterans of many a winter, were shocked last week when city inspectors were quick to ticket almost-perfect privately-owned shoveled walks while passing city-owned unshoveled walks.

In my Fort Hill neighborhood, Marcella Street is home to several city-owned properties. None had the sidewalks in front of them cleared. None. Even as late as Monday of this week, one property-with the "owned by the city" white fence in front of it-remained unsholved.

How do inspectors know not to ticket those properties?

Being a good citizen, I contacted BOS311, both by phone and Twitter.

Within hours, one of the properties on Marcella Street was shoveled. Just one.

I contacted BOS311 and Mayor Marty Walsh and Councillor Tito Jackson. The response:
"Hi @SueNBCBoston! While we don't have purview over all City land, we'll look into this right now. Thank you! cc: @BOS311 @titojackson"

How did I know what properties were owned by the city? I googled it. Maybe inspectors should google properties before they issue tickets. Or maybe DPW should have a list of city-owned properties and should dispatch crews BEFORE ticketing citizens.

Meanwhile, from Facebook: