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The best story you won't read in tomorrow's paper
Some people see blogs as a journalistic gray area, where black and white rules of ethics that journalists usually abide by can slide a bit. I got a call today that raised a number of alarm bells as far as print publication goes, but I think it's a perfect blog story:
I was sitting at my desk working on a story about a former city firefighter suing the city over claimed wrongful termination when my phone rang. It was a man with a gruff voice, who asked for me.
He launched into a story about how during Tuesday night's snow storm a city DPW plow driver "badly" plowed in the driveway of another DPW employee. According to the caller, there was an exchange of words, and the police were called in. The caller then went on a lengthy tirade about how the DPW administration is trying to hush this incident up, apparently by smoothing things over with the man with the driveway. The caller alleged all sorts of disgruntlement in the city garage, and, for all I know, it might be the case.
Tuesday's police blotter does list an incident involving a DPW plow at 10:43 p.m. at a George Street address. The Sergeant on duty on Wednesday afternoon told me that a plow driver allegedly plowed in a driveway and had a few choice words for the property owner. He said that police are investigating, so he couldn't release any further details.
So I called Skip Scirocco, commissioner of Public Works. He said that he'd heard about a "tiff" on Tuesday night, but said he was not aware of anything involving the police. If someone is trying to keep something quiet within the DPW, they're apparently doing a really good job, even keeping it from the boss.
Ordinarily, my next step would have been to call the two employees in question, but unfortunately my caller didn't know how to spell either of their names, and after checking and re-checking a list of city employees, I haven't found any employees whose names even remotely match the names I was given. And of course, the caller, who gave his name as "Joe Blow," hung up on me (I was in mid-sentence) before I could ask any further questions.
So there you have it, straight from the gray world of the blogosphere -- allegations of misbehavior and malcontent among DPW employees, likely from the mouth of a disgruntled employee.
I was sitting at my desk working on a story about a former city firefighter suing the city over claimed wrongful termination when my phone rang. It was a man with a gruff voice, who asked for me.
He launched into a story about how during Tuesday night's snow storm a city DPW plow driver "badly" plowed in the driveway of another DPW employee. According to the caller, there was an exchange of words, and the police were called in. The caller then went on a lengthy tirade about how the DPW administration is trying to hush this incident up, apparently by smoothing things over with the man with the driveway. The caller alleged all sorts of disgruntlement in the city garage, and, for all I know, it might be the case.
Tuesday's police blotter does list an incident involving a DPW plow at 10:43 p.m. at a George Street address. The Sergeant on duty on Wednesday afternoon told me that a plow driver allegedly plowed in a driveway and had a few choice words for the property owner. He said that police are investigating, so he couldn't release any further details.
So I called Skip Scirocco, commissioner of Public Works. He said that he'd heard about a "tiff" on Tuesday night, but said he was not aware of anything involving the police. If someone is trying to keep something quiet within the DPW, they're apparently doing a really good job, even keeping it from the boss.
Ordinarily, my next step would have been to call the two employees in question, but unfortunately my caller didn't know how to spell either of their names, and after checking and re-checking a list of city employees, I haven't found any employees whose names even remotely match the names I was given. And of course, the caller, who gave his name as "Joe Blow," hung up on me (I was in mid-sentence) before I could ask any further questions.
So there you have it, straight from the gray world of the blogosphere -- allegations of misbehavior and malcontent among DPW employees, likely from the mouth of a disgruntled employee.
posted by The Saratogian City Desk at
9:20 PM
6 Comments:
Look, these guys are not representative of the lot. It's like a huge crowd of students watching a shoving match between two others in the hall. We have read and listened to so much gray reporting, why not more juicy scuttlebutt. The cops have their own versions, kept private amongst the individual ranks. Bloody fist-a-cuffs in the bathroom don’t usually make the paper either.
Truth is, something’s gone wrong with the snowplowing this week. The snow on the roads was not removed and the trucks were throwing a sand and salt mixture but were not clearing the roadways nor plowing curbs. They’re not only a mess today, but also with the temperature going down it will be like driving down washboards. The hydrants are mostly buried. Could there be a mutiny underplow?
My too favorite quotes about a complete and total screw-up.
From President George W. Bush's infamous comment to FEMA chief Michael D. Brown while the latter was botching the federal response to Hurricane Katrina:
"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."
Now we can add Skippy Sirocco and Pat Design as the worst response to a simple snow storm in twenty years.
“My boys are doing a hell of a job”
Incompetence is alive and well.
My driveway was plowed in three times from Tuesday night through Wednesday night. Guess what I did? I shoveled.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Perfectly understandable that McT would leave a group of Jr Hi idiots behind just to be a pain.
The road I have been on were great. You can't tell when you leave the City any more. What roads are you talking about. Have you called the City to let them know? If not maybe you shoud.
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