Streets and Sanitation has plowing plan, learned from last year's mistakes

Chicago has 370,000 tons of salt “on the ground, covered and ready for the snow to hit” with a plowing plan that employs lessons learned from last year’s mistakes, a top mayoral aide said Monday.

Last winter, an outcry from aldermen and their constituents forced Mayor Daley to do an about-face on a controversial cost-cutting policy that saw City Hall use less salt, plow side-streets during normal working hours to reduce overtime and skip side-streets altogether after minor snowstorms.

Testifying Monday at City Council budget hearings, Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Tom Byrne said the city’s third-largest department won’t make that mistake again.

“We learned some lessons in trying to cut back. Obviously, that didn’t work,” said Byrne, who replaced Michael Picardi in July.

“We will be looking at trying to get off arterials sooner if we can to get into the side-streets, especially around schools, firehouses and different places that are critical facilities. It’s not a whole different plan from last year. But, we have some different objectives we want to try to accomplish by doing that. And we will be doing that as the snow comes down.”

Byrne also revealed that his crackdown is already working to reduce absenteeism that sidelines nearly one-third of all laborers every day.

Laborers are now required to call a central telephone number at least one hour before their scheduled reporting time to declare their intention to be absent that day. Those who don't are considered "absent without leave" and could face disciplinary action.

Chronic abusers and those with patterns of absenteeism face progressively longer suspensions and even termination.

Laborers do not get sick days. They are permitted to hold up to five vacation days to be used as sick days with supervisors' approval.

Absences had been reported to the ward office or work location, opening the door to the "buddy system" where friends authorize sick days for friends and fail to report abuses.

“We took that away from the ward superintendent,” Byrne said.