John Kerry fined $50 for failing to shovel snow outside home

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

John Kerry has many titles — secretary of state, former senator, one-time Democratic candidate for president. The globe-spanning diplomat can add one more: snow shoveling scofflaw.

After a blizzard dumped two feet of snow on his city this week, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh vowed to crack down on anyone who left the sidewalks in front of their homes and businesses buried in snow.

He wasn't kidding. On Thursday, officials tagged Kerry with a $50 fine at 9:45 a.m. for failing to clear the snow from the side of his Beacon Hill mansion.

Kerry was in Saudi Arabia attending the funeral of King Abdullah with President Obama.

Read more: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2015/jan/29/john-kerry-fined-50-failing-shovel-snow-outside-ho/

[Control-Z]

1. Nice story.

Notice he plans to pay the fine - and without whining, unlike what I would expect of so many unnamed others.

[AtomicKitten]

12. +1

[karynnj]

22. Not to mention, the Kerrys had hired someone to do it - and they

didn't do the side street sidewalk because there was yellow tape there and they thought that meant they weren't suppose to go there. After getting the ticket, the issue was resolved - he is paying the fine and the contractor shoveled the snow already.

Seriously, if this is the worst thing the media has on this this man -- he is pretty damn clean.

[jen1980]

27. But he should complain

Targeting people because of their political beliefs is wrong.

[mylye2222]

29. Kerry is not the kind of guy that complains.

[former9thward]

40. You are saying he was targeted for his political beliefs?

[mylye2222]

42. Dont know if it s for his beliefs....

But anyway Sec. Kerry is targeted, by the media, since décades. Why? Because he doesnt goes into little games of politics. Because he doesnt act all times like thd average politician.

[bluedigger]

2. Doesn't he have a guy for that?

I mean, mansions don't run themselves, now do they?

[Liberal_in_LA]

3. exactly

[karynnj]

23. Yes - and most of the stories on this explain that

He had a contractor, but there was yellow tape (to warn walkers of ice falling) on the side walk on the side street. They cleaned the sidewalk in front of his home, but not the side street. The State Department said that he paid the fine and that the confusion was fixed and the contractor removed the snow.

[JI7]

4. while this isn't an issue for Kerry, how about people who are poor ?

or is this just in his area where i expect it's more wealthier and could hire someone else ?

but there are articles about how shoveling snow can be dangerous for some . someone whose health can be more at risk may attempt this to avoid paying fine and could be killed.

[Trillo]

5. Seems like the city needs to hire more snow shovelers and fewer cops.

The article said it was a "public sidewalk." Why are private individuals responsible for maintaining public property?

Seems like a great jobs program that should be paid from general taxes specifically to care for the commons.

[MADem]

6. That's the way it is in Beantown. They're pretty intense when it comes to clearing snow, too.

This year, the new mayor is fining city agencies too.

[HereSince1628]

8. I guess I take for granted expectations of shoveling 'public' sidewalks

raking up the leaves produced by trees that actually belong to the city, and maintaining and mowing the lawn on the 'tree-bank' between the sidewalk and the street which is technically owned by the city.

It's this way pretty much in every civilized place I've lived in the upper Midwest.

It'd be a huge tax bill to cover even minimum wage workers clearing sidewalk snow. Across the Midwest, a regional storm likely requires millions of hours of work each storm. Do that 6-8 times a winter season and soon you'd be talking real money.

Ten years ago, the city here went the other way, and cut way back on snow removal. Once upon a time, snow was removed all the way to the curbs on intersections...making safe pedestrian traffic possible, as well as clearing storm drains that prevented street flooding, and allowing fire-hydrants to be accessible. Now the corners are all left with the snow banked up by the plow...unless a home owners take it on themselves to clear them.

Doesn't always happen.

[Trillo]

11. That you don't consider that a tax which is provided by your labor is curious.

I don't live where it snows, so the whole idea is sort of foreign to me. I also have maintained areas that are in what are known as easements. There is a desire, when the city doesn't take care of property they reserve for their future use, to have the area look nice and generally be maintained.

In the case of a sidewalk, it's a functional matter, not merely aesthetic. Apparently it is also a punitive one. Why then is that labor, when it is completed by residents as demanded by policy, not deductible? You yourself have observed that even at minimum wage, the costs would be huge for manual shoveling, so why then are city governments demanding it be done at no cost?

I've seen various kinds of consumer-level machines in catalogs designed for sidewalk snow blowing, so the human costs may not be as large as you're imagining for the cities to purchase some equipment and hire folks to operate that equipment. It would need to be studied.

Maybe poor folks would prefer to shovel snow themselves, with neighbors helping out their ill or infirm neighbors.

It just struck me as odd that the city was privatizing the responsibility for clearing the snow under threat of punishment, and that poorer folks would presumably also be fined for failing a similar responsibility.

[FSogol]

14. Fuck Rand Paul.

[Trillo]

17. What an idiotic post!

Corporations have reams and reams of deductions. Non-business people do not. This has been an ongoing subject of discussion for at least 10 years on DU by progressives.

The very wealthy have loads of places they can put their money where it is not taxed. What do poor people have? Generally only their labor. There are two ways to fix this: take away the deductions and loopholes given to the wealthy and their corporations, or play the same game with the poor.


HereSince1628 made the observation that this was such a valuable service that poor people provide to society that cities can't afford to hire the people to do the same job. The cities solution? Demand it be done via code, and make it an income center of punishment. Don't want to work for free? Get fined and or go to jail. That's slavery.

The subject of income inequality is related to this very structure. A few wealthy folks and their corporations who get all the breaks, and a bunch of poor people living in a country with the highest prisoner population anywhere.

There are at least two ways to fix this, 1) take away corporations and wealthy folks special legal privileges not available to those who don't have enough wealth, and give the poor privileges which they can take advantage of.

I really don't see how that can be honestly construed as "Rand Paul". The thoughts expressed in your post and the way you have expressed them are part of the reason DU sucks.

[FSogol]

18. Kerry doesn't have to shovel the entire city, just the walk in front of his house.

He can do it himself or hire someone to do it.

When you live in a civilization, there are certain obligations that go along with that. Let's call those obligations being neighborly. Cleaning the walk in front of your house helps your neighborhood, ie the kids walking to school, seniors out for a stroll, people walking dogs. If taking care of your neighborhood is too much trouble, there are plenty of places where you can hide out from civilization.

So, spare me the libertarian claptrap about the wealthy, service, and corporations. There is nothing noble about being the asshat that won't help his community. Clean up your walks or move so people who care about community can move in. Notice that Kerry paid the fee and accepts the punishment.

[Trillo]

26. Nobody but you said Kerry had to shovel the whole city.

It is not any kind of claptrap to understand the structures in our society which make them work, such as being neighborly, versus the ones which threaten it, such as income inequality. Last I read, libertarians believe that 'free markets' and 'corporatism' are wonderful constructs.

This is such an example, the very labor which keeps civilization running is considered not only 'worthless' but worthy of punishment should the work not be done for free. What have libertarian's 'free markets' and 'corporatism' brought us? A punishment based society where a very few are above the law and getting caught failing to shovel snow for free gets one fined.

Yes, Kerry is paying the fine like most any other citizen would do. That's also part of what keeps civilization going. This snow shoveling example is but one of many where local governments, not private corporations, have Socialized the costs and privatized the profits.

That is worthy of notation. The very things which average citizens do to keep society running need to be rewarded, not punished.

[Jackpine Radical]

34. In my neck of the woods, every town has a lot of sidewalk snow removal equipment.

Snowblowers on the little John Deere utility tractors they use for mowing in the summer, etc. City employees have everything cleaned up fairly quickly.

[HereSince1628]

46. IMO, it's civic responsibility...paying taxes is too, but

to pay taxes, or minimum wage workers, you've got to use legal tender

I have to say, as a guy with a triple by-pass moving toward it's use before date, I'd still rather do it than have to pay for it to be done. I can't imagine the city bothering with walkways up to a house or driveways or digging out a space near the curb to park the garbage and recycling carts for pick-up...

Generally, it takes about 15-20 minutes for snows under 4 inches...that, if I had to pay for it, the city being into contracting services to privateers, I imagine would be $25-$30 for each snow, with only $7.25 going to the poor indentured servant stuck doing it, with $7.25 going to the city and 10 to 15 to the service company

I use a snow-thrower only for snows greater than 4 inches...and that's really harder than shoveling as my hands which have become very cold intolerant. The lack of movement involved in holding the metal levers against the handle bars doesn't allow for much blood flow... and 10 minutes of the metal sucking warmth out becomes torturous.

[Agnosticsherbet]

30. I gues we Californians are not civilized.

Last edited Fri Jan 30, 2015, 08:52 PM - Edit history (1)

It doesn't snow much in my neck of the Sunshine state, but I am responsible for keeping the public sidewalk clear of leaves and other hazards.

[HereSince1628]

47. Civilized as in citified. My rural life didn't have much in the way of side-walks

800 feet of private driveway, yes, I did have that. Mostly drove over the snow and only cleared drifts as needed...of course just like in town, there was the end of the drive that the township pushed snow into...

Public sidewalks that had to be cleared for pedestrians?...Not at all. Digging out the mailbox, often resetting the mailbox after the township plow bowled it over, yes my rural life had that...

In summers I also had about 3/4 of a mile of county road-side to keep mowed to control weeds and fire from casual cigarette tossers and which also made finding discarded cats before they went under the wheels easier.

[mylye2222]

49. Here in France we have a similar law.

Except the fact you are fined only if someone breaks his leg or so... before your home.
But if you are renting your flat you dont have too. Its the block management servoce who is in charge of shoveling.

[brooklynite]

9. In many cities, the owner is responsible for the maintenance of the sidewalk.

[Glassunion]

28. No. People just need to shovel their sidewalks.

Most sidewalks are the responsibility of the homeowner. There are public "right of use" or "right of way" laws and similar that dictate that the public has the right to use these. When a property is first developed the property owners dedicate part of that property for public use. That would include streets, sidewalks, planting strip, utilities, etc...

In most locations, the property owner is responsible for maintenance, repair and construction of those right of way areas adjacent to their property. It is an agreement that one takes with the public when they purchase or rent a property adjacent to a sidewalk. So simply put, shovel your sidewalk.

[Trillo]

31. Why then is that labor, when it is completed by residents as demanded by policy,

not deductible? I agree with you about your "right of way" observation. Your thoughts are one of the reasons DU Does Not suck. It makes for reasonable discussion.

I was just reading another DU post,

"...the middle class still needs help, and it’s time to tell that story loudly, top Democrats say. That’s the key to reversing their midterm election setbacks."

This is one such example where that can be considered, along with the concept of creating a jobs program. We already have progressive Federal income and state taxes, but cities, at least where I am, seem to make their money on the fee-and-punishment system, along with some percentage of sales taxes, the latter which are known as tax regressive. Income inequality needs to be solved. The middle class needs help.

Jobs program. Deductions for middle class. Stop the punishment paradigm. What's not to love as a democrat or progressive?

[Glassunion]

44. To me, your idea of a tax deduction does not make sense.

Should you get a deduction for mowing your lawn? Many municipalities have policies requiring that your lawn and yard be taken care of.

Should you get a deduction for removal of one of your trees that fall across the sidewalk or out into the street during a storm? There are policies in place stating that it is your responsibility.

Policy dictates that my vehicle be up to code, for safety and emissions. Should I get a deduction for fixing my own tail light?

From my perspective, you are not taxed for "sidewalk snow removal" or "lawn maintenance" or "tree removal" to begin with. So how could you expect a deduction for doing what you are supposed to do?

[Trillo]

45. I understand your POV. To me, the idea of business deductions do not make sense for similar reasons

One other way to clamp down on income inequality is to start eliminating all the various business deductions allowed. Their existence is perhaps part of the reason why the assertion is made that tax increases on corporations filter down to the consumer, it is at the consumer level where deductions are not allowed, and from where governments seem to collect much of its taxes.

For example, if I run a business, I'm allowed to deduct my business vehicle's mileage. Why? Why shouldn't that simply be a cost of doing business taken from any profit? Why should a business get special treatment, unequal treatment, above and beyond what any other citizen gets? Why do I as a non-business person have to subsidize your businesses mileage?

Why should GE get a negative tax result in, I'm going from memory, (source, citizens for tax justice), 2 out of every 3 or 4 years. That means the taxpayer pays them in those years. The largest, most profitable corporations, should be paying taxes every year.

Why should folks like Warren Buffet pay less relative taxes than his secretary pays?

All of these and more are part of the construct for how income inequality has gotten so large that it threatens civilization, I'm talking poor people one day rising up with pitchforks and whatnot. Like Ferguson. Our leaders have to clamp down on the various inequalities that exist, in order to keep the peace long term. Otherwise, the only other solution is a Police State, which is what we have now, and is why Ferguson occurred. People get cruelly killed in Police states. We're supposed to believe in life, for everyone!

There is a better way, I hope we can figure out what that is before it's too late.

[Glassunion]

48. I agree on the large corp deductions

But using your example of running a business, deducting vehicle mileage to me makes sense. With miles comes depreciation, and with that depreciation is an assumed expense. For every mile a vehicle drives, it consumes fuel, its value reduces and there is maintenance on the vehicle. You have two options on the deduction either to use the mileage or the actual expenses of the vehicle.

However, even if you are not a business owner, you can deduct either mileage or expenses as long as they are not reimbursed by your employer. So if your employer asks you to run to the airport to pick someone up, and they do not reimburse you, you can claim either the mileage, and if I'm not mistaken any tolls and parking fees or the physical expenses which can include standard depreciation, gas, oil, tolls, parking, etc... For me the mileage is the way to go.

My opinion is that large corps or even small businesses should never have a "tax-free" year if they turned a profit.

The Warren Buffet thing has nothing to do with it. That is simply that they derive their income from two different types of income sources. Warren = Capital Gains and Losses (15% - in the majority of cases) / Secretary = Wages and Salaries (progressive scale up to 39.6% max). I feel that both types of income should be taxed at the exact same rates.

If we simply go back to the progressive tax rates of the pre-Reagan years, we would be much better off where you could have an effective federal tax rate of up to 70%.

[Recursion]

50. In grad school I would make rent in the winter shoveling people's snow in Boston

Seems like a great jobs program

It is. I could clear $200 in a day. Check the Boston Craigslist right after any snowstorm.

[Adrahil]

7. Or old. My neighborhood sanctions folks who don't shovel....

And I have an old neighbor with a heart condition. I do it for them when I'm home. I have a snowblower and it's just a few minutes work. But sometimes I'm on business travel and we both get on the naughty list.

[former9thward]

20. You are required to remove snow on the sidewalk, rich or poor.

And no, no one is going to be killed shoveling a few shovels of snow from a sidewalk. What about the people trying to use the sidewalk? Are they supposed to slip and fall because someone refuses to shovel it?

[bullwinkle428]

25. "Why do so many people die shovelling snow?"

"At least two people have died from heart attacks while shovelling snow in Buffalo, New York. Every winter, about 100 people in the US die doing this. Why?

A study looking at data from 1990 to 2006 by researchers at the US Nationwide Children's Hospital recorded 1,647 fatalities from cardiac-related injuries associated with shovelling snow. In Canada, these deaths make the news every winter.

Cardiologist Barry Franklin, an expert in the hazardous effects of snow removal, believes the number of deaths could be double that. "I believe we lose hundreds of people each year because of this activity," says Franklin, director of preventative cardiology and cardiac rehabilitation at William Beaumont Hospital, Michigan.

His team found that when healthy young men shovelled snow, their heart rate and blood pressure increased more than when they exercised on a treadmill. "Combine this with cold air, which causes arteries to constrict and decrease blood supply, you have a perfect storm for a heart attack," he says."

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-30119410

[former9thward]

36. 600,000 die from heart disease every year.

So about 100 a year die while shoveling snow. That is 0.01666% of them. Correlation does not mean causation. How many die during sex? At their desk at work? Driving a car? Watching TV? In their sleep? Should we not do those activities too?

And no, "healthy young men" are not dying because of snow shoveling. That is nonsense.

[yeoman6987]

32. Poor can shovel. I do.

John Kerry might even shovel from time to time....in the past. Everyone has shoveled snow before regardless of income.

[GreatGazoo]

35. The #1 way to die in snow storms -- snow removal

A study looking at data from 1990 to 2006 by researchers at the US Nationwide Children's Hospital recorded 1,647 fatalities from cardiac-related injuries associated with shovelling snow.
...
Cardiologist Barry Franklin, an expert in the hazardous effects of snow removal, believes the number of deaths could be double that. "I believe we lose hundreds of people each year because of this activity," says Franklin, director of preventative cardiology and cardiac rehabilitation at William Beaumont Hospital, Michigan.

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-30119410

[former9thward]

41. There are 600,000 deaths from heart disease in the U.S. a year.

That is about 1644 every day. So during this snow storm far more died of heart attacks while doing other things than snow removal. It is not the #1 way to die during snow storms. Far more probably died watching TV coverage of the storm.

[Renew Deal]

52. This is kind of a non story

The issue isn't wealth. "Poor" people should in theory be home at some point to shovel. I guess it means that those physically unable have to make arrangements to have snow cleared. Those people could be poor and paying someone to do it could be expensive. Hopefully they can get the neighbors to do it for free. Especially one with a snow plow.

[Arkana]

10. That BASTARD.

[MineralMan]

13. We have a sidewalk snow removal law here in St. Paul, MN.

You have 24 hours to clear the snow off the sidewalks in front of your property. Since I have two neighbors who don't have snowblowers, I clear theirs when I do mine. Other neighbors in my neighborhood do the same for their neighbors, and for vacant homes next to their properties.

It's what you do in a place where snow removal is an important job. People walk on those sidewalks, so it's up to the neighborhood to clear them. I also use ice-melt compound when there is ice and do my neighbor's walks then, too. Nobody on my block is going to get fined by the city.

Too bad Kerry doesn't have me as a neighbor. I'd have blown off his sidewalk, too, since he was out of town.

[Bettie]

15. It happens

We got such a fine one year....we were out of town visiting relatives. We didn't even know it had snowed at home.

He'll pay the find and life will go on.

[B Calm]

16. I wouldn't pay the fine. I would take it to court.

[former9thward]

21. Under what theory?

The city does not have the power to enact snow removal statutes?

[yeoman6987]

33. Can you imagine if someone slipped and fell

on your property? The lawsuit would not be pretty. I know it is homeowners insurance that would pay. 50 bucks is cheap considering the possible alternative.

[GreatGazoo]

37. In MA, Snow has been codified as an "open and obvious condition"

Massachusetts’ somewhat idiosyncratic slip-and-fall liability defense appears to be melting. Property owners in Massachusetts, as in other jurisdictions, have a duty of “reasonable care,” requiring them to keep common areas free of defective conditions. But unlike their counterparts in most other states, Massachusetts courts recognize a distinction between “natural” and “unnatural” accumulations of snow, the former resulting from the falling and freezing of snow, the latter from something an owner did in response. Under this theory, a plaintiff who suffered a slip-and-fall injury might not have a claim against the property owner, if a court determined that the accumulation was “natural” and thus represented an “obvious” risk that the plaintiff should have recognized and avoided.

The “natural accumulation” defense is an extension of the open and obvious condition defense, which holds that an individual owes a duty of care to avoid open and obvious conditions. A landowner is not responsible for injuries or damages caused by dangers on the premises that would be obvious to persons of average intelligence.

http://www.meeb.com/massachusetts-slip-and-fall-defense-is-melting-2/

[mythology]

38. I don't object to shoveling the sidewalk

But I hate how in the Boston area when the city snow plows come by, they don't unclog sewer drains and they leave giant piles of snow at intersections.

The streets are already too small and overcrowded. Stop making it worse by making it harder for the snow to drain off. I always make it a point to scrap clean an significant area around the drain.

In my neighborhood, there are several streets where it's already hard to see cross traffic, but when there's 4 feet of piled snow at the intersection, it moves to being dangerous.

That said, this is a non-story for Kerry.

[mylye2222]

39. No matter what . Something positives comes out that story.

Is that in US even high ranked officials can get fined like any average citizen.
Impossible in France where thay are treated like monarchs above the laws.
And as underligned above, John Kerry is a decent and honest guy...who nonetheless has paid the fine without protesting. Unlike an overhelming majority of politicians.

[glasshouses]

43. In many areas it's a big hassle for a home owner

Many homes are not level with the side walk . They have a drop off or stone wall a few feet high that goes down to the side walk .
If you don't have a snow blower where it will shoot the snow back on to your property you have to try and throw the snow over the wall
where it had snowed 30" already in your yard. So now it's not just shoveling but it trying to toss the snow over your head each time.
Remember that it's not legal to try and push it back in the road.

That can be hard for a fit young man after 10 minutes now imagine residents that are in their 40's 50's or even 60's.
Also women that own homes that live alone . For Kerry or people that have money it's no problem to have a contract
with a snow removal company come every time that charges $125 a storm but for many people it's not in the cards.

[Chemisse]

51. This warms my heart.

Nobody should be above the law.

Now if only cops would follow the laws as well (like not going 80 on the highway - just because they can).