Mayoral candidate Jeff Kirkpatrick is looking to change the snow removal policy throughout Lincoln, particularly with neighborhood snow removal.

Kirkpatrick issued a statement saying “This city has a policy that if you do not receive four inches of snow or more in a particular storm, residential streets do not get plowed. On the surface, it may seem like a reasonable policy. However, it doesn’t take into account other factors. At first look, it may seem like a reasonable policy to save the taxpayer dollars. However, it fails to take into account the difficulty Lincoln residents face in their daily commute to work or school.”

Kirkpatrick said that citizens take many different ways on their daily commute, and it is up to the city of Lincoln to ensure the safety of commuters.

Kirkpatrick also talked about how snowfall is measured to determine the snow removal policy. The candidate used the most recent winter storm as an example, “According to the Lincoln Journal Star, the official snow accumulation at the Lincoln Airport measured 5.1 inches. However, city officials measured fewer than 4 inches. We need to re-examine how we are making that determination, because the snowfall we receive in North Lincoln might be different than it is in South Lincoln.”

Kirkpatrick’s statement ended with how the current policy does not take into account other circumstances other than the most recent snowfall. “We’ve had several inches of snow in the last few weeks that hasn’t melted off our neighborhood streets yet. This most recent snowstorm just added to that mess,” said Kirkpatrick, “We need a more nuanced policy to be able to make determinations based on numerous factors, rather than one artificial number.”

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