To the editor:

It is exceedingly unfair for the city to demand that select homeowners work as unpaid city employees. To require some individuals to be responsible for physically difficult chores to maintain public access is inequitable and punitive.

The clear sidewalk ordinance was enacted without regard to the age, physical limitations or income of those it would affect. Many elders on fixed incomes have a very difficult time just meeting their own needs, especially during severe weather. If they are unable to perform the task or to pay someone else to do it in a timely manner, they are fined. That is wrong.

Bless the volunteers, but I tried several days in a row to get put on the list of seniors needing help and found the Senior Services office closed, due to inclement weather, and their mailbox was full.

Taxpayers should not be treated as indentured servants. The city commissioners might consider determining the cost of such work if performed by city workers and then give the homeowners a tax break for the public service they are required to provide.