To the editor:

Sunday’s editorial regarding our snow-shoveling ordinance begins “Snow is a pain in the behind.” Thus, my suggestion for solving this civic dilemma is that the city (and the J-W) BUTT OUT.

For years, the first flakes of winter have been accompanied by a flood of ink, extolling the virtues of Lawrence spending money and human resources to combat the evil (more of a minor annoyance really) of a very few persons failing to shovel snow due to being irresponsible rather than, for whatever reason, being unable to do so. I doubt the law would get any official attention, for the reasons given in this editorial, if the editor would invest ink in more pressing matters (I can think of many). As for the ordinance appearing “to have some value,” I’d say very little value; if indeed any when enforcement costs are considered.

I routinely shovel my walkways; it makes my life easier (because I walk on them), and, as a useful corollary, helps others such as the good folks who deliver my newspapers. And I walk a lot; it’s great exercise. If the city concentrated more on clearing side streets, that’d be great. Staff indeed do a fine job of this already, but there’s always room for improvement.

Simple solution: Ditch the law. And if we’ve hired any extra staff to review complaints and issue tickets, send them out with shovels instead of pads and pencils.