Joanne Massaro learned about working under fire a lifetime ago, toiling in the 1970s as a self-taught cook in a Washington restaurant run by Claude Bouchet, a French chef who served presidents and powerbrokers.
Now Massaro faces an entirely differently kind of pressure cooker: The girl who grew up in Hyde Park and dreamed of being a chef is Boston’s commissioner of public works. For the past four winters Massaro has overseen snow removal, a key city service that has come under fire since a blizzard dumped more than 2 feet of snow and some side streets remained impassible for days.
Comments
Where are the minutes of the City Council meeting when the waiver of experience was discussed?
why doesn't Boston follow NYC's example: put plows on garbage trucks? using private contractors is a huge part of the expense and difficulty to manage snow removal efforts....
A big part of the problem is the makeup of the City and the layout of the streets. Tiny streets in Charlestown, Beacon Hill and Southie (with cars parked on them) are virtually impossible to plow with large trucks, there's just no room. In a big storm with snow falling at 2-3 inches an hour, small trucks can't keep up with the accumulation and eventually can't move on those streets. The only way to ensure that the large plows can pass is to ban all parking on the street during a storm, this is not realistic though.
Comeon folks--24" in 18 hours is a lot of snow. Joanne is a tough lady she will weather the criticisms from the few. She is respected out in the streets and the guys will do the work. She does need another 100 street employees and 20 pieces of snow melting machines, but who wants to pay. Hang in there Joanne--you did a damn good job!!!
Grace under pressure - this lady sure has courage! You go Joanne.
Awesome job Ms. Massaro, you deserve a medal!