Director of the City’s Public Works Department Mike Murray at a Sweep of an “Encampment” Site.

The City of Portland has declared a citywide parking ban beginning at 10:00 pm, Sunday, January 7th and ending at 6:00 am on Monday, January 8th.  Vehicles left on streets after 10:00 pm tonight can be towed at the owner’s expense.

BUT, getting the roads cleared will be a challenge this year accordng to Public Works Director Mike Murray.  On December 7th, the city issued a press release stating that this winter season poses significant challenges regarding “the treatment, plowing and removal of snow from city streets.”  That’s because the combination of open positions for CDL drivers, employee leaves of absence and a decrease in the  number of private contractors and equipment may cause extended delays in clearing of snow on city streets during snow storms – like this one today?

“We’re doing everything we can to fill positions,” said DPW Director Mike Murray, in the December press release.  “We’ve hired an in-house CDL training instructor to train the non-CDL certified employees we’ve recently hired, but that process takes time.  CDL drivers are highly sought after by both the private and public sector.  The private sector is also experiencing this shortage and as such we’re not able to get as much help from private contractors.  We’ve sharing this information so residents are aware in advance and we thank them for their patience this winter.”

In response to a question from this blogger, Jessica Grondin, city spokeswoman emailed that there were seventeen (17) unfilled positions in the Public Works Department last month……….OH?