City Manager James Loomis Gives Lubbock Laughable ‘A’ for Blizzard Response

I thought I was done with this, but since there are still giant chunks of ice still bouncing up under the undercarriage of our vehicles, then I guess it's not over. Well, that and the fact that the Lubbock City Manager recently gave the city an "A" for its winter storm response.

I have to back up again and say thank you to all of the city and LP&L workers who busted their rears at all hours of the day and night. They did, and continue to do, the best they can with the resources they were given.

Now, let's get to the silliness.

I had planned on taking off all of last week (Dec.28 - 31). I did not do that. In an effort to keep people informed, I went to work every single day. Lubbock City Manager James Loomis knew of the upcoming blizzard and went out of town on a previously scheduled trip. Apparently, the second-in-command, the Deputy City Manager, was also off.

Loomis, the city's highest paid employee at $250,000 a year, said he kept informed and offered advice "from a distance." When asked what grade he would give the city on the snow removal, he said he would give them an 'A.'

Well, as far as the people go, they get an 'A.' The city, though, gets a 'C' -- average at best.

If we had better preparation by the city, more equipment would have been brought in, more employees would have been trained and the roads would have been cleared faster.

Let's not even get into the fact that there was no plan to handle all of the garbage that was piled up after the holidays and compounded by the storm.

There's not a person reading this that hasn't missed at least one day off because of an emergency. A "storm of the century" blizzard is an emergency, and the man who should of been in charge, wasn't.

Whether things could have been done better if he was here we will probably never know. But Lubbockites won't forget the blizzard of 2015, and they won't forget City Manager James Loomis wasn't here.

Lubbock snowstorm pictures