The delay in recycle and trash pick-up has somehow been pushed to the fault of the private alley-plowing contractors that use small pickups to do our jobs. Yes, I am one of those alley plowers and I am disturbed by the comments made by the folks at public works and Eureka recycling.

Let’s look at fact: My alleys, yes, I call them my alleys, because I am responsible for them, my alleys have been plowed seven times so far this season, and the city has declared two snow emergencies.

What would the alleys look like now if they had been plowed only twice? And public works is exploring the city taking over alley plowing?

One more bit of information, from 2009 through 2017 I plowed my alleys 94+ times and the city had 24 snow emergencies, (Give or take on the snow emergencies, my records may have missed one or two, but you get the idea) we serviced our alleys, and by “we” I mean private snow-plowing companies, we serviced our alleys four times more frequently than the city plowed the city streets.

St. Paul homeowners, ask yourself one question: Do I want the city plowing my alley only when a snow emergency is declared? You know the answer.

Please stop lying and blaming others for your inability to service your customers.

Mark T. Schroder, Schroeder Snowplowing Service

The moral use of a wall

If you travel on I-94 from Minneapolis to Fargo, it is hard to miss the cable barriers in the median. These barriers have been constructed to stop vehicles from crossing through the median accidentally, to prevent head-on collisions. Simply put, they are there to save lives.

There is a great debate in Washington regarding building a longer barrier at our southern border with Mexico. There are many legitimate reasons to build, but the most pressing reason is to save lives. Lives that would be lost by human trafficking, lost by gang violence, lost by drug overdose due to smuggling.

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Letters: Only tax revenue matters, St. Paul City Council? What about the educational value of charter schools? We are being told by Rep. Nancy Pelosi that a “wall” is immoral. I have to correct our dear Speaker … a wall cannot be immoral, although it can be used for immoral purposes. What is immoral, however, is politicians who in the recent past voted for the construction of a wall, but now refuse to protect the American people because Trump is our president. That, Rep. Pelosi, is immoral.

Jerry Wynn, St. Paul