SCHENECTADY – Saying "we have to do better," city leaders grilled the general services commissioner Monday in the aftermath of a record-setting snowstorm that took several days to clean up and assistance from outside contractors, the National Guard and the Department of Transportation.

In the face of withering criticism during Monday’s City Council Committee meeting, General Services Commissioner Paul LaFond insisted his crews did a great job handling the snow dumped on Schenectady over the course of two days.

The National Weather Service said 23.4 inches of snow fell in Schenectady, the fourth-biggest storm to ever hit the Capital Region in the month of December.

City Councilman John Mootooveren said it didn’t make sense to him that the city doled out 150 snow-related violations when it took the city so long to clean the streets..

“Could we have used common sense and not issue tickets or just give them a warning?” he asked.

City law requires homeowners to clear the sidewalks in front of their property.

City Councilwoman Leesa Perazzo said the city needs to examine what streets get priority during plowing. Bigelow Avenue — where three Head Start programs are located — didn’t get plowed for days, she said.

“It’s just we have to figure this out, we have to do better,” she added. “We have to be solution-driven, not give excuses, because all we’ve done so far is give excuses.”

City Councilman John Polimeni proposed going to alternate side street parking from November to April as a way to make it easier for the roads to be cleared.

City Council President Ed Kosiur said during the cleanup that he and other elected city leaders and staff were deluged with complaints from city residents about the situation.

“I have not received one thank you call from any of my constituents that are calling me or texting me,” said City Council President Ed Kosiur. “C’mon I grew up in Buffalo, this is crazy.”

LeFond explained that the snow plows first hit the more heavily traveled priority streets, including Broadway, Albany and Nott streets and Wendell Avenue. From there, the crews turned their attention to secondary streets “but only for a single pass.”

LaFond said it typically takes several passes to adequately clear snow from a city street and that parked and abandoned cars and other obstacles make the job tougher.

“The biggest thing is dealing with the traffic,” he added. “It’s not just going up one lane and coming down the other, it’s monotonous.”

City Councilwoman Marion Porterfield called the towering and unsafe snowbanks “just ridiculous” and said she saw streets without cars on them that were “loaded with snow” days after the storm had passed.

Two outside contractors assisted Schenectady with the snow removal.

The National Guard and the state Department of Transportation also worked to clear city streets after governor declared a State of Emergency.

Those two agencies were in the Electric City from Dec. 2 to 6, said the commissioner.

LaFond said said the reality of plowing is that the snow will end up on the edge of driveways and sidewalks.

“There are some things we can improve on and there are some things we need to ask the general public to help us out on,” he added.

Councilman Vince Riggi said the snow clean-up was a disaster.

He urged LaFond to request more money in the city budget if it will help him do a better job in the future.

“I’m 73 years old, I’ve seen them all, I’ve seen bigger storms than this that were handled much better,” he said, adding that city residents are the ones who suffered. “It snowed the same in the whole Capital District and we seemed to have the biggest problem with it.”

The council will take up the matter again at its Dec. 30 meeting.