UPDATE 8:29 a.m. 1/27/2015: A neighborhood resident tells WTOP’s Dick Uliano that the street has been plowed.
EARLIER: WASHINGTON — If snowplows meet Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett’s pledge to make every street passable Wednesday morning, then a Bethesda family will make it to the funeral home for a viewing and Thursday’s funeral of a man regarded as his neighborhood’s unofficial mayor.
“Joe Sansalone was this wonderful neighbor; he was the mayor of our court, which has 25 homes,” says Phyllis Edelman, president of the Springfield Civic Association. “He always had a good word for kids, for pets, for everybody.”
Sansalone died last week after a brief illness — and then the blizzard struck, stranding his widow, Anna, as she planned his final arrangements. Because Ogden Court is a cul-de-sac, it is among the last roads plowed in Montgomery County.
“I certainly hope that the road is going to be cleared in time,” Edeleman says.
She and other neighbors have been pressing the county to plow the street in time for Wednesday’s viewing.
Montgomery County Councilmember Roger Berliner says the case deserves special consideration.
“Everybody is stressed; everybody wants to get about their business, but there are some people … we really need to get them out,” Berliner says.
He says he’s “knocked on the door real hard” of the county Department of Transportation to ensure that the cul-de-sac will be plowed by Wednesday, and he’s confident the job will be done.
Edelman is hopeful.
“I would take it as a sign from above that Joe has some influence now and he’s able to get the street cleared,” Edelman says.
