John Kerry got fined for not shoveling his sidewalk

Like everyone else, Secretary of State John Kerry needs to make sure the sidewalk around his home gets shoveled.

But Kerry was slapped with a $50 fine this week when he didn’t clear a sidewalk on the side of his home in Boston, where a blizzard heaped more than 2 feet of snow earlier this week. Kerry was abroad with President Barack Obama in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday when the snowstorm hit New England.

Kerry was hit with the fine after a passerby submitted a picture of the snow-filled sidewalk on the city of Boston’s online “Citizens Connect” portal on Wednesday.

The snow removal company tasked with clearing the sidewalk alongside Kerry’s home initially cleared the front of Kerry’s home, but mistook yellow caution tape set up on the side of Kerry’s home as police tape and steered clear, Kerry’s spokesman Glen Johnson said.

The tape had been put up to warn passersby of falling snow and ice overhead, Johnson said.

The last of the snow around Kerry’s Boston home was cleared late Thursday morning.

“The snow has all been shoveled now, the Secretary will gladly pay the ticket, and let’s hope this is the last blizzard of the year,” Johnson said.