Man celebrates pothole's 'birthday' to get officials' attention

Complaining didn't work, so the man found a more "positive" route. Photo / Frank Sereno

Frank Sereno was fed up with the pothole on his street and, since complaining about it to city officials hadn't worked, he decided to celebrate its three-month birthday with a cake.

Sereno, from Kansas City, Missouri, had been complaining about the pothole since March and no one was listening.

He decided that, rather than continue complaining, he'd draw attention to the pothole in a more positive manner.

"I thought what I can I do to have a little fun," Sereno told Fox4KC.

"Everyone is always complaining about the potholes, but complaining doesn't seem to be getting anything done. So I said, I want to keep it top of mind. I know my fellow Waldo neighbours are just as disgusted as I am so I said, let's just celebrate it's birthday. It's third birthday."

He popped into his local grocery store, picked up a small cake and a candle with the number "3" on it.

Then, in a "small family gathering", the Sereno family marked the pothole's three-month birthday.

He then posted photos to his local Facebook group.

City officials blame the weather on the fact that the pothole had not been fixed.

"The weather is always a challenge," Maggie Green, from the Kansas City Public Works Department, told Fox4KC.

"I know they got a lot done this week with the good weather. Last week they patched almost 2000 potholes. Anytime it's pouring down rain it's difficult to patch but as long as we have good weather, crews are out there working on that list."

She added that 10,000 of the 15,000 reported potholes had already been fixed.

Sereno's three-month-old pothole was repaired earlier this month, just a few days after the birthday party.