Friday, September 09, 2016

2016 council budget hearing: Money for the Tree Board to cut trees, or plant them?

Back in May I attended a Tree Board meeting in search of information about its meetings, which I requested from the board's staff person, Krisjans Streips. This particular ray of sunshine has yet to break through Team Gahan's patented Transparency Prevention Modulator, but I digress.

The following brief exchange from the budget hearings on August 31 aptly illustrates the disconnect. The Tree Board has no budget and no plan -- at leastmore recent than the 1990s or early 2000s.

Dr. Knable identifies this, and CM Blair corroborates. All CM Barksdale can offer is the view that a budget would enable the Tree Board to cut trees when the Street Department is otherwise occupied.

Not plant trees.

Cut them.

How is this not a major problem?

This year alone, the city has felled probably 200 trees. The city's former adversary, now blessed co-developer at Summit Springs, cleared a few hundred more. The Tree Board assures me that it plants far more trees on a yearly basis.

With what, and where? All the board need do is produce the statistics, and until it does, perhaps a mission statement for its "best case" activities would be a fine prelude to funding.



2 comments:

Iamhoosier said...

Mr. Barksdale says that he has been on the tree board for several years and likes the idea of having some money to work with. Has he and the tree board developed a plan and asked for money "for several years"? If not, why not?

Iamhoosier said...

Sounds like a resume builder position to me.