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My Letter to the Mayor

From: deLille Anthony
Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 11:52 PM
To: 'sfranklin@atlantaga.gov'Cc: 'hshook@atlantaga.gov'; 'mnorwood@atlantaga.gov'
Subject: Tom Coffin's firing

Dear Mayor Franklin,

I understand that Tom Coffin, one of our most valuable city employees (from the perspective of tax-paying citizens), was fired today by Ibraham Maslamani. Please look into this and see what can be done to reverse the decision to fire Mr. Coffin. I understand that he was given no explanation for his dismissal which is inexcusable given his years of outstanding performance.

Mr. Coffin has been the City Arborist assigned to my Buckhead neighborhood for the past year, and during that year I have not seen more exemplary service from a city employee. Prior to his work in Buckhead, he handled the east section of Atlanta in which I own rental property. I have had several dealings with Mr. Coffin, and in each situation I have found Mr. Coffin to be extremely responsive, knowledgeable and fair, even when his “fairness” has not always been in my favor. Mr. Coffin has always played by the book in upholding the Tree Ordinance, letting neither his personal interest in protecting the trees nor the pressure of the development community influence his decisions.

The level of respect and trust that Mr. Coffin has built among the citizens of Atlanta makes his firing seem highly suspect. Well-run companies do not fire their star performers with outstanding customer satisfaction ratings, even during times of budget cuts. (Rather, those employees often receive retention bonuses.)

I hope you will be able to correct this matter as soon as possible. If not, the person who replaces Mr. Coffin will have a very tough time convincing my neighborhood that he/she is as good as what we just lost.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

deLille Anthony
Atlanta, GA

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