Skip to main content

Fulton County Taxpayers Demand Accountability

From the 8/11/08 Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation E-Letter:

Dear Members and Supporters,

Last week, Senior Arborist Tom Coffin was fired without explanation.The story was so poignant, that the New York Times picked it up, as well as the Associated Press, Discover Magazine (Blog), Huffington Post, Fort Mill (SC) Times, Columbus (Ga) Ledger-Enquirer and The Examiner.com. See the link to the left for the NYTimes article.

Please see the comprehensive letter written by Coffin to the Mayor and City Council below.

I feel that the letter from the recently fired Tom Coffin, Senior Field Arborist for the City of Atlanta, to the Mayor and City Council, is a "must" read for every taxpayer. Here are a few questions of concern:

1. What has influenced the summary firing of Tom Coffin? The developers? His co-workers who have performed with a 'total lack of enforcement'?

2. What other City departments have similar cases?

3. Where is an accounting of the money collected from the millions of dollars raised under the tree ordinance paid for the replanting or care of trees as required by law?

Too long Atlantans have had to put up with corruption in government! Demand more accountability from those in office!

We urge you to email Mayor Franklin, calling for a full investigation into Coffin's dismissal. The FCTF will pass on more information as we receive it.

Sincerely,
John S. Sherman
President

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Appeals to the Tree Conservation Commission, 2008

Appeals to the Tree Conservation Commission, 2008 By Tom Coffin, Ph.D. Appeals to the Tree Conservation Commission are, by design, an integral part of the Tree Protection Ordinance. Like most laws, the TPO is a relatively blunt instrument. Though reasonable and effective most of the time, it does not cover all situations all the time, nor is it fair to all parties all the time. Appeals to the TCC provide an administrative means to resolve disputes. Unlike a Municipal Court hearing – also possible under the ordinance -- where decisions are usually based on the “letter of the law,” appeal hearings before the TCC often allow for some bending of the law as written to encompass a specific situation. At its best, the TCC acts as the “conscience of the community” in its decision-making. Both the commission and the appeal process have matured. After more than eight years of use and testing, both work rather admirably when allowed to do so. Under the Tree Protection Ordinance, every decision (s...
3 comments
Read more

Urban Forest Fiasco

From Creative Loafing... "Tom Coffin loves trees. And when we say he loves trees, he reaaally loves trees. The unfamiliar face – who was the city's senior arborist until he was fired July 29 – is the epicenter of the latest scandal to emanate from already embattled City Hall. The city's failure to specify why Coffin was fired (or who called for it) has led many to speculate about the cause – and jump to the conclusion that developers saw him as a threat. Even the New York Times took notice – and questioned whether Atlanta's development machine had chalked a win over the environmental community." ... more
Post a Comment
Read more

Huffington Post Comments

The Huffington Post picked up the New York Times story as soon as it was published. Here is a comment to the article from their Web site : "well it's nice to hear that at least someone was doing their job because when I drive through this city the question that repeatedly comes to my mind is: why does atlanta even have a tree ordinance? the developers here still clear-cut old large trees then replant saplings - and given the stress that these trees are under it is highly doubtful they will ever reach the size of the ones that are being cut down.I've lived here for almost 2 decades and I continue to be appalled at what the city allows developers to get away with here. we're running out of water and they still keep handing out the building permits. we're losing our oldest and largest tress to greed and the city just keeps handing out the permits. truely this city is f-ed at this point. so I guess given that developers always get their way in this place it comes as no...
Post a Comment
Read more