From an broadcast email sent by Kathryn Kolb...
Dear Mayor Franklin,
I was shocked to hear of Atlanta Arborist Tom Coffin's reasonless firing from the City's Arborist Dept. What on earth prompted this? Instead of firing him, the city should have him train the other arborists -- he is the most knowledgeable person in that department on both tree health and on how the tree ordinance actually functions, and he has a great deal of experience, having done field work in accordance with all the various tree ordinance revisions for the last several years.
If the City, or the administrator within the Bureau of Buildings was purposefully trying to reduce protection and oversight for trees in Atlanta, then firing Tom would be a good way to start that process. By firing the staff that enforces the ordinance, the administrative wing of City government conveniently side-steps the legislative process and the City Council Members who spent so much time and energy in helping to create the ordinance we now have. Please tell me that this is not what occurred, and that Tom's firing was just a mistake by an overzealous manager who did not understand Tom's expertise within the Arborist Dept. - and that you, personally, will see that the situation is corrected, and that Tom is reinstated.
I have worked with Tom in the past with trees in my neighborhood, and I will tell you that it is a relief to find a City employee as knowledgeable, helpful, and as genuinely interested in doing a good job as Tom Coffin.
I don't mean to disparage other arborists that work for the City but I will relate two experiences I had with two of the City's other arborists:
1) One guy basically just didn't feel like walking through a property near my house that was overgrown but had very large trees, most of which were scheduled to be cut down. In just glancing at the site plan, I could see numerous mistakes related to the trees, so I filed an appeal. When the site engineer and I (and finally the arborist) walked just a few hundred feet into the site, the engineer said the developer's survey was all wrong, that the entire property had to be re-surveyed, and a few large hardwoods that had been marked to be removed on the original did not in fact have to be cut down at all! How many trees do you suppose we lose every day just because someone did not take the time and care to see that the plan on paper actually matches the work being done in the field? I had to go to the trouble to file an appeal on my own personal time just to see that the job was done right - something the City's Arborist should have done.
2) On another occasion I wished to cut down trees in my yard and a different City arborist showed up at my house. He was walking around my yard without first knocking on the door, and then when I came to the door he did not introduce himself or explain what he was doing, the first words he said were simply "Is that the tree?" (Since I had also called tree service people to look at the tree I wasn't sure who this guy was so I had to ask him if he was indeed from he City.) Then, because he didn't know very much about trees and shrubs, he mis-labled a large invasive shrub as a tree and I had to then go to the Tree Commission to get permission to cut it down because the arborist didn't know that the species was not a tree!
I say keep Tom and let him develop some practical field protocol for the rest of the Arborist Department.
It appears to me, and to many, that Tom was fired because he was doing a good job, and for some reason his superiors did not want him to do his job. If your administrators don't like the City's Tree Ordinance, then they are free to work through the correct legislative process in order to change the law, just firing people for enforcing the law sends a rather chilling message to our City's legislators, citizens, and indeed other hardworking staff in all departments -- please use the power of your office to rectify this unfortunate situation and protect your work and legacy of being the Mayor working toward a "green" Atlanta.
Sincerely,
Kathryn Kolb
Atlanta, GA
Dear Mayor Franklin,
I was shocked to hear of Atlanta Arborist Tom Coffin's reasonless firing from the City's Arborist Dept. What on earth prompted this? Instead of firing him, the city should have him train the other arborists -- he is the most knowledgeable person in that department on both tree health and on how the tree ordinance actually functions, and he has a great deal of experience, having done field work in accordance with all the various tree ordinance revisions for the last several years.
If the City, or the administrator within the Bureau of Buildings was purposefully trying to reduce protection and oversight for trees in Atlanta, then firing Tom would be a good way to start that process. By firing the staff that enforces the ordinance, the administrative wing of City government conveniently side-steps the legislative process and the City Council Members who spent so much time and energy in helping to create the ordinance we now have. Please tell me that this is not what occurred, and that Tom's firing was just a mistake by an overzealous manager who did not understand Tom's expertise within the Arborist Dept. - and that you, personally, will see that the situation is corrected, and that Tom is reinstated.
I have worked with Tom in the past with trees in my neighborhood, and I will tell you that it is a relief to find a City employee as knowledgeable, helpful, and as genuinely interested in doing a good job as Tom Coffin.
I don't mean to disparage other arborists that work for the City but I will relate two experiences I had with two of the City's other arborists:
1) One guy basically just didn't feel like walking through a property near my house that was overgrown but had very large trees, most of which were scheduled to be cut down. In just glancing at the site plan, I could see numerous mistakes related to the trees, so I filed an appeal. When the site engineer and I (and finally the arborist) walked just a few hundred feet into the site, the engineer said the developer's survey was all wrong, that the entire property had to be re-surveyed, and a few large hardwoods that had been marked to be removed on the original did not in fact have to be cut down at all! How many trees do you suppose we lose every day just because someone did not take the time and care to see that the plan on paper actually matches the work being done in the field? I had to go to the trouble to file an appeal on my own personal time just to see that the job was done right - something the City's Arborist should have done.
2) On another occasion I wished to cut down trees in my yard and a different City arborist showed up at my house. He was walking around my yard without first knocking on the door, and then when I came to the door he did not introduce himself or explain what he was doing, the first words he said were simply "Is that the tree?" (Since I had also called tree service people to look at the tree I wasn't sure who this guy was so I had to ask him if he was indeed from he City.) Then, because he didn't know very much about trees and shrubs, he mis-labled a large invasive shrub as a tree and I had to then go to the Tree Commission to get permission to cut it down because the arborist didn't know that the species was not a tree!
I say keep Tom and let him develop some practical field protocol for the rest of the Arborist Department.
It appears to me, and to many, that Tom was fired because he was doing a good job, and for some reason his superiors did not want him to do his job. If your administrators don't like the City's Tree Ordinance, then they are free to work through the correct legislative process in order to change the law, just firing people for enforcing the law sends a rather chilling message to our City's legislators, citizens, and indeed other hardworking staff in all departments -- please use the power of your office to rectify this unfortunate situation and protect your work and legacy of being the Mayor working toward a "green" Atlanta.
Sincerely,
Kathryn Kolb
Atlanta, GA
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