City Council May Reinstate Tom Coffin

Tom Coffin recently learned that the City’s Public Safety Committee, in response to his intent to sue the City, is considering reinstating Coffin to his position of Senior Arborist. This is the position Tom held before he was fired, presumably for disclosing to his management data about under-performance in the City Arborist Department. This data would have never been made public had the management in the Bureau of Buildings addressed the shortcomings disclosed. Rather, they shot the messenger, accusing Mr. Coffin of not being a team player and not playing nice.

City Council now has the opportunity to say, “Enough. We are not going to let our city government have the almighty power to sit back and collect property taxes and not deliver. Furthermore, we are not going to allow the few remaining performers in city government live in fear of retribution if they complain they are doing their job… and all of their co-workers’ jobs, too.”

One sign of a performer is his or her eagerness to get the job done, period. Tom has been through an incredible amount of pain, anguish and humiliation these past six months for doing the right thing, and yet, the only thing he’s asking for is to restore everything back to the way it was the day before he was fired. He wants no compensation other than back pay for the time he lost at work and his out of pocket legal expenses. His legal team must be squirming that he’s been so gosh darn NICE to the City and seemingly willing to let bygones be bygones.

If the City Council members addressed below don’t take Tom up on his offer and meet the extremely modest requests in his letter below, then they will be putting us taxpayers on the hook for paying the legal expenses to fight and lose a court case with Tom Coffin.

Here’s my open letter to City Council: "I don’t care what you think of Tom Coffin – love him or hate him. All I ask is that you focus on the money here and be good stewards of the taxpayer dollar. Even if you mistakenly think that Tom Coffin will lose a lawsuit against the City, it will cost us taxpayers more money to go to court than it will to just give him back his job with compensation for the time he lost at work.

Do the math. Save us money. Rehire Tom. And give him back his northeast region to manage. A few Buckhead developers might have quarreled with his unwillingness let them slash and burn everything in sight, but we homeowners loved him.

Tom Coffin’s letter:

Dear Ms. Winslow, Ms. Fauver, Mr. Hall, Mr. Martin, Ms. Sheperd and Mr. Willis:

As an unexpected result of my ante litem notice of intent to sue the city under the state’s “whistleblower” statute, I find that the Public Safety Committee will soon be asked to consider my demand for reinstatement to my position as Sr. Arborist for the City of Atlanta (Claim No. 08L1031). I welcome your participation. I hope and trust that you will act in the interests of the City and of the people you were elected to represent.

The facts in this case are clear. I was fired for informing my superiors of the near total lack of enforcement of the Tree Protection Ordinance by my subordinates and for trying to initiate disciplinary actions against two of them for clear violations of established standards in the arborist office. I strongly believe that I can prove my case in court.

Nonetheless I prefer not to litigate this matter. Instead I seek reinstatement to the Sr. Arborist position that I won through merit and lost through deceit. I wish to continue my nearly 12 years of service to the city in formulating, implementing and enforcing one of its signature environmental laws. I seek my job back. I ask for compensation for lost salary and benefits, and for the legal costs incurred by me since my firing in July 2008. These demands are reasonable and minimal. I ask that the Committee recommend this result to Council in the interest of justice, fairness and economy.

I am confident in my ability to resume the responsibilities of Sr. Arborist in the Bureau of Buildings. I seek the earliest return possible to employment with the city. I will gladly answer, privately or in public, any questions you may have concerning me or the conditions I experienced in the Arborist Division. My phone number is 404 874-0523.

I will attach a copy of the ante litem notice sent to the mayor. Most of the other documents related to my case may be found on an independent blog found at http://holdingcitygovernmentaccountable.blogspot.com.

Yours truly,

Dr. Tom Coffin

“The City of Atlanta shall promote the right of the people to clean air, pure water, freedom from excessive and unnecessary noise, and the natural, scenic, historic and aesthetic qualities of the environment.” From the Bill of Rights, Charter for the City of Atlanta.

City Council May Reinstate Tom Coffin