Holding Atlanta City Government Accountable

From: Linda Trower Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:29:14 -0400 To: acaldwell@atlantaga.gov Cc: "Maslamani, Ibrahim", mnorwood , sheldon schlegman Subject: "no trees impacted" exception Dear Mr. Caldwell: On June 16, 2008 a building permit (#BB200802851) was issued to 125 Blackland Rd. for the construction of a fence. The application was streamlined using the "no trees impacted" exception. On or about July 18, 2008 this property was cited for the destruction of 14 trees. It appears the "no trees impacted" exception was not valid. Would you please explain how this happened? Thank you, Linda Trower Concerned Citizen

From a broadcast email sent by Mercy Wright on August 28, 2008: I came across an interesting announcement on City of Atlanta Online (the Official Website for the City of Atlanta) datelined August 19, 2008, but it is much older. I printed it, in case it gets taken down. I don't have a scanner, so I'll retype pertinent parts of the message titled NEW LEADERSHIP FORWARDS CHANGE IN CITY'S PERMITTING PROCESS: Last April, the City launched its Permitting Improvement Project to decrease the time it takes to issue a permit by 50 percent by 2007. Development opportunities in Atlanta are on an upswing, new residential permit applications have increased by 11 percent and new commercial applications have increased 95 percent in the past year. "With Atlanta's population expected to double in the next 25 years it is critical we meet the demand", says new BOB director Ibrahim Maslamani. The recent hire of four executive-level professionals in the Bureau of Buildings (BOB) an...

Email from Tom Coffin: August 28, 2008 Gregory J. Giornelli Chief Operating Officer City of Atlanta 55 Trinity Ave SW Atlanta, GA 30303 Dear Mr. Giornelli: I write in response to your August 26 letter to the City Council posted on the mayor’s website ( http://www.atlantaga.gov/ ). I do not know why you, as Chief Operating Officer of the city, feel compelled to speak for the Arborist Division and to deny its problems. Whatever the reason, your letter appears as an official communiqué from the mayor’s office. As such it prejudices the ongoing and supposedly independent investigation by the HR department into my still unexplained firing, compromising the investigation and reducing the possibility of an objective evaluation and judgment by the HR investigator. You complain of “misinformation circling that has obscured our track record,” one that makes the Arborist Division “one of the City’s bigger success stories.” I certainly do not deny the significant changes wrought by the Tree Protec...

From NeighborhoodNewspapers.com... "Because of the much-publicized firing last month of the city’s senior arborist, Tom Coffin, the arborist division may get scrutinized and some policies may be up for change." ...more

A broadcast email sent from Tom Coffin on August 26, 2008: The Community Development/Human Resources committee of the City Council today added a new dimension to the response to my firing as Sr. Arborist. In a unanimous vote the committee approved a resolution co-sponsored by Councilmembers Mary Norwood, Anne Fauver, C.T. Martin, Joyce M. Sheperd, Ivory L. Young, Jr., Cleta Winslow, Ceasar C. Mitchell and H. Lamar Willis to “request and authorize the City Auditor through the Audit Committee to conduct an independent audit of the Arborist Division of the Bureau of Buildings, Department of Planning and Community Development.” Not without a bit of farce, however. Ibrahim Maslamani, Director of the Bureau of Buildings, wrote the committee chair, Jim Maddox, saying “Due to the ongoing investigation by HR, we would like to postpone any public presentations on this issue until such investigation is completed.” Joyce Sheperd made the distinction between the “employment issue” of my firing befo...

From: Linda Trower [mailto:lindat01@hotmail.com] Sent: Monday, August 25, 2008 6:47 PM Subject: Meeting with Clair Muller All - Councilmember Clair Muller met with my neighborhood this afternoon. She is very upset with Tom's firing and feels there is a lot of explaining to do. She said she will speak personally with Jim Maddox (he wasn't at the August 18 council meeting) and pass on the injustice done to Tom, the sham investigation being done by the Mayor, the "plan," etc. I felt very encouraged. Shel Schlegman is back from Miami. Shel and I will be at the CD/HR meeting tomorrow. I don't think we can speak, but if we can we are ready. Hope others will be able to attend. Thank you, Linda Trower Concerned Citizen

From: Linda Trower To: mnorwood ; Clair Muller Cc: sheldon schlegman ; jmaddox@atlantaga.gov ; jsheperd@atlantaga.gov ; ccmitchell@atlantaga.gov ; hlwillis@atlantaga.gov ; ilyoung@atlantaga.gov Sent: Monday, August 25, 2008 9:48 AM Dear CD/HR Committee Members: Tom Coffin's firing becomes more insidious by the day. As you can see by the enclosed article , the Mayor's office put a lid on things from the beginning. Tom requested and was billed for 577 pages of email and after the request was "sent upstairs" received only 134. Tom has a legal right to see all 577 pages. Mr. Elder, the HR Investigator, promised to look into the "plan" and include Luz Borrero in his interview schedule. A few minutes later he recalled the earlier message. He will do neither. The investigation will go nowhere as long as it is being handled by HR (the Mayor). I implore the council to do a thorough investigation of Tom Coffin's firing without cause or recourse, the "pl...