As I wrote in my diary here last week , Tom Coffin has been fired a Senior Arborist of Atlanta with no cause. He seems to be caught up in some plan where officials in the Mayor Shirley Franklins’ office are either purposely, but certainly effectively gutting the enforcement of Atlanta’s Tree Protection Ordinance. This is not just about one person and his job, this is about what kind of government we want.. Atlantan’s save August 26th for more action. The only media we have left is the Creative Loafing. More juice after the fold.
When I say effectively gutting the Tree Protection Ordinance, I can say that I am not alone in this assessment. The following quote is from a letter to the Mayor from a Garden Hills resident (I have redacted an address).
With Tom Coffin out of the developers’ way, OPEN SEASON on Buckhead’s trees began this past weekend. A beautiful 22" magnolia tree was removed by R. Tree Service at XXXX Ellwood Drive, NE this past Saturday, in the Garden Hills neighborhood just blocks from my house. No posting was ever noticed by the neighbors who called to report this tree to me, and the tree appeared very healthy before its destruction. One neighbor asked R. Tree Service for a permit to cut the tree and the tree service was unable to produce one.
There were many people at the Council Meeting speaking on behalf or supportive of the investigation into Tom’s firing and the Arborist Division in general. But there was an odd thing. The replacement arborist, Janelle Brazille stood up to justify her effectiveness. She did so on the clock and had to have had permission (or orders?) from her supervisor, Ainsley Caldwell. Let’s see how effective she is, as JB on the following chart. Keep in mind her area is the very active in construction. Can you tell which column is Tom’s work?.
Last week 7 trees were cut down in her area. She permitted for only two. Do you think she will impose the required fines for the others? Her signature line on emails is "have a treefantastic day! I love irony. Don’t you?
I have personal knowledge of some other tree related hi-jinks in my own neighborhood, but do not want this argument to be undercut (excuse the pun) by my own concerns. This issue is bigger than one tree and one person. Tom thinks so too and told the Mayor in his letter.
My job is certainly important, especially to me. The greater question, however, is the impact of my dismissal on the urban forest that defines Atlanta and greatly enhances the quality of our lives. If the Bureau of Buildings succeeds in this attempt to silence the demands I have been making for accountability to and enforcement of the law, the Tree Protection Ordinance becomes a dead letter, suitable for framing.
Mary Norwood is a City Council Woman at large and she is running for Mayor. See her website here. I support her. She submitted paper to the Council yesterday to independently audit the Arborist Division, including Tom’s firing. This will be taken up by the Community Development and Human Resource Committee. This meeting will be held Tuesday, August 26 at 12:30 pm at City Hall in the 2nd floor committee room. Mary's paper is on the agenda. The meeting is open to the public. I encourage the public to attend or at minimum contact the committee.
Jim Maddox jmaddox@atlantaga.gov is the Chair. Joyce Sheperd jsheperd@atlantaga.gov is the Vice-Chair and members are: mary norwood mnorwood@atlantaga.gov , Kwanza Hall khall@atlantaga.gov, Ceasar C. Mitchell ccmitchell@atlantaga.gov, H.Lamar Willis hlwillis@atlantaga.gov, Ivory Lee Young ilyoung@atlantaga.gov.
The Mayor’s Office has failed to produce documents from Open Records Act requests for Tom’s firing because, they say he was an "unclassified" employee, and therefore they don’t have to supply the documents. This is the city’s sad response. I redacted the address and fax of the citizen who made the request.
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Tom was just "promoted" to supervisor not long ago, and then fired for no cause. But his status as classified or unclassified is more than questionable. Now, why would you promote a guy just to fire him? Hmmmmmmm. To change his status so that no one has to be accountable to the citizens of Atlanta .... maybe?
I’d like to make a few comparisons. Remember when Congress told Reagan he could not send money or arms to support the Contra’s in Nicaragua? How did he get around congress’s intentions? George Bush does not like being hampered by the Constitution and the Congressional FISA laws, how did he get around those? And that’s only a couple of 750 examples.
My point is that I don’t want the City Council to buckle and cave to the Mayor’s office like the US Congress has done in the face of George Bush. Hey, if the Mayor’s office and their Developer friends don’t like protecting the Tree Canopy of Atlanta, say so and we can debate the Ordinance. Firing Tom Coffin and hiring ineffective or intimidated employees is no way to get things done, or not done as the case may be. Its total crap as a matter of fact. It is sleazy too.
Can you hear it Atlanta? BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ, Thud, BZZZZZZZZZZ, Thud.