This week much of the news coming out of City
Hall deals with the newly-adopted City Council redistricting maps and
whether to provide free wireless access at the Los Angeles International
Airport. Instead of addressing those topics I will instead address
something that may be of deeper concern: tree trimming.
Over the past few years I have wondered how many people living in our
city or our state directly feel the consequences of the Los Angeles'
financial crisis. Unless one works for the city or regularly uses city
services, is L.A.'s financial distress only felt indirectly?
This week brings news that a city service we may all need at some
point could be threatened by budget woes. Please take a moment to look
out of your window and onto the street. Are the trees trimmed? The
answer is "no" in a number of areas because the city's tree trimming
schedule has been delayed.
Now what exactly does trimming trees have to
do with how people are impacted by the city's financial crisis?
Apparently some of the trees are so overgrown that it will be difficult
or impossible for fire trucks and other emergency vehicles to drive down
streets and respond to emergency calls. This is scary stuff.
How often are the trees trimmed? According to the the Daily News,
every 40 years. Yes, that's right, every four decades. We used to cut
the trees every 15 years, but that's apparently no longer possible in
our current fiscal mess. The Street Tree and Park Maintenance budget was
cut more than $1 million this year, from approximately $9.6 million to
about $8.5 million.
Finish reading this post on KCET.org.
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