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acorn editorial 02102011

The root of the problem

2011-02-10 / Editorials

The story of Thousand Oaks homeowner Jerry Yeh in this week’s Acorn (see page 1) serves as an important lesson about publicly funded services: Most of us don’t think about them until something goes wrong.

Be it a burst pipeline, a gaping pothole or, in this case, a fallen tree limb, we’re always quick to point the finger at government when we’re confronted by such mishaps. But the root of the problems, especially at the local level, isn’t usually a lack of service but a lack of funding.

Take the comments of Kevin Wilson, supervisor of the city’s landscaping and maintenance department. When asked to respond to Yeh’s complaint about the lack of landscaping done in his neighborhood, Wilson admits his crew is understaffed.

In the past five years, thanks to the city’s ongoing loss of tax revenue and other funding sources, Wilson’s staff of 33 has dwindled to 24 as employees have retired and haven’t been replaced. Those who are left must care for 29,000 trees throughout the city, in addition to their many other responsibilities.

Try as they might to meet the expectations of taxpayers like Yeh, Wilson’s crew is inevitably going to get behind in their work. Even with the help of contractors to spot overgrown trees, city maintenance workers simply can’t be expected to stay on top of every branch in the city.

So while we understand the frustration felt by Yeh and his neighbors, they need to recognize that city services are suffering everywhere, and landscaping isn’t a priority when weighed against things like law enforcement.

The fact that we don’t hear more stories like Yeh’s is actually surprising given the current state of the economy and its impact on local coffers.

A recently released budget report reveals that sales tax revenue in Thousand Oaks fell 10 percent between fiscal years 2008-09 and 2009-10, costing the city another $2.3 million for vital services.

Think about Yeh and his tree the next time you consider shopping out of town or saying no to a new business that wants to come here. Residents must find a way to balance their own wishes with the city’s need to attract new revenue.

As Yeh learned the hard way, you can’t have your tree and trim it too.

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Broken branch breeds bad blood

2011-02-10 / Front Page

By Michelle Knight

knight@theacorn.com

UNHAPPY—Jerry Yeh of Thousand Oaks stands in front of a huge hole in his shrubbery caused when a branch fell from a city-maintained tree into his yard. IRIS SMOOT/Acorn NewspapersA Thousand Oaks resident is crying foul over a 500-pound tree branch that toppled into his backyard last month, saying the city failed to properly maintain the tree despite receiving his annual fee to do just that.

When Jerry Yeh goes to pay the property taxes on his Thousand Oaks home, every year he tacks on a fee to the city to pay for street lighting and landscaping. This year the fee was $337.

Yeh and his 12 neighbors on Campbell Avenue live within one of the city’s 39 Lighting, Landscaping and Improvement districts.

Those who purchase homes in those districts are required to split the cost of city-maintained flora upkeep and street lighting expenses in the area.

Despite collecting the annual fee, the city failed to live up to its end of the bargain by not properly maintaining the tree, said Yeh, who called the city in September to ask that someone come out and trim the overgrown tree.

A trimming crew leader inspected the tree but, seeing no immediate need, decided to wait until other trees in the area needed specialized attention, said Kevin Wilson, supervisor of the city’s landscaping and maintenance department.

Yeh thinks they dropped the ball.

“I think it was too heavy,” said the 63-year-old of the overhanging branch that fell into his yard on Jan. 29, causing no damage or injury. “It was overgrown and too heavy; it’s that simple.”

Wilson said he’s sympathetic to Yeh but doesn’t agree that the branch’s breaking off had anything to do with a lack of maintenance.

“It was a healthy tree that was growing,” said Wilson, who believes the unseasonably warm winter and high winds were the real culprits.

Warm days can cause a tree to draw more moisture from the ground, adding to its weight, he said. Also, warm weather pro- motes new growth. More branches and leaves mean more surface area to catch the wind, which can twist and turn branches until they break, Wilson said.

According to the National Weather Service, temperatures in the area reached about 80 degrees in the days leading up to Jan. 29. Also, wind gusts that week reached 44 mph and 18 mph that Saturday.

The giant limb, 12 inches in diameter, belonged to a 40-foottall silver dollar eucalyptus tree on the outside of Yeh’s backyard fence. It toppled onto his property and his neighbor’s property in the middle of the night.

Yeh, a semiretired stock trader, has lived in the house with his wife and son since 1997. The tree sits on a slope covered with shrubbery and other trees along the east side of Lynn Road and the south side of Janss Road.

Although Yeh owns the property on which the tree sits, the city maintains the slope.

“City hall insists it’s got to look nice,” Yeh said. “They can do (the maintenance); we homeowners can’t do it.”

His neighbors on the Campbell Avenue cul-de-sac, whose backyards face Lynn and Janss roads, also own the slope beyond their backyard fence that stretches to the sidewalk.

Yeh’s neighbor Pat Graham, an original homeowner, said the city and the fire department require her acre of property to be clear of weeds and debris or she’ll be fined.

The city should be fined for improper maintenance of the trees and shrubs along Lynn and Janss roads, she said.

Graham said the only time the city spruced up the slopes along Lynn and Janss roads was in 2004 for former President Ronald Reagan’s funeral procession.

Wilson said the presidential procession was a special event and called for extra attention to Lynn Road landscaping.

But his department doesn’t have the resources for that level of maintenance for all 400 acres it covers.

The last time trees in this area received a “crown cleaning,” specialized work that’s beyond the training of city landscaping crews and requires an outside contractor, was in March 2007, said Wilson, a certified arborist. The city tries to give all its 29,000 trees such attention every five to seven years, he said.

His staff of 24 workers care for 29,000 trees throughout the city, he said. In the past five years, the department has lost nine workers to retirement, and the city hasn’t replaced them.

The landscaping department is also responsible for clearing weeds and shrubs from city property, painting over graffiti and releasing beneficial insects into the environment.

To help the department, the city has two contractors, including a certified arborist, check city trees every week.

The contractor for Yeh’s sec- tion is responsible for monitoring trees from Moorpark Road to the Dos Vientos housing development in Newbury Park, Wilson said.

The contractors check the trees visually by driving by or walking the area, Wilson said. Trees in need of maintenance are reported to the department, and a crew goes out to perform the work.

“We’re trying not to let anything slip through the cracks,” Wilson said.

Yeh thinks his tree is one that did.

An avid gardener, Yeh said he was very fortunate he wasn’t in his backyard when the giant branch came crashing down.

“I could be in the morgue,” he said.