John Gaccione

Subject: Diseased, Dying & Dead trees
Date: 12/05/2022
From: The Environmental Design Desk

I think I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree, wrote the poet Joyce Kilmer.

The Kensington Police Protection & Community Service District Board held a special meeting on 11/30/2022 to decide how to proceed with the removal of dead and diseased trees in the Kensington Park. But the Joyce Kilmer branch of the Saving Kensington’s Future group had other ideas in mind.

At the start of the public comment section the focus of the meeting changed. The first caller said Director Nottoli wanted the 32 trees she identified as being problematic to be all gone. Despite the consultant’s reports, the caller claimed some of the trees were O.K. A following caller added Director Nottoli only consulted with arborists who agreed with her on which trees to cut down.

A KPPCSD Director-elect spoke next, advising the current Board to listen to the community and to take the opportunity to redeem their image now. The Director-elect noted there was talk of consultants rubber stamping Director Nottoli’s plan, but no evidence was provided to verify the claim. Can I get a prophecy?

Several SKF themes became obvious; the mistrust of arborist’s opinions and tree experts the Board had used, the ignorance of the liability issues for the District, the bashing of the Davey Tree Service contract for being self-serving and the repeated claim Director Nottoli used only consultants who agreed with her plan.

Additional SKF themes include; don’t rush, pause and take the time to get more expert consultants, get a replanting plan in place, it’s a lame duck session let the new board fix the problem and Director Nottoli will personally be held responsible later if the process is rushed.

Seems like some SKF folks revert to attacking the messenger instead of facing the issue at hand; the dead and diseased trees are not the problem, Director Nottoli & the KPPCSD Board are the problem. Haven’t we seen members of the SKF Steering Committee use this approach in the past?

There has been a lot of chatter about it being time for new voices and changemakers. Where are those “creative solutions and fresh ideas” the SKF folks were supposed to be bringing?

“A tree’s a tree. How many more do you need to look at?” (Ronald Reagan)

Note: Satire alert; this post has not been authorized by the SKF “Thought Leaders”.