Keep the Trees, Save Big Bucks

Dear Editor,

Mayor Bloom opposes the notion of keeping the large, healthy Ficus trees on Second and Fourth Streets in place. Your October 5 article "Commission Letter Urges Council to Delay Tree Removal" quotes mayor Bloom saying this:

"“This costs everybody in the city money,” Bloom said. “It’s not like it’s a simple thing. We’ve waited three years. We’ve changed the program."

Now, I admit that sometimes it is difficult to find ways of saving money, especially when we're talking about municipal expenditures.

But giving it a bit of thought, I found a quick money-saving, albeit amazingly revolutionary idea for Mayor Bloom: keep the large healthy Ficus where they are!

Don't block the streets, dig exploratory holes, yank out the trees and then move them down the street or around the block for re-planting. Simply leave them in place and proceed with the rest of the streetscape program.

This truly simple thing all in itself will save taxpayers six hundred thousand dollars, by the city's own reckoning. Keep the trees. Don't move them. Savings: Big Bucks!

No charge for the service. You're welcome.

Dan Jansenson