I hope that the actual “policy manual” with regard to maintaining and preserving city trees will be specific and will make sure that nothing ever happens again like what took place in Orpheus Park.

One of the main public concerns regarding taking out eleven healthy trees, there, was the lack of opportunity for citizen input and Council discussion at a public hearing BEFORE the much loved trees were “axed.”

One public speaker at the 3/18/09 Encinitas Council Meeting brought in the Davis’ Tree Policy Manual. This would be a good guide to establishing our policy here. What we don’t want in Encinitas is for the three man majority on Council to continue to ignore the public outcry and to write one another and staff, while making it clear they WERE NOT WILLING TO WAIT FOR PUBLIC INPUT. The e-mails that were exchanged constituted wrongful Council “meetings” according to the Brown Act, and were apparently the reason the City Manager told Chris Hazeltine, of the Parks and Recreation Department to go ahead, don’t wait for a public hearing.

Dan Dalager WAS INVOLVED despite what he said at the 3/11/09 Council Meeting. He wrote a letter to all of Council, much of staff, which he also copied to the Media, blasting Teresa Barth by implication, and saying that she was interfering with staff, and “waving red flags.” He went over to Paul Ecke school and spoke to teachers there, objecting to the peaceful protest in which students had participated, trying to save the trees.