Fallen Monterey Pine Tree Over Mission Trail Nature Preserve Trail
Location: Across secondary trail beginning from the Fire Lane between the Flanders Mansion Driveway and Serra Trail towards the Meadow between Flanders Mansion and Martin Road.
And yet another failure to respond...in June 2006, a frequency walker in Carmel-by-the-Sea’s Mission Trail Nature Preserve, sent an e-mail to Mike Branson, City Forester, Parks & Beach; the e-mail communicated concerns about the park. Specifically, a fallen large Monterey Pine tree over the secondary trail off of the Fire Lane between the Flanders Mansion driveway and Serra Trail towards the Meadow between Flanders Mansion and Martin Road. And the substantial undergrowth of overgrown weeds, etc. over all of the secondary trails in Mission Trail Nature Preserve.
Needless to say, City Forester Mike Branson did not acknowledge, nor respond to the individual’s concerns. Furthermore, the large Monterey Pine tree remains over the trail, making it difficult to navigate the trail between the Fire Lane and the Meadow, and the overgrown undergrowth was never cut away from the secondary trails, making it more of a fire hazard this past summer and for summers to come in the future.
For Trail Map, Click on Title of Post above, or copy, paste and click on the following link:
http://www.carmelcalifornia.com/images/missiontrailmap1.jpg
COMMENTS:
• A Comparison between Carmel Beach/Scenic Road Beach Bluff Pathway and Mission Trail Nature Preserve is like a comparison between a favored child and an unwanted step child; the former receives all of the attention, concern and care, while the later receives little to no attention, concern or care. Mission Trail Nature Preserve, the city’s largest park (35 acres), and its enthusiasts deserve better! Imagine: If a Monterey Cypress fell over the Beach Bluff Pathway, would it take the city 3 months and counting to remove it?
• Yet another example of the “City” turning the city’s credo, “THE CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA is hereby determined to be primarily, a residential City,” on its head to read “THE CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA is hereby determined to be primarily, a visitor/tourist destination City.”
• “...and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, November 19, 1863.
Contrariwise, in the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea, it is the government of the City Council and City Staff, by the City Council and City Staff, for the City Council and City Staff.
2 comments:
Mike Branson is as good at his job of acting Forester as he is allowed to be by the mayor and city council. If he had been a strong agressive creative department head, he would have been fired/forced out like all the other city department heads except for the police chief. He gets along by going along. We need to keep in mind that he only has a staff of 2.5 workers and a tiny budget. If he wants to keep his job, he must get an okay from the city administrator, who must get an okay from the mayor, for anything but the most routine matters. It is probably not over the top to assume the mayor told the city manager and he then told Branson not to respond. With his very small staff, Branson probably can only deal with things the mayor gives highest priority.
We need to keep in mind that all the city council members have a philosophy supporting minimal government, minimal revenue and minimal spending for Carmel. Only those things that negatively impact their friends and financial supporters (owners of beach front property but not necessarily Carmel residents for instance), the business community and tourism are likely to get addressed. The beach pathway is one example of that. It seems likely, although it isn't necessarily accurate, that city council members believe Mission Trails Park is not used by tourists very much but is predominately used by residents who have opposed the current regime. The first is therefore near the top of the list and the second near the bottom. Further, city council members seem bent on eventually selling off city property, including open space, so the park may well be on a not yet public list of properties for eventual sale. No point in spending money on something you're going to get rid of.
It isn't as if the money isn't there to fix all the delayed maintainence - the potholes, the park, the dangerous trees etc. The city has the money it just won't spend it. There are reserves in excess of $8 million when other cities of Carmel's size, that can afford it, have reserves between $700 thousand and $3 million. That means Carmel has a surplus of over $5 million, at the least, that the mayor and other members of the city council are unwilling to spend.
Negligence associated with not maintaining city parks and city right-of-ways has real consequences for real people. One example - a Carmelite reported 7 "dangerous" trees to the city. The city inspected only 3 of the 7 trees, cutting down 2 of the 7 trees 5 months later.
A year later, the Carmelite expressed concerns about a tree. The city forester "performed a cursory inspection" of the tree and told her to "keep an eye on it." She does not believe the city is monitoring the tree.
Regarding another tree, the Carmelite alleged in her claim for damages against the city that even though the city forester informed her the tree "did not have long to live," the city has done "nothing about this tree."
All this after a "previously compromised" Monterey Pine on city property fell through the center of her house in Carmel-by-the-Sea.
How many more claims against the city will it take, how many more lawsuits against the city will it take, before the city does the right thing???
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