Tune into Channel 7 at 11 p.m. to watch footage of the City Council approving the ordinance transferring responsibility and liability for street trees to homeowners.
The council chamber was mostly empty and only two people spoke out against the proposal, but the city must have thought people were up in arms over this, because they had a cop with arms folded directly behind me.
I felt a little self conscious about checking my gmail and the final score of the Yankee game, but I did it anyway.
A couple of things to note:
1) Judges rejected a lawsuit challenging a similar law in San Jose
2) This is only for residential homeowners. The city never maintained street trees for private businesses or schools.
All the council members basically said, “Sorry, Charlie.”
Here’s the mayor:
“We can’t do something if we can’t pay for it,” he said. “I hope the day will come when we can restore this service but in the meantime we have to do this.”
Council still has to approve a second reading of the ordinance. That will most likely occur on May 25, and the law would go into effect 30 days after that.
