Chuck Bennett's shameful role in U.S. Bank tree killings

Chuck Bennett is running for Mayor of Salem. I'm sharing an email about Bennett that voters should read before they choose between him and Carole Smith, the other candidate for Mayor. 

The email shows that Chuck Bennett was complicit in a shameful moment -- the needless killing in 2013 of the five large, beautiful, healthy Japanese Zelkova trees on downtown's State Street. At the time, as now, Bennett represented Ward 1, which includes the Historic District.

Yet Bennett not only did nothing to save the U.S. Bank trees from being cut down for no good reason, he actively participated in an unethical backroom deal between Peter Fernandez, the City of Salem Public Works Director, and Ryan Allbritton, the U.S. Bank president.

The whole story is in my tell-all 2014 report, "Outrage: Salem's U.S. Bank tree killings."

Download Outrage - Salem's U.S. Bank tree killings

Subtitle: The true story of how City officials and the bank president cut down five large, healthy, beautiful downtown trees for no good reason, and misled citizens about why they did it.

Remember the U.S. Bank trees? If you've lived in Salem for more than a few years, almost certainly you do. They were striking. The public records documents I paid $726.61 for included letters from out-of-state people pleading that the trees be saved, because they loved to see them when they came to Salem.

This was my favorite tree. The one closest to Commercial Street. I felt really close to that tree. This is how I ended the "Outrage" report.

On a personal note… I took this photo of the beautiful Japanese Zelkova at the corner of Commercial and State Streets after telling the tree, “I promise that I will do everything I can to save your life.”

I kept that promise. Yet the tree still was killed. I’m deeply sorry for that. Call me crazy — I’ve been called worse — but I felt a strong connection with that tree. I still do. It was a friend of mine. I know this, because I’ve got tears in my eyes as I write these final words, and I don’t cry very often. Usually just when someone or something I love touches me.
         
        — Brian Hines

Memorial for a dead U.S. Bank tree

So, yeah, the needless destruction of the U.S. Bank trees was personal to me. I still feel sick every time I walk or drive by that part of State Street and see the small spindly replacement trees. Downtown Salem was much diminished when the mature Japanese Zelkovas were turned into stumps.

Partly because of Chuck Bennett. This is why I decided he deserved the "honor" of being the subject of the first Salem Political Snark post. What he did in 2013 should matter to voters in 2016. 

Below is a February 18, 2013 email sent by U.S. Bank president Allbritton to Public Works Director Fernandez.

Keep in mind that (1) Fernandez' order to cut down the trees was issued three weeks later on March 12, 2013; (2) the Shade Tree Advisory Committee which, at that time, made expert recommendations to Fernandez about street tree removals, had already said twice that the five U.S. Bank trees should be pruned, not removed, and (3) Fernandez tells Allbritton in his reply that supposedly he has "not yet made a final decision."

Download Allbritton email to Fernandez highlighted

click to enlarge

I've highlighted the most outrageous parts of Ryan Allbritton's email to Peter Fernandez. 

Lobbying behind the scenes. I spoke with several City Council members. Sure, we know this goes on at all levels of government. But City staff, such as Urban Forester Jan Staszewski, were telling me and others who were trying to save the Japanese Zelkovas that a decision to remove street trees was akin to approving an electrical permit: cut and dried, all aboveboard, nothing to see here.

Well, I've never heard of City Council members lobbying public officials to approve an electrical permit.

U.S. Bank made its formal pitch to the Shade Tree Advisory Committee to have the trees removed. Twice the committee said "prune, don't remove." After all, the trees weren't causing any problems that couldn't be fixed by pruning/trimming.

But the email I got from my public records request shows that City Council members -- including Warren Bednarz, who is running for re-election this year against Sally Cook -- had jumped into the tree removal process to lobby Fernandez to approve the bank's removal request. This should tick off the people who played by the rules and testified before the Shade Tree Advisory Commitee, figuring (correctly) this was how the City's tree ordinance said the process should go.

Bennett was even sneakier in his lobbying to have the trees removed. Chuck Bennett is a professional lobbyist. So this could explain why he told Allbritton that he didn't want to email Public Works Director Fernandez and City Manager Norris about his support for having the U.S. Bank trees removed. Paper trail!

(Of course, if Bennett had been really smart, he also would have told Allbritton not to write in an email about Bennett's desire to personally speak with Fernandez and Norris.)

Lots of people who lived and worked in Ward 1, the downtown area, were hugely upset that the trees might be killed. But instead of trying to save them, Bennett supported their removal, even indicating to bank president Allbritton that their removal was a "done deal." 

Wow. No wonder citizens lose faith in City government.

As noted above, they play by the rules. They go to hearings of committees that are supposed to help decide street tree removal decisions. They present expert testimony. They expect that what they say will be seriously considered by public officials. 

Yet Bennett tells Allbritton that three weeks before Fernandez has made a final decision about the trees, their removal is a "done deal." Sadly, Bennett was right. Bennett knew that behind the scenes, outside of public view, City officials had already decided that the trees were dead and gone.

Bennett and other city councilors knew about the backroom deal. Read my "Outrage" report to learn the details of the unethical deal Fernandez and Allbritton made to have the State Street trees removed three years before U.S. Bank applied for a permit to have them cut down. 

Allbritton speaks of this deal, saying he made sure to let Bennett and other city councilors "know of the agreement our company verbally made with city staff three years ago." Verbally. So no paper trail. Not the way things are supposed to work at the Salem City Hall.

(But I bet this kind of crap happens a lot, especially in the Public Works Department.)

Amazingly, neither City Councilor Nanke, nor Clem, nor Clausen, nor Bednarz, nor Bennett had any misgivings about City staff (a.k.a. Peter Fernandez) making a backroom deal to have the U.S. Bank trees removed three freaking years before the bank went through the formal application process for this to happen.

By New Jersey standards, this sort of sleaze would be viewed as business-as-usual, just the way things are done. Here in Oregon, though, hopefully we have higher standards. 

Picketers protesting removal of U.S. Bank trees

Voters have to decide how they feel about Chuck Bennett working to have the U.S. Bank trees cut down from behind the scenes, while many of his Ward 1 constituents were trying hard to save the trees through what they thought was a fair, open public process.

Salem Political Snark just tells it like it is. Salem citizens can take it from there.

Comments

[Chuck Bennett]

As usual Brian you have taken a comment and tried to stretch it out into something more than it is.
It is correct, when asked about the tree removal, it was clear that it was "a done deal."
Given the state of our ordinances on this, there was nothing to be done. With that, I chose to move ahead and change the ordinance by having a citizen committee rewrite it so that there is a more objective system in place. And, that's what was adopted.
I understand you support my opponent but you can do that without making up motives for me in an old issue where you clearly are mistaken and were the first time you wrote it.

[Brian Hines]

Chuck, what you said isn't true. Please read my "Outrage" report. Every page. Including the concluding opinion letter from my land use attorney. You obviously aren't acquainted with the facts in this matter.

http://hinessight.blogs.com/hinessight/2014/05/outrage-the-true-story-of-salems-us-bank-tree-killings.html

In 2013 there was nothing in the tree ordinance that allowed the removal of the U.S. Bank trees. In fact, there was no mention of tree removals at all, only plantings. My attorney confirmed this. Peter Fernandez made stuff up to justify fulfilling the backroom deal he made with Ryan Allbritton, a deal you were complicit in when you didn't protest Fernandez putting a non-binding verbal agreement ahead of the facts about the U.S. Bank trees.

There was plenty to be done to save the trees in 2013, especially by the City Council. But you and other members of the council were taken in by an email from Fernandez where he made indefensible legal arguments about the tree ordinance. You and others let the tree killings happen, while I and others were doing our best to save the trees.

Regarding being mistaken, Chuck, you need to point out specific instances where I have been factually wrong. Read the "Outrage" report. In the two years since I released the report, no one has shown me an error in it. I sent the report to you and other City officials back in 2014. I assume that if anyone had a factual problem with it, that would have been pointed out to me.

So stop with the false "you lie" accusations. Either show me demonstrable evidence about a fact I stated being wrong, or admit that you simply disagree with my conclusions about the facts, not the facts themselves. Are you really this bothered by thoughtful criticism of you? If so, you're following in the footsteps of our current Mayor.

[Harry Vanderpool]

Great Idea and interesting first post, Brian.
However, it was seriously lacking in snarkiness.
Do I need to give you lessons on snark?
:p

[Brian Hines]

Good point, Harry. I need to ramp up my Snark. I'm so used to being all reasonable, factual, and logical, my Snark IQ isn't as elevated as it should be. Give me a chance. Or... give me lessons in snarkiness.

(Now that I think about it, all I have to do is read some of the comments you've left on my HinesSight blog. Damn, they could be snarky! Especially when directed at me. All in good fun, of course.)

[Douglas Timms]

What was the official rationale given for destroying the trees rather than pruning them? Surely they must have made a strong case, in light of the public opposition.

[Brian Hines]

Douglas, actually there wasn't a strong case made by Fernandez in his order to allow the tree removals. At the time, Fernandez made the final decision, so he was able to ignore the recommendation of expert arborists and the Shade Tree Advisory Committee to prune the trees, rather than remove them.

Below the line is what I said in my report about the B.S. reason Fernandez came up with to have the trees removed. Of course, my strong opinion is that the real reason is that Fernandez wanted to honor his unethical verbal backroom deal with Allbritton to have the trees cut down. After all, Allbritton was the incoming Chamber of Commerce president, and City officials pretty much do anything the Chamber wants (the Chamber's PAC is a big contributor to the election campaigns of conservatives running for Mayor and City Council).

Fernandez claimed that wording in the tree ordinance pertaining to planting street trees so they don't obscure architectural features required him to cut down all five trees. My attorney said this wasn't true. Further, t kept arguing to Fernandez and Allbritton after three of the trees had been cut down that it made sense to keep the other two -- since even though none of the trees should be removed, given the law and expert arborist advice, now that three were gone, obviously 60% of any architectural obscuring had been dealt with.

But Fernandez and Allbritton, along with Bennett and other city councilors, thought it was more important to preserve their backroom deal than do what was best for Salem. This was a shameful moment for this town. Here's the excerpt from my Outrage report.
---------------------
On April 8, the day of a City Council meeting where this issue could have been discussed, Fernandez emailed the Mayor and city councilors, misleading them about both his decision and the Shade Tree Advisory Committee’s attempt to have the U.S. Bank trees designated as Heritage Trees.

Fernandez wrongly claimed “a review of the code clearly indicated that the bank had a right to remove the trees per the provisions of SRC 86.130(c)(1).” That’s a lie. As noted before, this part of the tree ordinance says: “Trees shall not be planted in a location which would obscure significant architectural features.”

Fernandez knew the Shade Tree Advisory Committee had concluded that this section of the Salem Revised Code did not apply to street tree removals in the downtown area.

Fernandez did not cite any legal opinion from a City attorney supporting his assertion that the code clearly indicated the bank could remove the trees. On the other hand, my land use and environmental law attorney gave me an opinion that comes to the opposite conclusion (included with this report).

[Salemander]

Why did they even want to cut down the trees so badly? I would guess 99% of people think trees are cool and good, why did Ryan Allbritton hate them so much?

All this backroom dealing and twisting of ordinances and disregarding of expert opinion seems so dumb just to cut down trees.