Jru is back from vacation and promoting oak trees.From Jru:
My name is Jru and you might know me from the treesit in Encinitas when I was on t.v. like every day for a week. Glad that's over and of course it would've been nice to save the tree, but here's the good news: This coming friday at La Milpa Organica Farm in Escondido we're having our third full moon music party. This time we'll have daytime demonstrations and workshops starting at 4pm and we'll be planting over 100 native oaks. Come learn how to do it and stay after dark for the music. There will be several bands from reggae to rock to fusion. After 8pm the Cricket Lounge One Star Orchestra will be recruiting anyone from the crowd to join in with makeshift instruments, guitars, mandolins, tamborines, harmonicas and banjos and what not.
...
I would be happy to help represent any green cause. Current workshops include worm bin construction, recycled jewelry making, a presentation by my good friend Theophilos on the realization of the fourth dimension and a presentation by my friend Dan from resurf.org.
Thank you for your support during the treesit and I hope to see you all soon.
Peace,
Jru
No word on if Jru will attend Wednesday night's council meeting where the whole Orpheus tree drama will be publicly discussed by policy makers.
Bloggers note: I emailed Jru and I offered to give up my evening and come on down to city hall to give him a time donation so that he might have his say, which should be interesting.
See Also: Trees vs Views
Sweet. Great Job Jru and Kevin-
ReplyDeleteCome on Jru. This is your time to have undivided media attention for trees cause. Thanks for all that you've done. We, who realize the importance of tree, appreciates the focus on preservation more than the common N.County SUV driving YUPPY will ever know. Luckily the children learned an important lesson about trees and questioning the unfounded actions of Government employees.
Hopefully, they will learn the lesson of accountability. We shall see.
I will be there. It should be the best council meeting of the year.
I cant wait to hear the answer to Fred's question. Who gave the order to remove the trees instead of a simple trim?
Chain Saw-Woops Again Frenken or Whats Going On? Hazeltine.
We demand an answer to a simple question.
Be there or B-square.
I just read the N. County Times article. Its obvious the Parks Department Staff are clueless.
ReplyDeleteBoth Frenken and Hazeltine need to get get axed just like the tree they careless about and murdered over the years.
I got an email back from Jru. I have to admit that I was surprised that he said he was even going to show up at the council meeting. I will be very interested in what he has to say.
ReplyDeleteI don't think this will be the best meeting of the year, but it should be interesting to see. Most of the people involved or speaking out on this issue, on either side, haven't put together a complete or coherent argument.
anon 8:28,
ReplyDeleteWhat important lesson did the children learn about trees?
For you, is it ever ok to cut down a healthy tree?
Maggie is showing her usual lack of leadership by allowing two meetings instead of one. Staff comes first, citizens, second.
ReplyDeleteMaggie just goes for whatever staff wants. I think it is a good idea for Orpheus to be worked out first and then for the policy to be heard after they have some time to think.
ReplyDeleteKevin C-
ReplyDeleteThe lesson children hopefully learned is that trees are at the wim of careless humans, and without proper respect and care we could have a treeless community.
answer to your second question- Yes. If there is good reason. Many times there is not a good reason and the trees could easily be trim.
Jru..Jru..Jru...or wahtever your name is...go back to somewhere/nowhere and do some REAL work..not just showboating your "greeen" ideas which went absolutely nowhere!!
ReplyDeleteYOU are in it for the 3 seconds of fame...I guess Santa Barbara figured your "cause" as well!
Jru had no idea he would garner such press. Circuit City could have taken some tips from him on news worthy public relations if that was the case. The only way they can get national media attention is to close 500 stores. Kind of surprised we had to get a surrogate a tree hugger though, seeing how much we all love trees here. Well, most of us anyway.
ReplyDelete"we could have a treeless community"
ReplyDeleteThat seems like overstretching the implications of the Orpheus tree removal.
Not sure what The Guy Without a Job (aka Jru) will add to the meeting. He deserves some thanks though, since without his treesitting, the issue wouldn't be on the agenda.
ReplyDeleteI agreed with Fred's request to know who signed off on removing and "replacing" the trees, but mostly so that it informs the discussion that will follow about an Urban Forest Management policy. For that reason, the Mayor was correct to have the Orpheus Park discussion prior to the meeting about the UFM policy.
A cynic might say that the City Manager made the decision to remove the Orpheus Park trees before he had to go through the process that should be the result of a reasonable UFM policy. But the staff report on the matter doesn't really say who gave the go-ahead for removal, which is unfortunate. Nor does it give any indication how far down the "chain-of-command" a decision for tree removal has been delegated.
It seems like the Staff Report could be rewritten to provide more clarity.
Kevin-
ReplyDeleteMaybe.
Maybe its just me, but it seems like trees are being downed at an alarming rate all around Leucadia.
As mentioned, Jru called attention to the tree issue and as a result hopefully some positive change will occur.
# 1 the trees that were cut down in the encinitas pocket park were NOT in Leucadia.
ReplyDelete#2 If you would like to plant traditional trees to Leaucadia then plant Avocados.
#3 send the KOOK back to Orange County, Santa Barbara or wa
hat ever lacking community that he came from.... he is NOT educated in invested in nor vested in this Community.
Leucadia Native.
P.S. Dude wouldn't know where the orignal flee market was or why it moved, Roger or Susie, nor the easiest of all where the original Beacons stairs were.
...or the gypsy camp.
ReplyDelete"# 1 the trees that were cut down in the encinitas pocket park were NOT in Leucadia."
ReplyDeleteWhat park are you talking about?
I am talking about Orpheus Park and Leucadia Road Side Park. I beleive both are clearly within Leucadia.
Leucadia starts at the base of Athena Street - there used to be a sign on the highway. Now, people talk about Leucadia like it starts just north of Encinitas Blvd. - wrong! Central School is in Encinitas, as is the Pannikin.
ReplyDelete"we could have a treeless community"
ReplyDeleteExaggerate much?
The roadside park trees were diseased and a threat to those of us that live in the area. You wouldn't understand as you don't even know where Leucadia is and care more about the trees than human life.
ReplyDeleteLeucadia Native
p.s. i miss Lolo's Pizza.
My view and based on firsthand discussions, the view of the vast majority of residents that live within one mile or so of Orpheus park:
ReplyDelete1. Jru is a transient who came to our area, lived in a tree, stirred shit up and left all his trash behind when he unsuccessfully completed his mission.
2. Our kids should be in school learning about math, science and language and not out of class celebrating Jru and his cause.
Jru may have good intentions, but the trees he was attempting to protect were fast growing landscape trees that needed to go. There were essentially ugly bushes. The focus should be on the much more significant “crimes” against trees such as cutting down the Torrey Pine on Orpheus near the fire station cutting down the healthy Cedar in roadside park.
Let parents teach their children about environmental ethics, not teachers hired to teach the 3Rs.
Anonymous Leucadia Native:
ReplyDeleteUnion Street is the line of demarcation for Leucadians vs. Encinitasans, which would mean the park pretty much sits on the border of the two.
But what's the point of so finely splitting hairs? When the City Council meets, they decide upon issues that impact the communities that make up the city, all five being unique.
Leucadia's boundaries depend on how far back in time you want to go. Since Leucadians settled the area first, they got to name the streets within their territory after Greek gods. That is why Vulcan Ave goes all the way through Encinitas to Cardiff. That is also why Saxony and Neptune go half way through "Old Encinitas". I don't know when "Encinitas" drew the line at property that is now the Pannikin, but they did. I doubt if a Leucadian did it. Things like incorporation sought to eliminate Leucadia altogether, but because our communities are stubborn and appeciate their heritage we've kept our names and hung of to what we have left - boundary wise. Prior to incorporation to the north, Leucadia went to the center of the Batiquitos Lagoon. Not so now. Some big wig in Carlsbad swooped down on it in 1986. Now the entire lagoon is theirs. And yes, that was one person's decision too. Who's? Ha. We'll never know.
ReplyDeleteThe last effort to remove Leucadia would have been Redevelopment. Fortunately, we still have enough life to fend that off. Twice now. So when people get their knickers in a twist about Orpheus Park not being in Leucadia, I just say whatever. We've been encroached upon from all sides from day one.
The Pacific side being the slowest.
Fred
ReplyDeleteWell said. It is interesting to note that those on the Southern hill in Leucadia have drawn their boundries as the see it benefiting them. When the condos were developed next to what is now this park they were Encinitas all the way.
This nut in the tree and the weedy tree he was sitting in will soon be forgotten and won't mae the history books of either community.
Leucadia Native
Mature orchid trees are not weeds in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteAt this point, Leucadia is a state of mind. And in the mind of the three stooges, it needs to be spanked and marginalized. But for those Leucadians and Encinitans, in the spirit of our ancestors who danced with wolves in diaphanous white robes, De Wald would have developed every inch with hundred story butt-ugly condos.
ReplyDeleteAny plant or tree in the wrong place is WEED.
ReplyDeleteMy friend Sheila Cameron submitted these questions at a city hall meeting a few weeks ago. I hope all of them will be answered tomorrow night.
ReplyDelete---------------------------------
Questions to Answer in the Agenda Packet on the subject of the Orpheus Park Trees
Submitted by Sheila S. Cameron, for the record, on behalf of many citizens in the community
We request that the Staff report on the Orpheus Park Trees respond to the following questions:
1) What prompted the decision to cut down the Trees in Orpheus Park?
2) When was that decision made?
3) What alternatives, if any were considered?
4) How did Staff arrive at the decision to cut down the trees?
5) Who made the decision to cut down the trees?
6) Why?
7) WHY after 9 days of negative publicity and reporting in 3 local newspapers, all local television stations, and even the national news, was the 11th tree, the last tree that was not blocking any views, cut down?
8) Who made that decision?
9) How can you justify cutting down trees to preserve views when the City has no protective view ordinance?
10) Where is the Master Plan for this Park? It was the first Park Master Plan in the City of Encinitas – so where is it?
Cost Questions:
1) What was the annual cost of pruning the trees before removal.
2) The cost of the cutting and removal of the 11 trees?
3) The cost of planting the 22 new trees?
4) The cost of replanting 2 magnolias that were planted in the wrong location (right where 2 of the trees had been removed) and then moved?
5) The cost of purchase of new mulch around the trees?
6) What is the cost for installing the mulch?
7) The cost of hand watering for the new plantings?
8) The projected cost of pruning the new plantings?
9) The projected service life of the new plantings?
Additional questions about the 22 “new” trees:
1) Why were the replacement trees not properly planted in holes at least 3 times the diameter (4 times is better) of the containers with the topsof their root balls exposed above grade?
2) Why were plastic arbor guards installed to protect the trunks from string trimmers and mower damage when the turf should have been removed to 3 (or 4) times the diameter of the root balls?
3) Why were the chippings from the removed trees taken from the site, paid to be disposed of when they are a valuable resource that could have been utilized on site?
4) Why were such large container size trees planted? Three 5-gallon size trees could be planted for the cost of one 15 gallon tree or 9-10 five gallon for the cost of one 24” box tree? Actually, the smaller trees are less likely to have defective root systems or have other structural problems and would grow faster.
5) Why weren’t the loquats transplanted with tree spade? This could probably have been done at less cost than planting the new trees.
6) What was the design intent of the new plantings? How does it benefit the community?
7) Why were no native trees used?
8) Who determined what trees were to be planted and where they were to be planted? (mostly in the shade)
9) Why were two high-water use tree species (magnolia and So. Live oak) from the east coast, planted when we are in a drought condition and faced with reduced water availability?
10) Why are new trees planted at the front of Orpheus Park creating a safety situation where there will be no visibility into the park from the street by the public or Sheriff’s deputies?
11) Why was no consideration given to the views of homeowners on the South side and East side of the park?
Finally, we request that all the 22 “new” trees that are inappropriate for Orpheus Park be removed and placed in some other parts of the City. Perhaps the Magnolias can be returned to where they were purchased or given to private owners in another City.
Thank you.