Tree City Shindig

Mayors, city managers and other illustrious leaders will gather in Hamilton for the Tree City boondoggle. If our city manager and others are going, is this the best use of their time, given the more serious problems of our city? Is this what the taxpayer would want them to do for the money we are paying them through our taxes? Seems like another government "Paducah field trip" to me. OR--- should we all just relax and let the kids "blow off some steam" to get those "creative juices" a flowin' so that they can come back and knock out all those pesky problems we seem to be encountering?   

[QUOTE=scrapmonkey]Wonder how much money has been set aside for our leaders to attend this ? You know it has to be expensive to attend such a fiasco.[/QUOTE]

From The Hamilton Journal-News, April 15, 2009:

“There are four standards that must be met each year to maintain Tree City USA status — Have a tree ordinance, a tree board, spend $2 per capita on trees each year and celebrate Arbor Day.…Other communities that are Tree City USA designees are Oxford, Fairfield and Middletown in Butler County;”

Here’s the link to the entire story: http://www.journal-news.com/news/hamilton-news/tree-city-usa-banquet-to-draw-area-city-leaders-82751.html

Middletown has a population of over 50,000. This means that we have been spending in excess of $100,000 per year for trees.

Are trees more important than Pioneer Cemetery or our city’s streets or public safety?

Pacman wrote: Mike better not ask Armbruster that he'll plant you to see if you grow or die on the vine.