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DPW proposes corridor ambassadors and a shift of many street-tree responsibilities to property owners
Summary
Public Works proposed a partial restoration of its community corridors program and recommended transferring maintenance responsibility for many city street trees to fronting property owners over several years, citing limited resources and a $600,000 proposed reduction.
Ed Ryskin, Director of Public Works, told the Budget and Finance Committee the department faces a long-term mismatch between service demand and resources and proposed a set of targeted changes to preserve core frontline services.
The budget includes a $950,000 community corridors apprenticeship program that would put workers into busy commercial corridors to proactively pick up litter, remove graffiti, enforce refuse rules and act as ambassadors to merchants and property owners. "These folks are actively addressing any deficiencies they see, garbage, graffiti, or the like," Ryskin said.
At the same time, DPW proposed reducing the number of city-employed arborists from 11 to 7 and beginning a systematic transfer—over a multi-year period—to shift maintenance responsibility for many street trees that DPW now maintains onto the fronting property owners. Ryskin said maintaining the agency's current portion of the urban forest would require an additional $3M–$4M in ongoing funding; absent that, DPW proposes a seven-year program to align maintenance responsibilities with available resources.
Supervisors expressed concern about the urban forest proposal and the quality of street conditions, welcomed a partial corridors restoration and asked DPW to work on alternative, sustainable funding options for tree care while also stepping up enforcement against illegal dumping and blight.
