By MICHAEL TITTINGER is Editor of the Santa Monica Daily Press. When he’s not waxing nostalgic about Wiffle Ball glory, he
N EVER H UGGED A TREE. I’M NOT worried about catching any STDs, it’s just not really my thing.
In fact, one of my epic childhood quests was to convince my dad to cut down the pear tree that flourished smack in the middle of our backyard, effectively dividing our Wiffle Ball field in two. When I think about the ones that got away, I mull over some of those majestic shots that, instead of fluttering down neatly on the opposite side of the chain-link fence, stopped dead amid a cluster of branches and rotten fruit.
Of course, spending every Saturday afternoon picking up bee-covered pears before cutting the lawn, and grinding the missed ones into a palpable sweet-n-sour mist of decay, wasn’t a favorite pastime either.
I cannot tell a lie. I did not chop down that tree... but I would’ve if I could’ve.
No matter your leanings regarding the ongoing ficus flak, this mounting battle between fervent environmentalists and a development-minded city government is not only high theater, but it raises a number of important questions. It also embodies the dichotomy of a progressive city with a cozy beach town past.
It seems the line in the sand between environmentalists and city officials is being drawn with a tattered ficus branch across the cracked sidewalk of Fourth Street.
Few stories have generated such continuing interest here in the DP newsroom as the city’s plan to remove more than 50 mature ficus trees from downtown stretches of Second and Fourth streets, the uprooting and replanting being part of a larger $8 million beautification effort. Really, no story has sparked such an engaged response from all sides of the spectrum since I’ve been at the big desk.
The unending public conversation — both in these pages and elsewhere — should be enough to give the City Council pause as they continue to march forward. It warrants a second look. Any politician can attest to the importance of appearances, and right now, it appears the City Council isn’t listening to a pretty big swath of its constituents.
All of which begs the fundamental question: Do we elect representatives to decide what’s best for us, or do we want them to respond when we’re banging on their doors saying, “No, no, no.”
Parallels can be drawn to much broad-er, more daunting issues facing our nation, where an increasing movement is calling on its government to respond to their wants, even if they approved a different course of action years ago. But an obstinate administration continues along with its stated path, irregardless, and a country’s collective frustration mounts.
Maybe these are some of the reasons why the fate of some trees — a silly debate to most, for sure — still resonates with many Santa Monicans so profoundly. They see a perceived commercially-driven injustice that will result in a death toll and think that they just might be able to do something about it. In altering the predetermined outcome, frustrated residents just might taste some semblance of victory for all the haranguing they’ve lobbed at their elected officials — local, state and national alike.
Here, at least, a diplomatic solution would be tangible. It could be savored with every hugging of a tree, filling just a minuscule portion of that collective hole in the hearts of so many disaffected Americans today.
The fate of 50-odd ficus trees is a story that typifies everything that is Santa Monica — activism, environmentalism, tourism, development, representative government, free speech, progress, forward-thinking, commerce and debate. This story’s got everything and everybody is having their say, and thanks to last Friday’s emergency restraining order that kept the axes in the woodshed, there’s three more weeks to say it.
A silly tree story? There’s more to it between the lines.
And if they chop ’em down, we may be left with less to hug, but just might gain a pretty sweet Wiffle Ball field.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 10, 2007. Read the original PDF.