Report on Slopes

During the Feb. 4 council meeting, Councilwoman Cathy Schlicht’s agenda item on landscape contracts drew fire. She had asked for rebidding of the city’s two-year contracts to include refurbishment and rehabilitation of slopes. The 45-minute discussion included a slideshow by city administrator Keith Rattay with others contributing to an all-out attack.

Landscape contracts seem to be a touchy subject for the city staff. Is it a city employee’s job to orchestrate a presentation against a council member’s agenda item? The barrage continued with lengthy comments and irrelevant data.

Councilman Frank Ury opposes almost everything Councilwoman Schlicht supports, so his snarky remarks weren’t a surprise. He insisted her characterization of city-maintained slopes was false, but she responded with specifics, identifying areas in need of refurbishing. Instead of admitting he had no knowledge, Ury asked Rattay how many citizens had complained about slopes.

Why is Ury confused about whose job it is? Rattay said numerous inspectors are on the city payroll to oversee the landscape contracts.

Since Ury indicated citizens’ reaction should determine whether the job is being done, citizens drove the arterials specified during the council meeting: Muirlands, Los Alisos and Alicia. Councilwoman Schlicht said slopes on Alicia are in poor shape, and Rattay agreed during the meeting, saying, “They’re not good.” Citizens agree. Citizens also found slopes along Muirlands and Los Alisos to be in poor condition, including many barren stretches. The Open Space areas along Los Alisos either have chaparral or nothing but dirt adjacent to the roadside.

As additional information on Muirlands, numerous trees are leaning, and they will eventually fall on their own if winds don’t take them down. On Los Alisos, the section east of Jeronimo was supposed to be “beautified” by the housing developer. The housing project was finished some time ago, but the odd-looking, steep hillside is mostly dirt.

In the north half of the city, barren slopes can be seen on other arterials, including Trabuco. The farther away from Marguerite Parkway, the worse the slopes are. Rattay’s grasp of what landscaping should look like can be seen in the elaborate vegetation near city hall. But why isn’t landscaping throughout the rest of the city given the same consideration?

The city staff has spent $33 million on landscape contracts since 2005. Some areas of town haven’t seen a dime of it except for trimming weeds on otherwise barren slopes. In a fraction of the time it took Rattay to create his Feb. 4 slideshow, he could have driven along the arterials so he could have given a relevant report during the meeting.

The city is doing an inadequate job of taking care of the landscape, and the council majority is doing an inadequate job of paying attention to where $33 million went.