Update on Slopes

Various city officials have used the same old line for more than 10 years. Vegetation is torn out with the same areas replanted again and again -- “to be replaced with drought-tolerant plants.” It’s a hoax – burning tax dollars with make-work projects, particularly along Marguerite Parkway and medians near major intersections. A few highly visible areas are repeatedly worked on and overplanted at the expense of the city as a whole.

A couple things stand out in recent stories emanating from City Hall. The first is numbers on the cost of slope work that, according to watchdogs, don’t add up.

Another thing is the implication city slopes are well managed and in good condition.

A Mar. 8 Saddleback Valley News story says, “Since 2005, the city has renovated 75 percent of the slopes on Marguerite Parkway, the city’s major roadway, according to Assistant City Manager Keith Rattay. That figure will now increase to nearly 85 percent.”

If SVN readers get the idea 75 percent of city-owned slopes on Marguerite are in good shape, that’s not the case. Compare Rattay’s statement with a report provided by residents. In response to a blog reader’s request last month, citizens are compiling data on the condition of city slopes. While still in progress, an overview from their report includes a paragraph about Marguerite Parkway:

“Anyone driving the length of Marguerite Parkway, from El Toro Road to Avery, will see a wide range of conditions of slopes and a patchwork of landscape plans. It looks as if scores of different property owners are involved. However, with a few exceptions (slopes owned by homeowner associations), the city owns the slopes on Marguerite. Take note of city official Keith Rattay’s statement during the Feb. 4 council meeting that city employees are inspecting the work of city landscape contractors. Large portions of some slopes on Marguerite are bare or appear not to be maintained at all. If contractors are paid to take care of landscaping, they are not doing it, as the areas are dirt with no plants. Other large areas on Marguerite show a high percentage of vegetation failure, including some recently refurbished slopes. Contractors put in plants that are either too small to survive or they fail for other reasons, resulting in bare areas.”

In the Mar. 8 SVN article, Rattay sites contract work on Jeronimo last year, budgeted at $546,000, with an implication it was finished. However, the work extends eastward for a short distance and then stops. It looks like an incomplete project. Driving west on Jeronimo from Marguerite, the slopes are worse. The piecemeal work is a conglomeration. Between areas that actually look good are spans of weeds and dirt next to seedling plants and sparse shrubs.

Also from the citizens’ overview, “The condition of city slopes falls into three categories with fairly equal portions: one-third in good condition, one-third in marginal condition and one-third in poor condition. Poor condition is defined as neglected, barren or not maintained at all.”

The city staff and council majority members say the city is in great financial shape. Can the city not “afford” to maintain all its slopes? Refurbishing slopes in poor condition should be part of a comprehensive landscape plan. No city-owned slopes should be neglected for years, as has occurred in Aegean Hills – ignored for more than 20 years and still waiting.