Red Phone Hugs Trees and Helps the Non-Handicapped
I Think that I
Shall Never See …
Our first caller may not be a tree-hugger, per se, but she is awfully concerned about their well-being:
“I wondering about all of the beautiful sycamore trees that we have here around town … all the leaves in past years have been big and leafy green, but this year they seem brown, little and all curled up. I would sure hate to lose all those beautiful trees that are a part of our city.”
Red Phone agrees emphatically. We called Park Supervisor Marcello Orta, the next best thing to a tree MD.
According to Orta, our anxiety over the future of the trees in question was wasted. They get sick like this every year around this time, he says, and every year they recover beautifully.
“Sycamore trees were domesticated to grow within city limits,” he said. “But they’re still prone to disease.”
The poor Sycamores are susceptible to Aphids and a fungus called anthracnos, which is what turns the leaves brown and shriveled. The pollution from cars in town also take a toll on their health. As a result, the trees start to look a bit under the weather every late summer or early fall, especially when they’re recovering from a wet season, Orta says.
Orta wishes he could do more, but was touched by our caller’s concern, and promises the Sycamores will be restored to their full glory soon, once they lose the last of their leaves,.
In the meantime, Orta was more worried about using what funding they have to make sure no dead trees fall on someone’s house or car.
Has This Happened to You?
No one begrudges the handicapped their special parking privileges. But when the spaces aren’t clearly marked and when you get ticketed anyway, to the tune of 250 bucks, it’s pretty annoying.
That’s on the mind of our caller, who claims she is not the only victim. She got a ticket parked in front of Blockbuster, even though she said there was no placard for the space, and the blue designation sign on the blacktop was worn out and difficult to see at night.
We went to Blockbuster and took a picture. Sure enough, there is no sign posted directly in front of the space, although there is a sign slightly to the left in front of the handicapped space next to it. And although we were there in broad daylight, it was easy to see how the blacktop sign would be difficult to see at night.
We spoke to the Blockbuster manager, who put us in touch with property manager, John Kent of Pacific Oak Properties of Morgan Hill. Mr. Kent looked at the pictures and said the stall in question was not supposed to be a handicapped space. He said the insignia had at one time been painted over, but then had reemerged as the black paint wore off.
He promised to black over the handicapped insignia again in the next few days. In the meantime he asked to be put in touch with the person who got the ticket to try to take care of the problem. We call that proactive customer relations, and give Mr. Kent full marks.
We also spoke with Hollister PD spokesman George Ramirez. Mr. Ramirez looked at the space, and realized that the faded insignia on the blacktop and the confusing placement of the placard on the store wall could easily confuse both customers and officers. He promised to work with the property manager to clear things up.
If you’ve received a ticket for parking on the far right-hand handicapped stall at Blockbuster, you might want to consider challenging it ticket in court.
