Atlanta reaffirms firing of senior arborist

Atlanta officials said Tuesday they were justified in firing a senior arborist in July, despite his claims that other city arborists were lax in following the city’s tree ordinance.

City human resources officials —- upon the request of Mayor Shirley Franklin —- conducted an inquiry into Tom Coffin’s firing after receiving scores of telephone calls and e-mails from some tree preservationists, residents and City Hall critics who questioned why he was let go.

On Monday, the city’s human resources director wrote a letter to Coffin that said he was fired by the city’s Planning and Community Development Department “as a result of an unwillingness or inability to work in a team environment.” The three-page letter says Coffin reinspected properties checked out by co-workers without his supervisor’s approval, unnecessarily issued “punitive citations” as the primary means of tree conservation and that he too frequently sought reprimands against his subordinates instead of trying to mentor them.

Coffin denied each of the findings and said he plans to sue the city for wrongful termination.

“It’s not a real surprise,” Coffin said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “The Human Resources Department rubber-stamped a decision made by [Planning and Community Development Commissioner] Steve Cover.”

Coffin, hired in 2000, has become a cause celebre since his firing. Three women showed up at an August City Council meeting dressed up as trees, holding signs protesting Coffin’s dismissal. The Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation, which has pushed for the Buckhead community to break away from Atlanta and form its own city, is mailing a three-page newsletter written by Coffin to 50,000 households about his plight. The dispute caught the attention of The New York Times, which wrote about Coffin’s firing.

Coffin’s dismissal came as he tried to seek reprimands against some of his subordinates for not following guidelines. Coffin cited a chart he put together that showed he filed 70 illegal tree removal cases from Jan. 1 to June 30. The second-highest total was 14 cases.

“There was no enforcement of the law,” Coffin said of the other arborists.

City officials argue Coffin’s chart is misleading. They said the other arborists use other methods, such as verbal and written warnings, with property owners who may be violating the tree ordinance. They say those tactics often do more to encourage property owners to work with the city as opposed to citations.

“In the end, who’s doing more to protect [the city’s tree] canopy?” said arboricultural manager Ainsley Caldwell.

City officials said they have eight employees who can do inspections and insist they are doing a good job enforcing the tree ordinance. Coffin disagreed.

The City Council has asked its auditors to put together a report on the arborist division’s operations. Auditor Leslie Ward said she wanted to wait until the human resources inquiry was completed before her staff begin its work.