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TODAY'S ISSUE
Snellville only Gwinnett city with its own arborist
By Brett Harrell
Special to GwinnettForum.com

SNELLVILLE, Nov. 11, 2003----While Snellville adopted Tree Preservation and Landscape ordinances in 1991, the City did not have a true community forestry program until 2000.

Recognizing that a City Arborist is key to a successful program, Snellville hired its first arborist, Jessica Roth, in September 2000. Snellville was the first, and continues to be the only, Gwinnett city to employ a certified arborist.

A staff arborist allows Snellville to best protect existing trees on development sites and to ensure quality trees are replanted, an overwhelming concern of Snellville residents. Roth and other planning staff inspect all development sites regularly to address these concerns.

The benefits of a staff arborist, coupled with effective tree ordinances, can be seen in Snellville's development projects alone. In 2002, Snellville developers saved over 900 trees and planted an additional 1,600. Since hiring Roth, the City has also been able to significantly improve both the quality and frequency of its tree planting projects.

Roth and other city staff worked diligently with the site engineers for the Public Works and Recycling Center, resulting in a 200 foot undisturbed, densely vegetated buffer around its perimeter. Roth manages Snellville's Tree Bank, used to finance tree plantings on public property. The Bank is funded wholly by Snellville developers.

In 2002, Snellville purchased 212 trees through the Tree Bank, including 87 street trees for the medians of Henry Clower Boulevard and Lenora Church Road, as well as the Arbor Day planting and seedlings for Snellville residents. The Tree Bank has also funded the planting of over 200 trees in Briscoe Park.

Since 2000, Snellville's program has grown to be a model for other Georgia cities. Council has adopted multiple amendments to strengthen the tree ordinances. These amendments, all researched and drafted by the City Arborist, have noticeably enhanced tree preservation projects in Snellville's developments.

Snellville was recently awarded its first grant by the Georgia Forestry Commission. Over the next year, Roth will utilize these funds to further educate the public about Snellville's program and the benefits of trees and their proper care.

Through the work of Roth and other employees, Snellville is an active participant in environmental programs and partnerships with non-profit organizations. Snellville held its first annual Arbor Day celebration in 2001, continuing to improve the celebration in subsequent years.

The City was able to gain financial support of local businesses for the first time ever to help fund the 2003 celebration. The Arbor Day Foundation designated Snellville a Tree City USA in 2001. Snellville was re-certified in 2002, the same year it also received its first Tree City Growth Award. Snellville is a strong proponent of the Georgia Urban Forest Council, with Roth serving on the Board of Directors, which recently recognized the city's tree program.

Snellville partnered with the Clean Air Campaign to further promote their efforts in reducing air pollution and traffic congestion. Snellville's strong community forestry program addresses many of the Campaign goals and helped the City win an honorable mention as a small public sector employer at their 2003 PACE Awards. Snellville has also caught the attention of the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation, awarding the City First Place in Environmental Improvement for 2003.

KB Homes, builder of Snellville's Hawthorn Glen neighborhood, not only preserved a beautiful community green space, but also donated an additional $500 to the City's tree bank.

ELLIOTT BRACK
Extraction of U.S. forces from Iraq our biggest challenge
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com

NOV. 11 2003 -- You hear the hourly reports on radio and TV, changing slightly every day.

"A Chinook helicopter was shot down, killing 16 and wounding 20 American soldiers headed home for leave."

"Iraqi insurgents attacked a American military compound today, killing three....."

"Six American soldiers were killed today as a Black Hawk helicopter crashed after an explosion....'

"A suicide bomber rammed a Humvee in Iraq and killed three people, including one American......"

Almost daily, someone from the United States dies in Iraq, either the result of guerilla attacks, suicide bombers, or difficult-to-explain accidents. It seems never to cease, and may drag on for months, perhaps even years.

The frustration and relentlessness of the problems in Iraq, combined with what seems to be unorganized and directionless policy by the United States, makes people wonder how Americans will extract themselves from this situation that the United States created as it overthrew the Hussein government.

The military operations were impressive, as American and forces of other nations sped through the country. Iraqi forces offered scattered resistance, as the military forces scored victories.

Yet now we are beginning to realize that while the military forces may have covered the necessary ground, they did not subdue the enemy forces, nor capture the confidence of all the Iraqi people. The unexpected ease of military movement through Iraq, as the Iraqi military virtually vanished or offered little resistance, now begins to be understood in another light. Some of these military personnel may have fled, but they did not necessarily give up attacking American forces, though now in clandestine fashion. The country is far from subdued.

What will it take to remove American forces from Iraq. Sure, we all want stabilization of Iraq as such, and no doubt the majority of Iraqi people want peace and security, prosperity and peace.

For years Americans have looked on from afar as we heard of the problems in the Middle East. The Palestine-Israeli problems continue to be eruptive at any minute, and such mayhem may continue for a long time. But Americans have understood that they cannot solve this long-seated and mystifying situation in the Middle East; these nations and their people must find their own way.

Yet the move by the United States to attack Iraq, and the subsequent quagmire, has injected Americans into the daily death count in the Middle East. Who would have thought that citizens of the United States would be worrying about their loved ones, hearing of daily reports of Americans killed in Iraq, and wondering and praying against their loved ones being identified as the unsuspecting victims.

Some people maintain that the American death toll does not approach what the combat deaths in Viet Nam, where 47,389 Americans were killed.

But the daily count of two here, five there, one another day, has its own drumbeat of terror for our country. It shakes the very foundation of our country, and most especially to those with loved ones involved even in civil action in Iraq. We must find a way to get out people out of Iraq, with honor, yet ensure stability to that part of the world.

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Editor, the Forum:

It's difficult to understand why President Bush claims that the economy is improving as a result of his tax cuts for the wealthy.

American companies slashed twice as many jobs in October as they did in September, adding to the nine million poor souls already unemployed. Average hourly earnings and disposable income are declining. The Guardian (UK) reports that the richest one percent of Americans own over 40 percent of the wealth; half of Bush's $1.35 trillion tax cut went to that one percent! Some 60 percent of this year's cuts go to taxpayers earning over $100,000. Bush also wants to cut the inheritance tax, which affects only the wealthiest two percent.

The majority of people in this country are rapidly losing everything they have worked for, such as health benefits, 401K funds, jobs. You can bet that when the bill for the Iraq debacle comes due, the first casualties will be Social Security, Medicare and any other social program that has merit.

Bush and his buddies and benefactors are obviously benefiting from the cynical, dishonest policies of this administration. When are Americans going to face up to reality and demand honesty and accountability from their government?

-- Angela Bradshaw, Los Angeles, Calif.

RECOGNITION
City of Suwanee wins greenspace award from Forest Council

The Georgia Urban Forest Council (GUFC) recognized the City of Suwanee's open space initiative today at its annual awards luncheon in Columbus by presenting the City with its first award ever presented in the Greenspace Plan category. Suwanee Councilmember Jimmy Burnette accepted the award on behalf of the City.

"The project exemplifies so well the success of collaborative community process in protecting undeveloped land and committing it to low impact, non-invasive uses," said GUFC awards committee chairperson Brenda Guglielmina in a letter to the City. "These open space park and passive use projects place Suwanee ahead of the development curve."

Through Suwanee's voter-approved, bond-funded open space initiative the City has acquired 200 acres of open space to be preserved or developed as parks or trails and has begun construction or design on three new parks.

CALENDAR
Gwinnett Tech to dedicate English lab on Thursday

Gwinnett Technical College will dedicate its new English Language Institute on Thursday, November 13, at 10:30 a.m.

This new facility, whose lease is funded by federal adult education dollars directed through the Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education (DTAE), will enable Gwinnett Tech to triple the capacity of its English as a Second Language (ESL) program. It allows the college to greatly expand its services to limited-English speakers in Gwinnett County, preparing these individuals to more effectively function in our workforce and community.

Local business and education leaders are keenly interested in the success of the institute because of its importance in educating their workforce. Local business and civic leaders scheduled to attend the dedication include:

… Lisa Burleson, Gwinnett County Public Schools;
… Jose Perez of the governor's Hispanic Commission for a New Georgia;
… Nancy Kwan-Sellars, active in the local Asian community and VP of Ackerman & Co.;
… Adrian Cotasaenz, Corporate Relations Manager for the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce;
… Buck Lindsay, Lindsay Pope Brayfield & Associates, Inc.;
… Donald Shipley, Siemens;
… Mani Krischnaswamy, Synergy America