07-29-10, Greg Wilkinson Regarding “The McFall Oak” in Deukmejian Wilderness Park

Is Glendale the new Bell, or is Bell the new Glendale? I'm getting confused. It's just so hard to tell the difference between the two municipalities when it comes to misplaced priorities, incompetent city management and self-aggrandizing politicians and their hired hands in the city bureaucracy. It seems both cities are dominated by freebie-loving, early-retiring fat cats who just can't wait to pull the rip cord on their taxpayer-funded golden parachutes.

One striking example of their arrogance is Glendale's Department of Community Services & Recreation installation of a plaque at the base of the lone surviving oak tree in the burned-out Deukmejian Wilderness Park. The bronze plaque embedded in a large boulder proclaims near hero status and actually names the tree "The McFall Oak" after the recently early-retired city bureaucrat best known for the millions of taxpayer dollars he stands to collect in the decades to come as a member of Glendale's ex-city employee millionaire retiree club.

Just how many of our hard earned tax dollars were spent to fabricate and install this aloha tribute when a simple good bye luncheon (catered on our tab of course) would have been sufficient? What really infuriated me and a couple of fellow hikers as we stood in front of this over-the-top monument to bureaucratic mediocrity is the city's decision to build such a thing in the first place without honoring the real heroes who paid the ultimate price fighting the Station Fire. Los Angeles County firefighters Captain Tedmund Hall and Specialist Armaldo Quinones perished as their vehicle was overcome by smoke and crashed in the

Angeles National Forest. Where is their memorial and where are Glendale's priorities?

Does anybody in Glendale city government have a brain or a heart? The question begs--is it Bell or Glendale or are they interchangeable when it comes to style and substance? The "McFall Oak" is more than just bad taste, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth of park users who remember the courage and sacrifice of those who fought the largest wildfire in the history of Los Angeles. May I suggest the renaming of this tree in honor of those who lost their lives and their families instead of a former Assistant City Manager who will live out the remainder of his days in the lap of luxury compliments of Glendale’s over-generous pension system.

This latest example of Glendale's misplaced priorities deserves the harshest public rebuke. For the rest of us it's a teachable moment that speaks volumes about the lack of character and ethics that pass for a conscience in the halls of our local municipal administration.

What were they thinking?

Greg Wilkinson