FOMT NEWS UPDATE

 

"The forest was shrinking, but the trees kept voting for the axe, for the axe was clever and convinced the trees that because his handle was made of wood, he was one of them."
 

       President's Note: With the significant changes underway for Mobile's Urban Forest, this is an excellent time for you, or someone you know, who is interested in our treescape's future to step forward to properly manage this website.                                       Until then, FOMT will use this website as an additional "electronic bulletin board" to keep you informed about what is happening and, sadly, not happening at Government Plaza. Here you will see the latest tree-related news. You can also post your public comments on our Friends of Mobile Trees' Facebook page.

                                                      

 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

"No taxation without representation"

 

June 15: Good morning from Friends of Mobile Trees. Congratulations to Quin Hillyer on his appointment by Councilor Beau Fleming to replace Donavan Ballard on the Mobile Tree Commission. As we wrote over the weekend, it would not be possible for Mr. Ballard in his role with Urban Forestry to, in effect, advise himself. This is simple common sense.

I know Mr. Hillyer well and am confident he will be a tremendous asset to the City and represents a positive step toward restoring the Commission with the competence and integrity Mobile enjoyed under the leadership of past Tree Commission Chairs such as Dr. Rip Pfeiffer and Tom McGehee. Terrific news to start off the week!

On a related note, tomorrow, Mobile media reps will have a golden opportunity to get the story straight from both sides about the illegal clear-cutting of a grove of oak trees on Michigan Avenue just north of I-10. The Mobile Tree Commissioners are scheduled to meet at 4:30 PM in Government Plaza’s General Purpose Room with FOMT meeting at 4 PM just outside their door in the Atrium.

Lagniappe Co-Publisher Rob Holberg told us his paper’s coverage of the illegal clear cutting was limited by his staff size and the only City spokesman available was Lagniappe’s former long time editor. WKRG said they couldn’t report that the clear cutting was illegal, which it certainly is, since they were under deadline and the City refused comment altogether.

Neither outlet will have these issues Tuesday. Neither will WALA TV, NBC 15 or Al.com/ Mobile Register since everyone will be there: the Tree Commissioners, Mayor Cheriogotis’s reps in Urban Forestry who advise the Tree Commissioners, past Urban Forester Peter Toler who is now listed as a new advisor to the Commission and, perhaps most importantly,  Assistant City Attorney Victoria Shoots who advises the Tree Commissioners on legal compliance.

As a refresher, the clear cutting of Michigan Avenue DID violate state law, the Mobile Tree Act (Ala. Act 2015-116), and Mobile’s City Code (Chapter 65) since it was not reviewed by the Mobile Tree Commission. Although Mayor Cheriogotis’s spokesperson Dale Liesch claimed the City was not “aware” that this was illegal, the same exact scenario played out several times before during the Stimpson years, most visibly on Bienville Square for construction of the new hotel and on Broad Street as part of its recent redevelopment and many of the same City officials are still there doing it again!

As a side note, no one appreciates more the huge demands placed on working journalists from the many stories needing coverage, limited space and limited time since I covered Mobile City Hall myself for four consecutive years as part of a fifteen year media career. So, to help them focus, we’ve prepared a list a questions reporters can ask tomorrow if they wish:

1 How can Mr. Liesch say the City wasn’t “aware” of the Mobile Tree Act’s requirements and penalties or the City Code’s requirements (Lagniappe, June 7) when the City encountered the same exact scenario several times with many of the same participants and have full time attorneys to advise on such legal matters?

2 If taking out all these trees completely was justified, why not follow the law and have the Tree Commission first review the project to see if there was a better way to proceed?

3 How does the City of Mobile benefit from breaking state law with penalties including potential prison time.

4 Why is there so much misinformation surrounding urban forestry in Mobile and secrecy such as not publicly posting meeting notices, agendas, minutes or even two or three word action summaries for the past twenty four consecutive months?

5 Why did the City Attorney take away the Tree Commissioners’ Tree Bank checkbook at Regions Bank for two full years, financially neutering them?

6 Now that they have their checkbook back, why did they spend $10,000, about one quarter of available funds, to water trees they previously said were way over market price and too expensive to buy?

7 Why did the Commission allow a contractor to use a concrete saw to cut most of the roots on the center median trees on Zeigler Blvd. adjacent to Municipal Park in violation of basic arborist standards for construction projects, a practice that will likely kill those beautiful trees way before their time?

8Why was eleven-year veteran Urban Forester Peter Toler forced to resign and then rehired as an independent consultant?

9 Who is the Urban Forester now? The position opened May 9th and the City stopped taking applications three weeks ago?

10 If City Code 65 tasks Urban Forestry with advising the Tree Commissioners, why pay an outside consultant too?

11 Why is the Commission ignoring the advise of a previous outside consultant, paid $80,000 of taxpayer money, to oversea larger tree projects like Michigan Avenue instead of individual permits involving just one tree that Urban Forestry can more easily handle?

Questions for Mr. Toler:

1 April 24th, the City posted to YouTube the following video produced by you:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= 8UYw5nHYwxU

 2  Why does the video go to great lengths to state that Mayor Cheriogotis, pictured up in a bucket with a hand saw, was only trimming and not cutting down the Crichton Leprechaun tree on Le Cren Street when he was preparing to illegally cut down an entire grove of mature oaks on Michigan Avenue?

3  When was the video taken off YouTube?

4 Why was the video taken off YouTube after you and the Mayor went to such extraordinary measures to record and release it?

 

FOMT believes that answers to at least some of these questions will help us all move forward to a posture where we can follow the Mobile Tree Act and balance the healthy desire for economic growth with the healthy growth of our treescape. Our local news outlets have a golden opportunity to do that Tuesday afternoon.

While FOMT’s stated mission is to advocate for our trees and those of us blessed to be in their shade, as citizens, we are even more concerned about our Mayor following the law. The Mobile Tree Act was enacted to equitably balance the healthy desire for economic growth with the health of our treescape. If the Cheriogotis Administration is allowed to repeatedly ignore and violate this important law, what will that mean for other areas of public policy such as our health and safety?

Its time for our hard-working journalists to ask at least some of these tough questions AND get answers.

For the FOMT Board

John Robb, President

FRIENDS OF MOBILE TREES™

+++

June 14: Good Sunday Evening Its just two days before the first back-to-back meetings of Friends of Mobile Trees and the Mobile Tree Commission at Government Plaza so FOMT is opting to post on a Sunday so you will have all the information you should know before the meetings about recent events around the illegal clear-cutting of oaks on Michigan Avenue just north of I-10.  

Today we focus on the Mobile City Councilors who appoint the Mobile City Commissioners, one for each Council district. Last month FOMT addressed all seven at their regular Tuesday meeting to ask them to heighten supervision of the Tree Commissioners since they were rarely meeting, planting no new trees and neglecting the ones we have now. This included ignoring the improper cutting of many of the roots on all the Zeigler Boulevard median trees adjacent to Municipal Park. This cutting with a concrete saw violated accepted arborist industry standards and will likely kill the trees prematurely. One Councilor, Gina Gregory, said she would talk with her appointee. The other six were silent.

Then a few weeks later the seven Tree Commissioners again ignored their responsibility under state law (the Mobile Tree Act) and Mobile City Code (Chapter 65) to review the Michigan Avenue clear cutting BEFORE it happened. Instead, Urban Forestry’s Donavan Ballard, who also serves as one of the seven Tree Commissioners, said the City Council approved the clear-cutting without the Tree Commission’s input or review.

So what has the City Council actually done lately with the Tree Commissioners? The only interaction FOMT is aware of is that Councilor Ben Reynolds somehow convinced the Commissioners to spend $10,000 of its Tree Bank funds for emergency watering of trees in Tillman’s Corner that Reynolds said were planted “too late in the season.” Yet, these same Commissioners passed on paying for these trees the previous month stating that they were priced “way above” market. Let us repeat that for emphasis, the Tree Commissioners spent about one quarter of all their available funds for emergency watering of trees planted too late in the season that they themselves said were too expensive to buy in the first place!

Tomorrow, we will focus on our local media outlets response to all this dysfunction funded with your tax dollars. Media will have a golden opportunity to get the story straight Tuesday when the Tree Commissioners meet at 4:30 in Government Plaza’s first floor General Purpose Room. FOMT’s quarterly meeting will start at 4:00 right outside in the first floor Atrium. You, the people paying for all this, are encouraged to attend as well. 

See also comments below from former Tree Commission Chairman Ralph Pfeiffer.

For the FOMT Board

John Robb, President

FRIENDS OF MOBILE TREES™

john.robb102@yahoo.com

mobiletrees@yahoo.com

251-605-9710 voice or text

mobiletrees.org

On Saturday, June 13, 2026 at 04:58:34 PM CDT, Ralph Pfeiffer <drrip@bellsouth.net> wrote:

 

Mr toler and I were frequently at odds at the commission meetings but I thought he was doing mayor Stimpson's bidding ie (never miss an opportunity to cut down a tree).

No trees were planted on the ROW under Stimpson's rule unless it was a federal grant ie broad street.

Stimpson of Gulf Lumber saw trees in terms of lumber and failed to value the tremendous benefit of an urban tree canopy

 

Ralph Pfeiffer

Past Chair, Mobile Tree Commssion 

+++

June 13: Ahead of Tuesday’s back-to-back Government Plaza meetings of the Friends of Mobile Trees at 4 PM and the Mobile Tree Commission at 4:30 PM, FOMT continues our in-depth review of the Cheriogotis Administration’s violation of the Mobile Tree Act by clear-cutting a grove of established oak trees on Michigan Avenue last month just north of I-10 without Tree Commission approval. Today attention shifts to the Urban Forestry Department. City Code tasks these professionals with tree removal, maintenance and planting for the Mayor and advising Mobile’s Tree Commission. So UF was naturally the first place we checked with when FOMT first learned that the oak trees were illegally removed.  But, without a word of public comment from anyone, the City listed as “open” the position of Urban Forester held for eleven years by Peter Toler.  Although the search for his replacement ended three full weeks ago, there is still no official word as to his replacement or why he suddenly left without citing a reason. So, we reached out to Donavan Ballard, now Urban Forestry’s key person. Mr. Ballard told us he knew virtually nothing about the Michigan Avenue clear-cutting, who cut down these trees or even when:

“All I found out so far is that it is a council approved project. Those don't have to go through us for approval.” (Donavan Ballard, Urban Forestry May 27th)

The City’s very first official public comment ten days later made no mention of the City Council at all! Mayor Cheriogotis’s spokesperson told Lagniappe that the trees were taken out to accommodate an access road that is:

“part of a tri-party agreement between the City, the Mobile Airport Authority and the Industrial Development Board." ( Mayor Cheriogotis’s spokesperson Dale Liesch, June 7th).

A number of you may be now asking yourself: “Who is Donavan Ballard?” He was a long-time associate at Chris Francis Treecare AND is one of the seven current Mobile Tree Commissioners appointed by the City Council. In other words, Urban Forestry’s key contact who is required to advise the Tree Commission is, in fact, now advising himself. Yet, he says he did not know these oak trees, that should have been reviewed by the Commission under state law, were taken out instead illegally by his employer, Mayor Cheriogotis. We have received no comment from ANY of the seven City Councilors who appoint the Commissioners. If they did in fact approve the project, that too would be another violation of the Mobile Tree Act since their appointed Tree Commissioners have that duty.

If that’s not confusing enough for you, consider that the monthly agenda for Tuesday’s monthly Tree Commission meeting was changed this week. It now lists the same Peter Toler as an “advisor/representative.” FOMT respectfully asks Assistant City Attorney Victoria Shoots to publicly clarify how the new advisory role complies with City Code 65 since it assigns Urban Forestry to advise Tree Commissioners, not outside advisors.

FOMT also respectfully asks that Mr. Ballard resign from one of his positions, Urban Forestry or the Commission, since he obviously cannot advise himself.

Agendas for both meetings Tuesday are attached and you, and our local media reps, are strongly encouraged to attend. Seeing who shows up and who doesn’t will itself be another reason to attend. Check back for more background ahead of these meetings tomorrow.

For the FOMT Board

John Robb, President

​

June 12: Greetings! To better prepare us for Tuesday’s back-to-back meetings of Friends of Mobile Trees at 4PM and the Tree Commission at 4:30 PM at Government Plaza FOMT is continuing this public review of the recent removal of a grove of oak trees on Michigan Avenue. This is a serious and repeated violation of state law, the Mobile Tree Act, that requires the Mobile Tree Commission to review all tree removal requests on the City right-of-way. Since repeated violations carry criminal penalties including potential prison time, our goal is for FOMT’s members and the community at large to have the facts of the matter towards good resolution instead of the misinformation swirling on social media about many competing theories as to why the trees were destroyed.

Today’s focus is on the City’s Urban Forester position. June 4, FOMT told you that long-time Assistant Urban Forester Peter Toler was fired just before these trees were taken out. Beyond that obvious connection in time, we considered his departure a personnel matter not appropriate for further public discussion. Then, yesterday, eight days later, Mr. Toler stated on last week's portion of this thread that he was not fired. He said he resigned voluntarily. We responded that we stood by our statement's accuracy. Then he pushed back again asking for a correction. Since this statement, over a month after his last day May 9th, creates even more confusion about the trees' removal we have a few questions to help him explain himself:  

 1)You now publicly state that you were not fired as Assistant Urban Forester. After eleven years on this key job, why was there no announcement that you were leaving by anyone, just the posting of your open position?

2) If, as you claim, you left voluntarily why did you wait until your last day with the City to say you were leaving and not give a reason?

3) Why were the only two on-the-record comments from Urban Forestry: “Peter is no longer with us” and “his position is open and we are taking applications to fill it?”

4) Why are City employees verbally stating off the record that you were fired and citing specific reasons if you weren’t?

5) Since there was no prior public discussion, “when were the oak trees on Michigan Avenue removed?”

6) Were you involved in the decision to remove them?

7) If so, was your role as Urban Forester or as an advisor as you are now described on Tuesday’s Tree Commission agenda?

8) How does your new role as an advisor contrast with Donavan Ballard’s who is listed on Tuesday’s agenda as being on the Urban Forestry staff which City Code states is there to advise the Commission?

9) Was your position as Urban Forester filled?  If so, by who?

10) When was your new advisory position created?

11) Was the position publicly posted before it was filled?

12) Were you aware that removing the trees without the Tree Commission’s approval violated the Mobile Tree act?

13) Were you aware this was illegally done several times before during the Stimpson Administration, most notably on Bienville Square and then on Broad Street?

14) Were you aware at the time that violations of the Mobile Tree Act carry statutory criminal penalties including prison time?

 

April 24th, the City posted to YouTube the following video that you produced:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UYw5nHYwxU

 

15) Why does the video go to great lengths to state that Mayor Cheriogotis, pictured up in a bucket with a hand saw, was only trimming and not cutting down the Crichton Leprechaun tree on Le Cren Street when he was preparing to illegally cut down an entire grove of mature oaks on Michigan Avenue?

16) When was the video taken off YouTube?

17) Why was the video taken off YouTube after you and the Mayor went to such extraordinary measures to record and release it?

 

We are not asking these questions to embarrass Mr. Toler or anyone, only because he waited until now to publicly dispute a central fact in this important public matter and further distract us from this deliberate violation of state law. As we have written before, FOMT thanks Mr.Toler for his long service to the City even in very difficult times especially hurricanes and tropical storms. But, we do not appreciate him adding new salt to this very open wound on the City.

 

With Tuesday’s back-to-back meetings of FOMT and the Tree Commission starting at 4 PM, we will hopefully have Mr. Toler’s answers for better clarity on these questions. We will have more information on Urban Forestry’s role in this crime tomorrow. Agendas are attached that indicate that, in addition to the major changes at Urban Forestry, the Tree Commissioners are also scheduled to elect new officers.

​

June 11: Good morning! FOMT will continue to post each weekday about the Michigan Avenue oaks’ unplanned, destruction until we have clarity about ending this illegal activity and justice. The sad fact is a serious crime has been committed, not just against nature, but, just as importantly, Alabama law. Today we hear from past Mobile Tree Commission Chair Ralph Pfeiffer and Dave Roberts, one of FOMT’s valued advisors who served for years as the City Traffic Department’s liaison with the Tree Commission back when Commissioners respected the law and very effectively and consistently planned our urban forest:

​

As Dr. Pfeiffer wrote in a previous email, removal of heritage trees (oak trees) from the Right-of-Way requests had to be brought before the Mobile Tree Commission for action.  That would only be granted if the tree was diseased and a hazard to the public. Before the 1960s, trees were being destroyed by everyone for no reason(s).  Mostly by developers.

The Alabama Legislature took this under consideration and established the MOBILE TREE COMMISSION to protect these trees.  This is a State law!!  Tom McGehee probably knows more about this as does Dr. Pfeiffer.  As you know, I was an advisor to the Tree Commission representing Traffic Engineering and saw the remarkable work of the commissioners back then.  Tom and Dr. Pfeiffer were two of those members.  They and their colleagues on the commission took the protection of these trees SERIOUSLY!!  The present Tree Commission ?????  Answers are needed for the destruction of these Michigan Avenue Live Oaks!!

 Dave Roberts

FOMT Founding Member and Advisor

+++                                                                                                                                                                                Appreciate Dave’s comments.

I was on the tree commission 35 years and we always had a quorum

We took care of business. 

We weren’t tree huggers. 

We did what was right for Mobile trees and the City.

 Dr. Ralph Pfeiffer

 Past Chair

Mobile Tree Commission

​

WKRG told us they could not report about this crime because the Tree Commissioners and Mayor’s spokesperson wouldn’t talk about it so they didn’t have both sides. Under deadline, WKRG ended up Tuesday night referring to the Mobile Tree Act as technical “protocol.” Lagniappe gets credit for running the story first, but the only City source quoted was Lagniappe’s former long-time editor. They, WALA, NBC15, Al.Com and other news crews will have a very easy and time-efficient chance to speak directly with City reps and Commissioners at Tuesday’s Tree Commission Meeting. They are all scheduled to meet in the General Purpose Room on Government Plaza’s first floor at 4:30 PM. FOMT reps will be available 30 minutes earlier at FOMT’s quarterly meeting directly across the hallway. This is a golden opportunity for our local news teams to report facts to dispel the swirl of rumor and innuendo on social media created by this unannounced, unplanned illegal act. Of course, these are public meetings about our public business funded with our public tax dollars and you are urged to participate too. Agendas are attached. If we let the Cheriogotis Administration illegally do this to our trees, what can we expect in other areas of public policy like health and safety?

 For the FOMT Board

John Robb, President

FRIENDS OF MOBILE TREES™

john.robb102@yahoo.com

mobiletrees@yahoo.com

251-605-9710 voice or text

mobiletrees.org

+++

June 10: Good morning from Friends of Mobile Trees. Today’s discussion of Mayor Cheriogotis’s deliberate violation of the Mobile Tree Act (Ala. 2015-116) focuses on the Mobile Tree Commission. This state law designates the seven Commissioners as the sole authority to approve non-emergency tree removal on the public right of way:

​

"Section 9. (b), no person shall cut, remove, trim, or in any way damage any tree in any street right-of-way in the Class 2 municipality or create any condition injurious to any tree without having first made a written application so to do to the commission and having obtained advance written permission from the commission.

​

Yet, the Tree Commissioners have done nothing. Not only did they not review the project as the law requires, they won’t talk about it, not even for last night’s story on WKRG that you can watch here:

​

https://www.wkrg.com/top-stories/oak-trees-uprooted-near-brookley-causing-community-fuss

​

Reporter Mya Falgout told us that she can’t report about this state law violation since the Tree Commissioners won’t give her their side of the story. She said the Mayor’s unnamed spokesperson wouldn’t comment either on the Tree Commission’s central role So, under deadline, she ended up calling established state law just “protocol” and asking totally unanswerable questions like “how old were these trees?” Of course they were destroyed before anyone knew anything about them. That’s what this law is for: to PLAN healthy growth of the economy along with healthy growth of our vital trees.

When Lagniappe took a swing at this story Sunday morning, the Mayor’s spokesperson Dale Liesch claimed the Mayor and his staff were not “aware” they were breaking state law. That statement from Lagniappe’s long-time news editor is not only false, it’s ridiculously false since this same scenario of unauthorized tree cutting played out publicly in broad daylight several times during the Stimpson years, including Bienville Square and Broad Street, resulting in MANY public conversations with the SAME City staffers including the Mayor’s full-time ATTORNEYS.

FOMT is calling on Lagniappe, WKRG and other news outlets to follow up about both mayor's repeated violations of this state law that is punishable with penalties up to prison time. An easy, time-efficient way to do that is to cover Tuesday’s Tree Commission meeting at 4:30 PM in the General Purpose Room on Government Plaza’s first floor at 4:30 PM. FOMT’s quarterly meeting will be short and sweet starting at 4 PM in the Atrium immediately outside the General Purpose. So our local media reps and the general public can attend both meetings to get answers to important questions like:

​

Why are the Tree Commissioners ignoring the law that requires them to coordinate tree projects?

Why won’t they talk about it?

Why are they on the Commission if they aren’t going to do their jobs?

Why is Mayor Cheriogotis designating Lagniappe’s former news editor as the only person authorized to speak about this illegal act? Where’s long-time City Attorney Ricardo Woods? Is he also not allowed to speak publicly about this?

How can Mayor Cheriogotis claim that he didn’t know what the law requires when many of his top people, especially Mr. Woods, have been on the same jobs for several years?

Why did Mayor Cheriogotis release a YouTube video of himself up in a boom truck, trimming the Leprechaun tree and assuring the public he wasn’t cutting it down while he was illegally about to destroy an entire grove of oak trees at Michigan Avenue and I-10?

This is why FOMT is prepared to turn this entire matter over to state Attorney General Steve Marshall for review and remediation. A much easier path would be for the Tree Commissioners to do their jobs and a good place to start is to start talking. The days of abusing the Mobile Tree Act are over.

“No taxation without representation.”

For the FOMT Board

John Robb, President

 

 

 

Good morning from Friends of Mobile Trees. Today begins, not ends our response to the illegal massacre of a beautiful line of oak trees on Michigan Avenue. The central issue is not whether this destruction was necessary. That’s secondary. The central issue is that it was done illegally by MANY active participants in City government working together as a team. FOMT will not relent until we have a formal written statement, not from a spokesperson, but from Mayor Spiro Cheriogotis that this illegal activity he leads will cease. Otherwise, next week, FOMT will formally request Attorney General Marshall to do his job and review and remediate the City of Mobile’s deliberate failure to respect and follow Alabama law, the Mobile Tree Act.

When State Representative Chris Pringle wrote a revision of the Mobile Tree Act in 2015, most everyone saw the wisdom of protecting our heritage trees from unnecessary destruction. Balancing the healthy desire for economic growth with our urban forest’s healthy growth, this state law requires that requests to remove trees from the public right of way must be first approved by the Tree Commissioners appointed by our City Council. The only exception is the mayor has discretion to override in cases where public safety is at risk such as damage after a storm or a dangling tree limb. Penalties for deliberately violating this law are steep including potential prison time.

This is NOT an isolated, one-off event. In coming days, we will unpack in depth EACH individual agency directly involved in this criminal enterprise. During the Stimpson Administration, oak trees on Bienville Square were taken out with no notice or discussion. Mayor Stimpson said it wouldn’t happen again. Then, later he took out more live oaks on Broad Street as part of a redesign that, ironically enough, included bike paths bikers out in the broiling semi-tropical sun. Again, Stimpson apologized. Now we have the Michigan Avenue and Mayor Cheriogotis’s spokesperson writes that they were not "aware."

We’re going to start unpacking this statement with Lagniappe’s slow-walked new story that hit very quietly at 7:30 AM Sunday Morning on-line and available only to paid subscribers. Its only by this newspaper talking with its former managing editor, that anyone connected with the Mayor would go on record. In other words, the only way to know what your Mayor did on Michigan Avenue is to subscribe to Lagniappe. What did he say about deliberately violating state law?

The Mayor’s spokesperson Dale Liesch stated “As soon as the City was made aware that the normal process was not followed, we began looking into how that happened.” Yet, when this same exact scenario played out before, there was a huge public outcry each time. Now we're told the Mayor, his aides, his attorneys, Public Work professionals, urban forestry professionals and tree commissioners ALL were not “aware” of what the law requires.

Mayor Cheriogotis’s spokesperson then writes that he wants “processes in place to trigger a more robust public outreach.” Mayor Cheriogotis, we already have a process in place: the Mobile Tree Act!” If you want a new process, lobby the legislature to change state law to allow you to cut trees anytime you want for any reason. Until then, follow state law!

This public statement that the Cheriogotis Administration didn’t know they were deliberately breaking Alabama law is outrageous and totally out of control. If it was such a great idea to take out these trees, why not follow the law before doing it.

As part of our stated mission to speak for the trees, we will have more to say in the days to come about other participants in this criminal enterprise. We heard so much lip service from candidate Cheriogotis about being "laser-focused" on fighting crime. How about practicing what you preach.

​

For the FOMT Board

John Robb, President

 

Same exact scenario is playing out with Spiro that we had with Sandy: they illegally remove our beautiful trees without notice or discussion and then apologize after the fact WHEN ITS too late to do anything. It happened at Bienville Square. It happened on Broad Street and now again on Michigan Avenue. That it takes a newspaper talking to its former editor to find out the explanation for this illegal act boldly demonstrates the extent of Mayor Cheriogotis's criminal enterprise. This is not acceptable and Friends of Mobile Trees has JUST BEGUN to expose this deliberate campaign to undermine our legal system. As our founders asserted:

NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!!!

Here's the lagniappe article:

+++

BY Evelyn Herrera

The city of Mobile recently axed a strip of live oak trees on Michigan Avenue to make way for a new turn lane for an access road project at Brookley. Legal procedure requires a public notice and statement for tree removal in Mobile, leaving the community outraged with the sudden removal.

John Robb, president of the Friends of Mobile Trees organization, made a social media post on Wednesday discussing the removal, “Beautiful live oaks that took two human generations to mature are gone and no one responsible seems to want to tell us, the citizens who pay some of the highest city taxes on planet Earth, why they are gone.”

The removal likely occurred early in the week before Memorial Day, according to Robb, who found out on May 21.

Weeks after the removal, city of Mobile spokesman Dale Liesch stated, “The trees were removed to accommodate a turn lane for an access road project at Brookley. The access road, which is part of a tri-party agreement between the city, the Mobile Airport Authority and the Industrial Development Board, will support an economic development project.”

Initially, there were legal concerns regarding the removal, as Section 11-72-9 of Alabama Code details that no tree can be removed or damaged without first being approved by the commission. Robb claims that did not happen.

“Both the Urban Forestry and Tree Commission have very emphatically stated that they had nothing to do with this,” Robb said.

The exception to this law is if the tree is deemed a public hazard, leaving it reasonably necessary to remove in case of collapse.

“I mean, you could see that from the picture [include picture above] that there’s nothing going on there out of the ordinary, so that scenario just didn’t play out,” Robb said.

However, when asked about the concerns and lack of public announcement, Liesch clarified that the city of Mobile has “heard the concerns,” stating that, “While all fees and permits were waived because it was a city project, there is still a process in place that would have triggered a community outreach effort. In this specific case, that process was not triggered. As soon as the city was made aware that the normal process was not followed, we began looking into how that happened.”

As a result of the lack of communication, Robb was only left with speculation. Facebook commenters theorized reasons for the removal ranging from Airbus involvement to potential road damage caused by the roots.

The only response Robb claimed to have gotten in the weeks leading to Liesch’s explanation was from the Alabama Urban Forestry, who said they did not know anything about the project.

Liesch affirms that a miscommunication of this scale will not happen again, stating, “We want to let residents know before a tree removal like this takes place and have processes in place to trigger a more robust public outreach. In the future, we will ensure that those processes are properly followed.”

About a month ago, the city of Mobile published a YouTube video detailing the trimming of the iconic Crichton Leprechaun Tree. Mayor Spiro Cheriogotis and various workers of the Urban Forestry speak over video recording of the trimming.

In one scene, Mayor Cheriogotis jokes, “We thought about doing an April Fools’ [joke] saying we’re cutting it down, but, you know, pranks like that don’t always land. We are not cutting this tree down. We’re making sure it lasts for many years to come.”

Robb mentioned this on the Friends of Mobile Trees website, stating, “Mayor Cheriogotis goes to great lengths in this video to let the public know that he was trimming the tree, not cutting it down. Yet, later that week, he authorized clear-cutting the entire grove of oaks on Michigan Avenue on the center median just north of I-10 without any public announcement as to why or public discussion.”

On a positive note, there are plans within the project to plant new trees to replace the ones that were removed.

View on lagniappemobile.com

 

June 5: Mobile is apparently not the only Gulf Coast city with leadership destroying trees without legal authorization. The Biloxi Herald is running a story about TWO very similar examples in Biloxi and Long Beach:

​

https://www.sunherald.com/news/local/counties/harrison-county/article315906002.html

​

This development underscores FOMT’s main concern. If we allow Mayor Cheriogotis to destroy an entire grove of oak trees on Michigan Avenue, without legal authorization or even discussion or notice, on our public property and use our tax money to do it, what can we expect in other neighborhoods and other public policy areas like our health and safety?

FOMT has received DOZENS of emails, texts, phone calls and messages from concerned residents since we first learned about the Michigan Avenue Massacre. Yet, in all that time, we have had ONE person support Mayor Cheriogotis’s actions and inactions: not the Mayor, a spokesperson, Public Works Director, Public Services Director, Urban Forester, City Attorneys, any City Councilor or their seven appointed Tree Commissioners. The mayor’s ONE defender is Fred Kapp, Executive Director of the Alabama Urban Forestry Association in BIRMINGHAM, Alabama. Very ironically, AUFA’s mission statement on aufa.com is virtually identical to FOMT’s mission, to advocate:

​

“proper selection, planting and tree care, tree protection and other tree issues in the urban setting.”

​

Yet, Mr. Kapp’s concern is apparently not at all concerned about this flagrant tree destruction without legal authority. Instead, he writes that FOMT should not engage in “politics” about tree policy:

​

“My concern is that most emails go after certain folks … Recently the email blasted several commissioners and advocated for the news to do investigative work, which is not where we can be.”

​

Mr. Kapp, FOMT respectfully disagrees. FOMT welcomes vibrant investigative reporting about illegal tree removal, not just here in Mobile but other cities such as Biloxi and Long Beach. That your association does not is, for us, an enormous red flag without white or blue.

When I asked Mr. Kapp how alerting apparent illegal activity involving our oak trees is “politics” and not central to our respective mission for the trees, he declined to respond. Instead, he asked that we remove him from FOMT's mailing list. In fairness to him and AUFA, we cannot and will not do that since we have much more to tell you tomorrow about AUFA’s interest in the Michigan Avenue Massacre. It would be wrong to not copy him. 

​

Judging by his recent pattern, our relatively new mayor is out of control. His flagrant abuse of his elected position will not go unchecked. FOMT will continue to report to you our members each day. Our great founders didn’t lose their lives 250 years ago and on Omaha Beach 82 years ago tomorrow so we can live under a dictator who acts as if he is above the law and not answerable to the people he recently swore to protect.

 

Check back tomorrow for more about the AUFA's sudden involvement in Mobile's tree crisis.

​

For the FOMT Board

John Robb, President

FRIENDS OF MOBILE TREES™

john.robb102@yahoo.com

+++

June 4, 2026:Good morning. A glimmer of light in Mobile’s urban forest! As FOMT previously reported to you, Mobile’s Tree Commissioners halted ALL public communication in July, 2024, citing “technical issues” with their Buildmobile website page. Now, we are happy to tell you the Commissioners are coming out of the shadows. No meeting announcements, agendas or minutes yet, but, they have publicly posted brief “results” from their April 21st meeting at: 

https://www.buildmobile.org/planning/tree-commission/

As we told you in April, that’s the meeting where the Commissioners voted to approve Councilor Ben Reynolds request to give $10,000 to the Tillman’s Corner Chamber of Commerce for emergency watering of trees planted too late in the season that these same Commissioners previously said were overpriced and too expensive for them to buy.

This is also the meeting where former Urban Forester Peter Toler reported that Mayor Cheriogotis had personally trimmed the Chrichton Leprechaun tree on Le Cren Street. Mr. Toler released for the City an excellent video of the Mayor’s tree trimming just a few days before the Mayor fired Mr. Toler after eleven years providing emergency response in all kinds of crazy weather. The video is on YouTube or you can view through this link       

 https://youtu.be/8UYw5nHYwxU?si=5YnYDdSm8yjVbh0w

Very ironically, Mayor Cheriogotis goes to great lengths in this video to let the public know that he was trimming the tree, not cutting it down. Yet, later that week, he authorized clear-cutting the entire grove of oaks on Michigan Avenue on the center median just north of I-10 without any public announcement as to why or public discussion. Since there was no impending circumstance such as a storm or imminent tree failures, that action appears to break state law. The Mobile Tree Act assigns the Tree Commissioners the duty of approving routine tree removal, not the Mayor. If you or I cut down those trees, penalties would include potential prison time.

While we have received dozens of emails, texts and messages from concerned residents about this sudden destruction of about a half mile of oaks, not one of the seven City Councilors who appoint the Commissioners, the Mayor or his staff members have answered our members’ requests to explain this destruction. But, someone did emerge from left field to defend the Mayor’s actions. More tomorrow about this additional strange twist that speaks volumes about the Michigan Avenue clear cutting.

John Robb, President

For the FOMT Board

+++

​June 3, 2026: Hello all, just back home so catching up on the recent clear cutting of live oaks on the center median of Michigan Avenue just  north of I-10. As highlighted in CAPS, we don't see how the Mobile Tree Act allows the mayor to do this without ANY public notice or hearing and still be within the letter and spirit of this law. All the texts, emails and private Facebook messages we've received are incredibly vague second-hand comments like "I heard Airbus wanted them out." There was another vague reference to improper placement causing roots to come up through the avenue but the picture itself shows NOTHING unusual on Michigan. So how on earth was this "reasonably necessary" to take out these beautiful oaks and, even if for some reason it was, why no public notice or discussion by anybody involved in this?

 

Section 11-72-9 Application and Permission to Cut, Remove, Trim, Etc.; Emergency Exceptions

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), no person shall cut, remove, trim, or in any way damage any tree in any street right-of-way in the Class 2 municipality or create any condition injurious to any tree without having first made a written application so to do to the commission and having obtained advance written permission from the commission. Any governmental body or utility may, by filing an application accompanied by a certificate as hereinafter provided, obtain a continuing permission to trim, cut, or remove at any time any trees in any area described in its application for such permission. The form of application shall be as established by the commission, and the commission may delegate to one or more of its members or officers the power to grant such permission in accordance with standards set by it. The commission may in its discretion hold public hearings on any application and may approve part of an application or may approve an application upon terms and conditions as the commission may establish. In considering any application before it, the commission shall base its decision on whether the public and private benefit that will result from granting the application outweighs the public and private benefit that will result from denying it. In the event the mayor of the Class 2 municipality or public utility shall certify to the commissioners that it desires to trim, cut, or remove trees and that it is or MAY BECOME REASONABLY NECESSARY to do so to prevent a public hazard or to provide efficient or economical service to the public, then such certificate shall be conclusive evidence for the approval of the application, and the commission shall approve the same, and there shall be no appeal from such approval except as provided in Section 11-72-10.

​

FOMT will regularly update Facebook and this website mobiletrees.org with what we find out about this deliberate act. We believe that, left unchallenged, this activity will only encourage Mayor Cheriogotis to do this again in other neighborhoods. What then would stop him from ignoring laws in other areas of public policy such as our public health and public safety?

​

 For the FOMT Board

John Robb, President

FRIENDS OF MOBILE TREES™

john.robb102@yahoo.com

mobiletrees@yahoo.com

+++
Greetings from Friends of Mobile Trees!

Big changes are coming soon for the Mobile Tree Commission although it would be difficult to see that from the Commissioners’ unposted agenda for yesterday’s monthly meeting. Aside from routine department reports and denial of two routine individual tree permits, nothing much happened. No trees are being planted despite FOMT’s continued offer to pay for all the trees for Phase 2 of the Airport Boulevard median project. They also held off on Councilor Ben Reynolds' request last month for another 10K for emergency watering of trees in Tillman's Corner that were planted too late in the season and were, according to the same Commissioners, too expensive for them to buy.

However, applications are now closed for Urban Forester Peter Toler’s vacant position so we will soon have his replacement named. Tree Commissioner Donavan Ballard is now doubling as the Commission's Urban Forestry rep and is the most likely choice to replace Mr. Toler. If that does happen, Mr. Ballard would likely need to resign his position on the Commission to avoid an obvious conflict of interest.

Also, elections of new board officers is set for next month so we will likely have a new Chair to replace long-time Chair Will Rooks. Treasurer Andrew Blejwas is the ranking member eligible to step up.

As for the Commissioners’ continued monthly failure since July, 2024 to post on their Buildmobile web page meeting announcements, agendas, minutes or even two-or-three-word action summaries, the Commissioners are now saying that is due to “computer” issues. They say they “may” opt to begin posting meeting announcements seven days in advance on the bulletin board across from the City side elevators at Government Plaza to, at least, technically comply with the Alabama Open Meetings Act.

As always, we’ll keep you posted on what happens or not happens for our beautiful trees.
 

For the FOMT Board

John Robb, President

FRIENDS OF MOBILE TREES™

john.robb102@yahoo.com

mobiletrees@yahoo.com

mobiletrees.org

​