July 8, 2026 - Seeing the Forest…and the Trees
At a recent community event, political leader and former US Rep. Stacey Abrams delivered a line that really resonated with me. “Patience is a virtue,” she said. “And it’s a virtue I do not possess.”
I couldn’t agree more. As my city colleagues will tell you, I’m constantly pushing for things to move faster. “What’s our deadline?” and “Are we on track?” are frequently asked questions in my office, and I struggle mightily against the wisdom of the African proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” (Can’t we go fast and together, after all?)
So when I read a recent headline about the tree preservation ordinance I’m authoring, I had to smile. “Everyone Wanted a Law to Protect St. Paul’s Trees. It Still Took Over a Year to Get a Vote,” it read.
True enough. Despite the fact that this is a massive piece of legislation governing tree preservation and replanting on all city roads, sidewalks, bike lanes and trails, and despite the fact that we’re adopting not only the broad ordinance but the detailed “standard operating procedures” that will actually dictate the work, I would normally want to get a project like this done in a matter of months, not years.
But when we held a public hearing on the ordinance last February, it became clear that this was a case where going together – a bit slower - was critical.
We heard from the public that this is an issue that matters deeply and personally. Every single corner of our city has seen recent construction that has affected trees, sometimes with devastating consequences. From Cleveland to Arcade, Grand to Wheelock, people have seen their boulevard trees damaged, destroyed or disregarded - and it’s caused real pain.
We also heard that there’s a deep distrust in city government when it comes to trees. As a result, people didn’t want us just to adopt the broad policy framework of an ordinance and figure out the details later. Our constituents wanted us to draft the detailed rules that would govern how the ordinance would work at the same time as we adopted the ordinance, because those details matter. After all, requiring a tree to be replanted when one comes down doesn’t tell us enough about how the policy will work. (Do we replant a sapling in place of a mature oak tree? What does that mean for our urban canopy?)
As a result, I took a deep breath and did something I’m not used to. I took a step back, put the ordinance on pause, and commenced a 14-month-long community engagement and drafting process that included 19 meetings of a public input group, visits to the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Disabilities and all 17 District Councils in the city and dozens of emails and phone calls with interested constituents with a range of perspectives. This engagement led to great questions, important decisions on tough points, and an overall consensus among groups that don’t always agree.
The last 14 months also gave us the chance to do something less visible but absolutely essential: to bring Public Works and Forestry staff together to draft the ordinance and the standard operating procedures. This collaborative process isn’t just about getting the words right on paper; it’s about developing the cooperative habits that will actually make the ordinance work. The law’s success depends on close working relationships between the Public Works staff who lead the construction process and the Forestry staff who weigh in on tree health and protection measures. The inter-departmental working relationships that have developed while drafting the ordinance over this last year have prepared our teams to start implementing the policy together as soon as it takes effect.
So while the ordinance may have taken longer than anyone (including me) would have anticipated or preferred, I’m glad we took the time to get the details right, to do it together, to remind ourselves that compromise is not a dirty word and that process matters.
And I just can’t wait for the final vote next week.