WHAT WENT WRONG WAS THE PROCESS

Nothing about that removal was a surprise downtown. The cost of the trees was calculated, approved, and budgeted well in advance. The one thing that never happened was the part that mattered most to the people who live there. Nobody told them.

Our rules say removal should be the last option and residents should hear about it first. When the payment goes in the budget before the notice goes to the neighborhood, the rule stops functioning. It becomes a cost of doing business, and it gets paid without anyone having to stop and ask whether there was a better way.

And a replanting plan does not make it even. A mature tree can have close to a hundred times the leaf area of a young one. Leaf area is the shade on your street, the stormwater your yard does not flood with, the wind your house does not take. Those replacement trees will not do that work for another twenty five or thirty years, and some of them will not survive to try.

Taking a tree is a fact. Planting one is a promise.

MY COMMITMENT

Neighbors Hear It First

• Written notice to every household within a set distance before any city project removes regulated trees, delivered early enough that residents can still be heard
• A public explanation of why removal was chosen over the alternatives, before the equipment arrives
• Commitments made to a neighborhood in a public meeting recorded and tracked, so that a promised buffer is a promise the city has to keep

Measure Canopy, Not Just Trees Planted

• Report tree canopy by district every year in acres and percent cover, not in stems planted
• Track survival of city-planted and city-distributed trees, so we know what is actually growing
• Prioritize replanting in the neighborhoods that lost the canopy, not wherever there happens to be room

Smart Growth in the Right Places

Density is not the enemy. Density everywhere, all at once, with no regard for what is already there is a different matter. I believe in targeting growth where it makes sense:

• Transit corridors, where residents can get around without a car
• Commercial centers, where mixed use puts homes near jobs and services
• Infill sites, underutilized parcels already suited for development
• The Innovation District, where UF, the city, and private partners are building the economy of the future

Protection for Established Communities

• Preserve single family zoning where communities want it preserved
• Ensure new development is compatible with its surroundings
• Support accessory dwelling units as a choice, not a mandate
• Protect property values with predictable, fair zoning

Affordable Housing That Works

As Chairman of the Alachua County Affordable Housing Board, I have seen up close how hard it is for working families to find a home. My approach:

• Champion affordable housing in appropriate locations
• Partner with developers to include affordable units in new projects
• Stand up for renters and protect families from unjust evictions
• Streamline permitting so affordable projects do not die in bureaucratic limbo

THE BOTTOM LINE

A city has to build. I am not going to pretend otherwise, and I would not want a commission that refused to. But building is not the hard part. The hard part is doing it without treating the people who live next door as the last to know.

We can grow this city and still keep faith with the neighborhoods inside it. That takes a commission willing to make the call before the machines come instead of after.

Vote DeJeon Cain on or before August 18th.