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2 MAY 12, 1994 EUGENE WEEKLY <br /> Urban Forester <br /> Felled <br /> T he city has forced its Urban Forester <br /> Jan Staszewski to resign amid harsh <br /> citizen criticism. <br /> Staszewski said he will step down by the <br /> end of the year after working for the city <br /> for four years. Staszewski, who chose his <br /> words carefully, said he was not fired, <br /> "Nothing like that is in the record." He said <br /> he was given a choice of "options" and <br /> elected to resign. <br /> A series of citizen letters to the city, <br /> mayor and council has criticized Staszewski <br /> for incompetence and not doing enough to <br /> protect Eugene's urban forest from develop- <br /> ment. Ibrexample, a March 25 letter from <br /> la tree and park activists Robert Em- <br /> mons and Nena Lovinger criticized <br /> Staszewski for "callous and cavalier be- <br /> havior toward the public and the planting <br /> materials for which he is responsible." <br /> Staszewski, the first to hold the new ur- <br /> ban forester position, described himself as <br /> a victim of the "polarization" that has sur- <br /> rounded the heated tree protection issue <br /> in Eugene. '"This position is kind of a hot <br /> potato" <br /> His critics, he said, wanted a "tree ad- <br /> vocate in the position." Staszewski said, "I <br /> have to walk the .fine line.... There's a <br /> developer's right to develop and a need to <br /> preserve." <br /> Staszewski said he was "taken to task" <br /> by both sides. Often, he said, he would <br /> negotiate rather than reject a tree- cutting <br /> permit. A rejection could lead to a suc- <br /> cessful appeal and no negotiated tree pro- <br /> tection, he said. "I do what is within the <br /> code' <br /> The city council recently strengthened <br /> the city's tree-cutting ordinance. Under the <br /> new code, Benchmark Northwest was fin- <br /> ed $10,000 for cutting too many frees on a <br /> Dillard Road lot. <br /> —Alan Pittman <br />