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<br /> 2 <br /> <br />City Staff Interviews <br />Between August and October 2023, Dudek conducted interviews with staff from the Public Works and <br />Planning Departments to understand the effectiveness of the urban forest management program. An <br />interview was also conducted with the Hacienda General Manager to gain a better understanding of <br />Pleasanton’s biggest business park’s management of urban trees. Nine city staff were invited to attend <br />group interviews, which were conducted virtually via Zoom. The list of departments invited to the interviews <br />is included below. <br />▪ Public Works Department <br />- Inspection <br />▪ Engineering <br />▪ Utilities <br />▪ Parks <br />▪ Landscape Architecture <br />▪ Community Development Department <br />▪ Planning <br />▪ Traffic Engineering <br />▪ City Attorney’s office <br /> <br />Some of the questions explored included the following: <br />▪ What are the various tree and urban forest-related functions of your role? <br />▪ How does your Department/Office/business interface with other Departments that manage <br />trees? <br />▪ What are the most common issues with trees that you deal with or see in your Department? <br />▪ What are the greatest challenges/opportunities facing the City’s urban forest? <br />▪ How do you envision the City’s urban forest in 25 years? <br /> <br />The interviews explored the role each stakeholder had in influencing City tree management, clarified <br />internal City procedures, and informed areas where the City could improve management of the urban forest. <br />Major themes shared during the interviews are presented below in Table 5-7. <br />Summary of Staff Interview Comments <br />Theme Staff Comments <br />Infrastructure Conflicts ▪ Most common problem: tree roots lifting sewer line, curb and/or gutter <br />▪ How they’re identified: Ground monitoring by Public Works Engineering <br />Technician- street walking assessments. Physically walk capital <br />improvement project sites to mark tree/ sidewalk issues before project <br />construction commences. <br />▪ 30% of City's liability claims are related to trees. <br />▪ ADA compliant sidewalk maintenance is common. <br />Ownership and <br />Responsibilities <br />▪ Some uncertainty on who oversees and maintains creek, stream, pond, <br />and other waterway trees. <br />▪ Also need to determine if greenbelts and meter boxes are public or