Tree fixation @ work session 3/23

[this was a draft I started and didn't finish. But it contains a dig at the datacenter millions, so I'll go ahead and turn it loose as-is.]


I may have made some errors while making this transcription. Better check it against the video yourself. :-)

Mitchell: I'm digging this "visually obscure 25% of the front door or porch" bullet. I mean, we're interested in making Richardson look good.

But there's this detail where the law only allows us to use this kind of tactic for "health & safety" issues. Still, we really like to be ahead of the curve.[0] Do you really think we are we going to be able (with a straight face) to claim in court this is about health and safety and not about looking good, despite what I just said 10 seconds earlier?

Don: Oh, hells yeah. We've been pulling this crap for years, since at least 2001; we were the first ones in North Texas to twist the law this way. We're way ahead of the curve. And now Mesquite is doing it, too! We haven't been sued yet by the residents or slapped down by the A.G. so we're golden. Masters of the universe and all that. It may be a dilrod thing to do, but our lawyers say it's totally defensible[1] and can be tied back[2] to health, safety and general welfare[3].

Mitchell: Man, you're good. Ok. Next question. My neighbor has this big old oak tree. I mean, this thing is annoying, what with all the birds, the acorns, the shade and all that crap. Is is this a stump, based on your new language?

Don: Believe it. If you don't like it (and you've got some pull) then it's a stump. They'll have to cut it down even to the level of the lawn.

Slagel, interrupting: Let me just ask. Is there any way we can pay some completely transient, unstable company five or ten million dollars to cut that tree down and then relocate some kind of datacenter or insurance company where the tree was? We could call it LumberTech or something. I like that branding, and I think it might yield the city thirteen or fourteen cents over the next six centuries.

Tex Keffler: I know some people who are perfect for that. I was playing golf with them Saturday morning. Or was it drinks in the hotel lounge? Regardless, it'd probably have to be closer to 10mil to "get their attention", if you know what I mean.

Macy: It seems traditional in many places to cut off the tree trunk at a couple of feet high and use it as a flower planter. Are we allowing that?

Don: The people who do that are trashy, and may not even be White. Deeply, profoundly "problematic". Denied!

[unfinished, unedited draft ends here]



[0] ie, do things that wiser people might say is "unwise", "inadvisable", or "illegal".
[1] ie, "we will bill you $500/hr to defend it"
[2] ie, fig leaf successfully attached
[3] ...of the city