What Mike Perkins does when his chainsaw is idle

The Tulsa World reports today that Mike Perkins, Interim Urban Forester for the City of Tulsa, has been removing red ribbons from trees that activists were using to call attention to the tree-cutting. He also admits to presenting one activist (me) with a written threat of arrest for interfering with city authority. The intimidation attempt backfires, and the City Attorney reminds Perkins of the First Amendment.

Elsewhere in the article, Perkins completely contradicts his earlier statement that proper tree trimming would require resources that he didn't have. Now he says, "If the tree is trimmable, it will be done." Unfortunately, the decision about whether a tree is "trimmable" remains Mike Perkins' alone.