Problems With Street Trees

I am sure residents of West Los Angeles have their problems (“Street Trees Are at the Root of Homeowners’ Sewer Problems,” Nov. 26), but why no mention of Santa Monica, where a walk around the Sunset Park area necessitates navigating a dangerous obstacle course of buckled and bulging sidewalks caused by tree roots?

Broken sewer lines, clogged drains and plumbers’ bills of thousands of dollars are things that residents have to live with because of the refusal of the City Council to deal with the problem.

Streets named Pine, Maple, Cedar, Oak, Elm, etc. should all be renamed Ficus, after the pestilential tree which city officials saw fit to inflict on residents and for which they now refuse to accept responsibility.

JOHN HISCOCK

Santa Monica

* I really sympathize with the homeowners on the Westside whose homes have been damaged by city-owned but not maintained trees. I live on Ashcroft Avenue in West Hollywood. It is a wonderful street with many mature ficus trees. Unfortunately here, too, the city has ignored its taxpayers by not maintaining these magnificent trees. If left to their own devices, these trees can wreak havoc not only with water lines but also with the berries and foliage they deposit.

I have lived in my house for almost three years and the city has yet to prune these ficus trees. This despite many requests from residents. If the city wants to preserve these trees, it should take the responsibility of maintaining them. They all but prevent us from doing this, but when our homes are damaged, they accept no responsibility.

BRIAN MARK BUDIN

West Hollywood