I am sending this letter in regards to city trees in front of my home. These are magnolia trees, and I have called the city with concerns about the danger these trees pose because of the large pods that grow on them.

I happen to have two of these trees in front of my home on the city side of the property, and I want them removed. When I called the city about my concern, they sent out a lady that took notes and left, then out came a truck and cut back branches that didn't need cutting back, and that left us with a more dangerous problem because now the lower branches are not there to break the fall of the pods from the top of the trees.

So I called the city again and spoke to maintenance supervisor Larry Bracken and Kurt Dahlren. He sent out a team of guys to cut the roots of the tree and then check to see how stable that left them.

All they managed to do was break up the sidewalk in front of my house and cut through our sprinkler system.

So I called again and spoke to Risk Manager James Bartholomew, and he didn't care about my concerns with the pods hitting children playing under the trees or people getting hit when walking under them.

I asked him who waters the trees. He stated that the city comes out once or twice a month to water all city trees, even the neighborhood trees. I told him I had never seen a truck on my street and I am home most of the time.

I am handicapped, so I have to be careful not to step on these pods as well. Now the way I see it, since I know that I water those trees on that side of the property, I should have a say in what is planted there.

I pay for the water that feeds them, and we have to pick up the mess they make because the street sweeper goes around the dropped pods in front of my house. I do not want anyone to get hurt because the city refused to remove these trees.

Shame on the city planners or maintenance people that didn't think this through before planting hazardous trees in the first place. Bren Mercado Simi Valley