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Grassroots volunteers help disabled East Bay veteran remove diseased trees

Contra Costa Times - 10/7/2019

Oct. 7--BRENTWOOD -- A code enforcement violation turned into a day of goodwill when volunteers showed up on Saturday to disabled Navy veteran Rick Kompara's Brentwood home to remove six towering diseased trees tagged for removal.

Kompara's wife, Denise, had planted the two pine trees and four redwoods 20 years ago when the couple first bought the home, nurturing them from five-gallon plants. And though they were her "babies," and she was sad to see them cut down, she was grateful for the community support.

Almost two weeks earlier city code enforcement officers had tagged the diseased trees, which had earlier suffered from the drought and have never been able to recover since then.

But Kompara had also suffered two serious illnesses in the last seven years that required hospitalization, forcing him out of work for 17 months. Removing the trees was an expense he had planned on, so he turned to Councilwoman Kary Rarey for help.

"I understood why we had to take them down," he said, noting that help started pouring in as soon as he texted Rarey. "It's amazing the help I got."

Rarey immediately went to work with the Community Development Department to get his fines waived and also reached out to VFW Post 10789 Commander Steve Todd to see if the VFW could help out.

"These health issues, time off of work, and equity already taken from the home to help them through these hard times have strapped them financially," Rarey said, noting she was happy to rally volunteers to help lessen the burden caused by the dying trees.

Todd of the VFW also jumped in right away, posting a call for help on Facebook, which took off like wildfire, the post garnering 101 shares and nearly 14,000 hits in a little more than two days.

Others jumped into the grassroots project, including local Rotarians, firefighters and veterans, and Larry Gullo, a retired police officer and the owner of Cal-North Construction & Tree Service, and his crew. In addition, Joe Rapanut, a certified arborist/climber from Mountain View, came to help cut down and remove the trees, three of which were 40 feet tall, and the other three, more than 60 feet tall.

Gullo said that because of the height of two of the redwoods, he had to have his climber de-branch and top two of the trees before taking them down.

About two dozen volunteers turned out to help, including a local barbecue caterer, veteran Archie Smith, who donated food.

Kompara said he was grateful for the outpouring of community resources even though his wife was heartbroken that the trees had to go.

Rarey said the city took the chipped trees and will use them for no cost and will use them for compost around town.

Brentwood Senior Code Enforcement Office Roberta Portillo-Bienemann said that when the city is aware of hardships that its residents have they try to work with them regarding their code violations.

Todd, meanwhile, also encouraged other disabled veterans on the post's Facebook page to reach out to the local VFW if they are struggling. The group works to find volunteers and uses its own relief fund to help veterans when needed, he said.

"This is what happens when a community gets involved -- only good things!"

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(c)2019 the Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.)

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