THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 5, 1996 TAG: 9604030129
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Ida Kay's Portsmouth
SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
The last word: Lauren Gehman will not return to the city staff as horticulturist.
Gehman was fired by the city after a dispute with a property owner from Norfolk who wanted trees pruned in front of his apartments on South Street.
Gehman believed the trees should not be cut back at the time - it was against her horticultural principles. He insisted they be cut. They argued. He didn't like it and reported to the city that she was rude to him, maybe poked him with her finger during their discussion.
The termination was abrupt. Gehman appealed. But, alas, after waiting several months for a hearing and decision, she lost. Although her fellow city employees appointed to an appeals panel could not agree unanimously, she was on the short end of the vote.
``The decision will stand,'' she told me this week. ``I did not get my job back.''
That's bad news for the city, especially for the hundreds of garden club members around town who have depended on her assistance and advice.
Lauren worked for the city 11 years. Many beautiful places here are due to her good taste and hard work.
Most of us have seen Gehman down on her hands and knees working in the dirt. She was not the sort of person who stood back and waited for somebody else to do the hard work.
She was all over town, talking to gardeners, helping them with projects to beautify the city. Public places definitely took a turn for the better after she came to work for the city.
As one person who wrote to The Currents about Gehman put it, ``Memories that flood my mind are the island in the first block of High Street and the beds around Portside.''
``They have been breathtaking,'' wrote Alice P. Ashe of Sterling Point.
Many people have talked to us about Gehman's work.
``She is too great an asset for Portsmouth to lose,'' Wanda Russo of Park Manor wrote.
And said Shirley Frenia of Windy-mille Drive, ``All you have to do is look around this city in the spring, summer and fall and you can witness the impact she has had.''
Many people mentioned Friendship Gardens at City Park.
Gehman was always available - even on her days off - to speak to a club or help with a project.
She still is keeping her engagements over here, even though she is no longer on the payroll. Last week when I spoke with her, she had just returned to Norfolk from speaking to a garden club in Portsmouth.
She is working a few hours a day at the Fred Huette Garden Center in Norfolk.
Our loss is Norfolk's gain.
No doubt, Gehman was strong-willed. She believed in what she was doing, and she had certain standards for the work.
I have been told by other city employees that some of those who worked for her were all too happy to testify against her if called to her appeals hearing. It seems she expected people to be on time and to take their allotted time at lunch, not 10 or 15 minutes longer.
In addition, it seems she expected people to follow instructions and do the job as she planned it. That sometimes did not sit too well with some employees, I am told.
I am sure that when someone at City Hall wanted her to do other than what she believed should be done, such as prune the South Street trees, she was very capable of taking a firm stand.
However, I'm with the garden club members who find it very hard to believe she committed any offense serious enough for immediate termination.
I can envision her becoming irritated about something she believed to be wrong. I even can envision her raising her voice in an argument and pointing her finger at an adversary.
But is that grounds for dismissal?
A horticulturist as artistic as Lauren Gehman no doubt has a little artistic temperament. Sadly, that probably does not sit well with bureaucratic bosses who brook no disagreement.
But it is that same artistic ability that has made Portsmouth a very beautiful place on a limited budget. It is that same ability that has inspired garden clubs to contribute their time and talents to make various parts of the city beautiful places.
Gehman says she has no regrets.
``Everything is subject to change. I am proud of what I did in Portsmouth and always will be available to work with the garden clubs.''
Still, we should be concerned that one landlord from another city could create such a tempest that we have lost a person responsible for much of the city's image.
Can we afford to lose her? by CNB