Here is a transcription of portions of the tape recording of the September 4, 1997 neigborhood meeting with the City that deal with PG&E's complicity in the spread of Dutch Elm Disease on Fresno.

Jerry Koch, Berkeley City Forester made the presentation and took questions from the floor. Also present were Mayor Shirley Dean, Councilmember Diane Woolley, and Director of Parks and Waterfront Lisa Caronna.

[KOCH] 
"I've been here about 3-1/2 years. The first year I was here we didn't
have any cases of DED. And then the following year we had about three
cases. Last year we had about a dozen. This year to date we
have about 20 cases, most of them on Fresno." 

A minute or so later, while discussing methods of how the disease is 
spread, he said: 

[KOCH]
"The third method is by pruning tools. And when we first detected the
signs of DED on Fresno, mainly on the north part of this [the 900]
block, our first thought was that it was probably spread by PG&E's
clearing of the lines. We contacted their foresters and they said, no,
they disinfect the tools between trees.  [Loud laughter from audience.]
We're not quite convinced of that, but it's also very difficult to
prove otherwise." [From audience: "How about a room full of people
to testify....?"] 

[AUDIENCE] 
"Most of the people here believe that the dramatic spred of the 
disease was brought on by PG&E, and I'd like to know what is your 
department doing, because the PG&E people will be coming back through 
the area doing periodic pruning, so what is your department doing to 
assure the safety of the remaining trees?"

[KOCH]
"We discussed our concerns about the pruning and the possible
spread through their pruning practices, and we will continue to
do that."

[AUDIENCE (Annie Sparks?)]
"I wonder if we want to get PG&E to help us with the cost of any 
of this?" 

[KOCH] 
"We actually are…they actually are going to be involved in the removal."

[Audience]
"Should we establish a neighborhood watch for PG&E's pruning crew 
to make certain they're cleaning their pruning tools?"

[KOCH]
"That wouldn't be a bad idea."

[Audience (Mary Ann Campbell?)]
I think that we as a group need to petition PG&E and that Davey
Tree Company that butchered our trees, and I think that they should 
have to come up with that expense. We shouldn't because we didn't
cause the problem. They caused the problem by pruning the trees
at the wrong time of year when those beetles could be introduced
and spread....What you're saying is that we're never going to get 
the look that we want--that we have now--and it's because of PG&E.
I think we as a group need to petition PG&E and say we want them
to put the wires undeground so that then we can have the trees
that we want and that they should come up with the expense of the
larger trees.

[Audience (Paul Johnson)]
Is that true? That pruning at the wrong time of year helps
introduce the beetles into the tree.

[Koch]
It can contribute to the spread, yes.