With cleanup from the disastrous June 25 storm still underway in Bartlett, at least one alderman is trying to place some of the blame squarely on the shoulders of former Mayor A. Keith McDonald.

But McDonald and Doug McGowen, head of Memphis Light, Gas and Water, say the finger-pointing directed at the former Barlett leader is misguided.

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The issue arose this week after Bartlett suffered widespread damage from downed trees and limbs that combined to snap utility poles and electrical wires. Alderman Kevin Quinn was speaking with various MLGW crews as they worked to restore power around the city, and a statement by McDonald nine years ago made its way into the conversation.

“I was aware that McDonald had stopped the tree trimming in Bartlett that ultimately led to this huge power outage, but I’ve avoided saying it publicly because we were in the middle of this mess,” Quinn said. “But a contract crew actually brought it up to me Sunday and said all the MLGW crews were talking about the outage being the City of Bartlett’s fault.”

In May 2014, McDonald issued an official statement about MLGW’s tree-trimming practices and policy. The issue was more about the way crews lopped off the top of the trees rather than taking a more disciplined approach.

“I understand that trees have to be trimmed to keep power lines free, sure,” McDonald said. “But they are defacing our trees and leaving an ugly mess. It’s aesthetically unappealing. How can we be Tree City if they are ruining our trees?”

He also felt at the time that MLGW was giving citizens insufficient notice when they were going to remove trees and limbs.

Contacted this week, McDonald stands behind his 2014 actions and disputes parts of the current accusation about the situation. He says his previous gripe was with how MLGW was executing the tree trimming, sometimes leaving them side-heavy or badly misshapen. He also notes that Quinn was not an elected official in 2014.

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“He’s repeating something he heard someone else say, and those people are repeating something that was discussed at a much higher level,” McDonald said, adding that he still believes “the way they go about cutting the trees — there’s a better way to do that.”

“That’s the discussions I had with them.”

The former mayor said he understands that crews need to provide some space between spreading limbs and the above-ground power lines to limit the potential problems. But, he said there should be a way to do it without leaving an ugly mess.

“We had all kinds of discussions back then about why they didn’t do more underground. Why they built this infrastructure in a way that it is more susceptible to damage,” McDonald said, noting much of the recent damage also came from the downed utility poles.

He did not recall MLGW ever saying they were going to cut back or stop tree trimming in the city. During the 2014 discussions, he remembers that MLGW was cutting trees on his own property.

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“They didn’t stop. I didn’t notice any reduction. I’m sure there was conversation, but I don’t know about any actionable items,” McDonald said.

McGowen, the division’s president and CEO, says MLGW has always maintained an open line of communication and an ongoing partnership with the Bartlett mayor’s office and the city. He said the previous discussions did not result in less tree trimming.

“In 2014, Mayor McDonald requested that MLGW provide some advance notice prior to tree trimming in Bartlett so residents could be notified. This did not impact tree trimming,” McGowen said, adding, “The damage from recent storms was caused by winds in excess of 75 mph, with some gusts to 90 mph. Tree trimming will significantly improve reliability day-to-day and in routine weather events, but is unlikely to completely prevent the kind of damage that occurred from a storm of this intensity.“