STORM BASTILLE!
Thread started by
SoapBoxLA at 06.2.08 - 12:13 am
"Storm the Bastille"
06.03.08 @ 7pm
The Bicycle Advisory Committee of the City of Los Angeles
We meet at REDquarters
Santa Monica & Vermont Red Line Station
gather @ 5:30, ride @ 6:00
The Bicycle Advisory Committee meets every two months and advises the City of Los Angeles on cycling issues.
The BAC, in an effort to reach out to the cycling community and to demonstrate the open and inclusive nature of the Committee, will now hold the BAC meetings at LAPD Headquarters, Parker Center Auditorium!
Parker Center Auditorium
150 N. Los Angeles Street, Lobby
Los Angeles, CA 90012
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I see that an LAPD bike squad "tactical riding technique" demonstration is on the agenda this month. That should be fun!
Unfortunately, I probably won't be riding there with you guys, and worst case scenario, I'll be on foot. Damn employment!
angle06.2.08 - 1:47 am
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i'm tempted to come to the BAC meeting again ever since i heard they were trying to reform it...
@SoapboxLA:
can you please tell us more about the upcoming changes at the BAC?
do you believe that they are working towards progress and as such, how can we work with them to achieve that very progress?
me want information.
thankx!
(p.s....great bike instead of work day!!")
ingipet06.2.08 - 12:14 pm
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Word on the street is some dirty ratas in the bike scene have been working towards kicking Alex Baum off of the BAC.
And the LADOT's bike jefita might be getting a dressing down from the mayor's office!
Sweet sweet justice for bike policy nerds? We shall see.
ubrayj0206.2.08 - 10:29 pm
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The Mayor appoints 4 delegates to the BAC and each Councilmember appoints one for a total of 19 members of the BAC but they have struggled with attendance and subsequently effectiveness.
There is a suggestion afoot to have alternates to each BAC member so that there would always be a full representation and hopefully some action.
There is also a suggestion brewing to stir the BAC up a bit, not just within the committee but by bringing in representatives from Planning, Rec & Parks, the City Attorney's office, so that the dialogue will be with more of the "City Family."
I'd say there are a couple of aggressive BAC members that should get our support and that this is a great time to weigh in on what you would like from our representatives to the City of Los Angeles.
Already progress has been made, Public Comment will be at the beginning of the meeting! No longer do we have to wait until the end of the meeting to get ignored!
BAC Restructuring Motion in pdf.
SoapBoxLA06.3.08 - 12:23 am
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that is encouraging to hear.
a couple of those meetings i went to last year were pretty brutal.
like someone peeling your eyeball with an carrot peeler.
but it sounds like there is a small window of refreshment here...
speaking of which....refreshments are handy meeting enhancers...bikers arriving with delicious baked goods and smart snacks? Storm the Bastille with smart snacks?
i don't know if i can swing the meeting tomorrow, but now i'm interested in the shifting BAC.
any more glimmers of hope on the horizon?
ingipet06.3.08 - 12:44 am
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Going.
Probably. Maybe. I'm going to try to go.
PC06.3.08 - 3:38 am
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I heard that Michelle Mowery wants to take the planning department staff off of the BAC reform menu and replace them with Rec & Parks staff.
Bullshit!
I'm going to go tomorrow night to ask the BAC to recommend that Planning have a bigger role to play in planning in the right of way. Get bikes more transportation dollars for transportation facilities.
Rec and Parks would only be useful for getting projects for "bike trails" in parks, and meandering paths to nowhere.
Pinche Michelle Mowery! Trying to f**k us out of a real solution!
ubrayj0206.3.08 - 7:25 am
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Rec & Parks does not need more presence at the BAC, and I don't understand this muddling of priorities when it comes to bicycle resources in this city. At this point in time, with the cost of energy and food skyrocketing, we desperately need to be funding better infrastructure for TRANSPORTATIONAL cycling, not mountain bike trails.
Imagine if half of the money allotted for freeways went to building NASCAR race tracks and ATV parks.
angle06.3.08 - 8:24 am
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On the menu for tonight:
-Say "I like Ed Reyes motion AS IT IS. Rec and Parks does not need to staff this meeting. Bikes need to be accounted for in urban planning - the Planning Department needs to be here to find us money and planning policies to get more people riding bikes."
-Other recommendations regarding the bike plan (like having bicycles and walking be defined as "a mode of transportation" and then have the City define a "mode of transportation" and "transportation" as any method or means of moving goods or people in the public right-of-way, including but not limited to, walking, bicycling, using buses, fixed rail, and vehicular use."
-Try and get Alex Baum out of the way, and spur Mowery into action on behalf of cyclists and not her department's budget
ubrayj0206.3.08 - 10:29 am
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phyco-babel, i was always a supporter of bike shit, and will always will be, but is not there other forums that encourage phyco-babel?
eddieboyinla06.3.08 - 10:46 am
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I pride myself on writing really high-quality psycho-babble, and I post it so that others may enjoy it.
If you don't like it, eddie, you don't have to read the thread if you don't want to.
angle06.3.08 - 1:19 pm
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I don't think that was eddie talking, it was the mescaline.
ubrayj0206.3.08 - 3:13 pm
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i think i'm going to brave it and go to this here meeting.
i hope we can all keep the discussion moving forward.
i know we can't always be positive.
we wont see eye to eye with the BAC.
sometimes we can't even get along with each other.
however, i believe it is important to remain diplomatic when approaching these issues in a civic arena.
incremental change can, will and does happen.
we have all contributed to that in our own small ways.
ingipet06.3.08 - 3:36 pm
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IT COULDN'T HAVE BEEN THE REAL EDDIE. HE ONLY TYPES IN ALL CAPS. I CONCUR - IT MUST BE THE MESCALINE KICKING IN.
Joe Borfo06.3.08 - 3:41 pm
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i wish Borfo or Mikey Wally would be at the BAC meeting tonight.
those dudes make me feel brave and
EMBOLDENED
ingipet06.3.08 - 3:48 pm
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I send all my EMOLDENEDNESS to you.
I must support the ending career performance of Funderstorm tonight.
I will do my best to ensure it is their last.
You gaise can take on the bastile. I'll send reinforcements in for next month.
Joe Borfo06.3.08 - 4:07 pm
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yay!!
i'm actually planning to go to the FUNDERSTORM show as well.... the public comment is at 7pm and i will bail after that....i'm quite sure i can make it to spaceland by 9pm.....
i feeeeel --->
EMBOLDENED now Borfs!
ingipet06.3.08 - 4:09 pm
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Oooo! I will now!
GO PLATINUM L.A.
live the dream!
hm....from foreclosure to PLATINUM
Los Angeles stuns the world by GOING PLATINUM....
aw yeah!!
GBA!!
ingipet06.3.08 - 4:17 pm
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FUNDERSTORM THE BASTILLE!
If only!
angle06.3.08 - 4:48 pm
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WHOOT WHOOT!
As soon as public comment is done, i'm bailing to hustle to FUNDERSTORM if anyone want to ride with me.
leaving for santa monica/vermont now...
ingipet06.3.08 - 5:13 pm
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Great meeting! The Committee was out of control...motions, amendments, revisions, debate, Bart Reed taking charge, passing the mic as if it were a baton...stacking public comment, more motions, why...it brought a tear to my eye!
The Bicycle Advisory Committee of the City of Los Angeles is grappling with the need to change and the need to become relevant. It has been a long time coming.
As always ROTW DJ Chickenleather was documenting, Josef climbed up on the table like Norma Ray, Alex took pictures as if he were at a model shoot while PC and Angle kept making motions to adjourn to Pure Luck.
Ultimately, that proved to be the wisest action of the evening, as always!
p.s. We were able to address the LAPD issues including Randy, Enci and Alesa. Councilmember Ed Reyes' Deputy took a look at the pictures and said she'd look into the issue.
SoapBoxLA06.4.08 - 12:41 am
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I can;t believe it. Shit actually got done.
The BAC endorsed Ed Reyes' motion to reform their committee.
The BAC sent along a set of recommendations to Alta Planning regarding the Bike Plan update!
Committee members discussed policy, took votes on whether to include certain ideas or not, and then either voted to approve a policy or vote it down.
Holy shit! The BAC actually started doing work!
I was about to tear my hair out for the first hour and a half watching the head-less committee find its footing because of the acting chair's inability to do a single god damned thing to facilitate the meeting. Fortunately, enough members of the BAC are familiar with how to do thing in a public hearing that they were able to just start carrying on like a real policy making body.
AND - a councilman had his staff person there to see what the hell was going on! How cool is that! Ed Reyes, thank you for taking this issue up. That is some real leadership, and I hope that other council offices will have the cojones to propose changes in the way this city deals with bikes the way you do. It makes a big difference.
There is a place to take your grievances and policy suggestions if you're ab ike rider - the BAC. Finally.
ubrayj0206.4.08 - 8:44 am
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i'm glad i stayed the whole time...
even if i felt a bit of the freakish pollyanna.... i almost left for funderstorm, but then the meeting starting WORKING! had to see it!
i'm still a bit torn about the unity in the advocate/activism community.
i don't quite see or feel it.
but, as ever,
live the dream!!
ingipet06.4.08 - 9:09 am
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p.s. soapboxLA
it was me, ingipet sitting with PC....not Angle.
and i really wanted to go to FUNDERSTORM! not pure luck.
gollllllllly.
ingipet06.4.08 - 9:13 am
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ingipet:
As far as the activist community is concerned, I don't know if there's ever going to be the kind of unity you're talking about, simply due to the diversity of personalities involved. However, it was very encouraging to me to see a majority of BAC members rally around the cause of transportational cycling last night and actually adopt both the reform motion and issue official recommendations for the Bike Master Plan. For the first time since I've been going to these meetings something significant got done, despite attempts to stall the process with dissent and nitpicking.
I'm glad you were there, and I appreciated your positive comments.
Live the dream, indeed!
angle06.4.08 - 10:02 am
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thanks for saying that.
i agree, the diversity of personalities is pretty, well, diverse.
i keep kicking myself for thinking positive pollyanna thoughts like "why can't we all just get along"
we all have to do extra work if we don't work together...think about it.
but ultimately, yeah, it was pretty incredible to see the BAC push forward.... (especially Joe Linton!! that dude was on FIRE!!)
ultimately it is not our personalities that will win this fight...but municipal codes, laws on the books and some kind of collective push forward!
WHOOT!
ingipet06.4.08 - 11:04 am
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