what's up chief?!
Thread started by
electric otis at 02.27.07 - 11:07 pm
-- L.A.'s Chief of Transportation drives a Hummer --
alright, so i'm sure most of you have read the article or at least heard about this. here is a link to the article if you don't know anything about it or want to read the full story from the L.A. Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez21jan21,1,5799329.column?page=1
like many of you i'm sure, i was pretty outraged when i first read this. this is the guy who is supposed to be coming up with genius ideas to fix the city's transportation nightmare, but he puts himself in a position of being part of the problem instead of participating in the solution.
we all know that fixing the problems of L.A. transportation is going to take a hell of a lot more than just some mandates and light rail proposals from city hall. it requires everyone making their contribution. one problem to that is that many don't want to make those changes. but perhaps there are plenty of people out there who want to make a change, who know they need to find alternatives, but are just a little stuck on what to do. for people like that, it is up to us to set an example - to put these alternatives, such as biking, right in people's faces so that they can't ignore it. everytime i ride my bike, which is my sole form of transportation, i think of myself as an advocate, actively creating awareness of a clean, healthy and cheap alternative to the car.
so since i read this article, i have been thinking about what i could do to draw some attention to this obvious problem we have with our administration. at first i thought it would be a good idea to rally together a bunch of bikers and escort the chief, while he drives his hummer, to work. it's a very in your face approach, something he couldn't ignore. then i thought more about it, and i realized that the point is not to alienate anyone, to be antagonistic, or give anyone any reasons to resent bikers. so i thought, let's extend a warm hand and welcome the chief, Jaime de la Vega, to a beautiful and social ride to work. let's give him a taste of the community. let him see how easy and enjoyable bike commuting can be. of course if he refuses, then we go back to the original plan and get in his face. but first, we send him a warm invitation.
so since i've been thinking about this, i haven't taken much action yet. i haven't done any research to see if perhaps de la Vega has traded in his Hummer or changed commuting vehicles. that doesn't matter though. this is still relevant. I will contact his office and try to speak to him directly to invite him, but before i do that, i want to see what kind of support i could get for this. the more people that come out for something like this, obviously the more powerful the message. i want media coverage for this. it could be huge. so let's start a dialogue about this. who wants to do this? who is available in the mornings? i know that if the chief said he could only do it on a day i have to work, i would do whatever is needed to get off work for that morning. this is important.
so tell me what you guys think. any more ideas, contributions, important knowledge that can be shared would be great. obviously, we need to find out where he lives, what time he commutes to work, etc.
let me hear what you have to say...
electric otis
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Yeah, well put! If we can make this happen, count me in. I'll take time off from work to be there.
mr rollers02.28.07 - 8:44 am
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Sounds fantastic!
nice work Electric.
Lets do this.
trickmilla02.28.07 - 9:42 am
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I will be there, whether he accepts or not.
Have you emailed the writer of the article yet?
angle02.28.07 - 11:18 am
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We should definitely contact the guy who wrote the article. I think de la Vega will be far more likely to accept your invitation if there is existing publicity. It would be cool to post it on the front page of the site, make it an official ride, make and distribute flyers, break it out of a forum thread...
I'll take a day off work and help in anyway possible.
anonymitytheif02.28.07 - 11:54 am
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Awesome idea electric otis.
Yeah good call anonimity. I think if we wrote a big formal blah blah blah to Steve Lopez (the author), "Inspired by your Jan 21 article, the midnight ridazz (fill in p.r. description) would like to extend a bicycle escort to de la Vega to ride his bicycle to work. We are wondering if you would be interterested in lending media support for this effort." Or however those things are supposed to sound. Judging by his other articles, it might be right up his alley.
And of course frame the whole thing in the most positive light to de la Vega. He's obviously cagey about his hypocrisy, so we'll want to be sensitive if we expect him to go for it. If he gets media coverage for cycling to work, it may be the p.r. he's after. (Notice that if you google his name, all you get are a bunch of websites with people dissing on his hummer. He might see this as an opportunity to change that.)
And yeah I would do what it takes to attend.
I wonder where he lives?
Roadblock, care to weigh in on this discussion?
City Hobgoblin02.28.07 - 12:11 pm
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Hey, just thought of something...bike to work week is in 2 months...
May 14-18
http://www.mta.net/biketowork/
It would be so fitting to invite mr de la vega to ride on one of these days...
What do you guys think?
anonymitytheif02.28.07 - 1:05 pm
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Maybe we could all tow him in the hummer to work one day on our bikes? Maybe he has a sense of humor?
Whatever we do, I'll ride.
Joe Borfo02.28.07 - 2:19 pm
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May I suggest, that after invatation has been presented him to go on the ride. Post his office phone number and/or email. Any person who wants to be part of the ride, can then get ahold of his office and ask when the deputy mayor will be participating in this ride to work with the community. This will put addition pressure on him to accept the invitation to ride a bicycle to work.
If he does participate. After the ride, if he states how much he enjoyed the ride, we ask him to pledge to start doing it more often. Then we can go after his boss and other city officials.
You can always remind these employees that there is a garage full of city pool cars available if they feel they need to travel a long distance.
Always encourage them to take there bicycles whenever feesible, especailly for short trips in downtown, where parking is an issue.
Yes, Sexy will be particpating in this ride. Sexy particpates in all the glamours and sexy rides.
sexy02.28.07 - 3:42 pm
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If it happens on a Monday, I'll come up for that.
Jeronimo02.28.07 - 5:13 pm
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anonymitytheif brought up a good point about Bike To Work week. It would be rad if it was a kickoff ceremony for that week or do it as a celebration of Bike To Work Day which is Thursday May 17th.
.K
onethirtynine02.28.07 - 5:52 pm
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yeah, that's perfect that there's already a bike to work day. i was going to suggest that they declare one on the day we do it. although, that is a few months from now. maybe we could do one sooner. we'll see what works out.
so it looks like there is some good support. i will start tomorrow with contacting Steve Lopez at the L.A. Times and then going from there with getting in contact with the Chief and his cronies. i'll keep everyone updated on the progress and let you know if there will be assistance needed. for now, just spread the word around. i want this ride to be huge!
electric otis02.28.07 - 8:23 pm
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Ridazz Roulette!
maybe we can entice him with a hummer bike