Jul 17 '08 - 532 W, 2 I - Vote Good + 2 :: Bad - 8 Ask for Bike and Ped Funding Now
Published July 17, 2008 by C.I.C.L.E.
Dear Friends of C.I.C.L.E.
We hope you are enjoying your summer. Many of you know us at CICLE have participated in one of our rides, taken one of our workshops, or perhaps you visit our website for bicycle culture, news and information.
While CICLE’s mission primarily focuses on education and building community, we acknowledge the Government’s role and responsibility in making our city a better place to ride a bike.
One issue of utmost importance is coming up on November’s ballot. The ballot issue before California voters is a proposed ½-cent sales tax that would allocate over $40 billion dollars in Metro revenue. Sounds great right?
Not so fast… when it comes to spelling out exact amounts of funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects, the ballot measure is skimpy on the details. Because funding for bike and pedestrian projects is ambiguous and not concrete, many have likened this relationship to begging for crumbs falling from the table.
Forget begging for crumbs, bicyclists and pedestrians haven’t even been invited to the table.
If there is one thing that this summer’s lovely weather and astronomically high gas prices have taught us, it’s that people are willing to ride their bikes in California. What we also believe is that the more people start riding, the healthier, happier our city will be.
It is up to us to remind the politicians that we want concrete, dedicated funds for our projects. They always say that the squeaky wheel gets the grease – and CICLE is calling you to be as squeaky as possible!
What you can do
1. Attend Metro meetings and request 1% for bikes and 1% for peds
The full Metro Board meeting takes place next week Thursday July 24th at 9am. The meeting is at the Metro Board Room, on the 3rd floor at One Gateway Plaza, L.A. 90012 , located adjacent to Union Station easy access from the Metro Red and Gold Lines. For meeting schedules and agendas, see http://www.metro.net/board/mtgsched.htm
2. Write Letters to the Metro Board
Metro's board consists of elected officials, including L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa, County Supervisors, and elected from other cities, including Duarte, Glendale, Long Beach, and Santa Monica (full list of Metro board members is available at: http://www.metro.net/about_us/board/board_members.htm) These elected officials need to hear from bicyclists. Send a letter, fax or email requesting allocation of 1% for bikes and 1% for pedestrians in the proposed sales tax. These need to be received by early next week, a day or two in advance of the July 24th board meeting.
Keep letters short and respectful. Just let your representatives know that you support funding for bikes and pedestrians - 1% each of the proposed sales tax.
A sample letter is available on-line at:
http://la.streetsblog.org/2008/07/14/bikeped-advocates-want-your-help-to-get-more-funds-from-metro/
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