jeremygrant.com

The meeting started off with the introduction of Ayla Stern, who was recently appointed to represent Council District 2 (Paul Krekorian. Congrats Ayla!

The LA Planning Department joined by LADOT staff presented the Five Year Implementation Plan for the LA Draft Proposed Bicycle Plan and cited that the new plan was organized around destinations and a mix of bicycle friendly streets, arterial bikeways and bicycle paths. Immediately the presentation was met with criticism by the LABAC for it’s lack of consideration in time for input by neighborhood councils and the LABAC. The disorganization and mistakes of the plan and maps were highlighted by at least two of the appointees and members of the audience. This was met with an apology by Claire Bowin on behalf of the Planning Department who had hoped for a better plan. A list and index of proposed facilities for comparative review was requested multiple times and denied repeatedly with the statement “we just don’t have the time.”

Do whatever it takes — even if it means sleeping in the office or just not sleeping at all — that’s how we get things done in my world.

The next round of public hearings for comment before the planning commission review have been tentatively set:

Sept 2, 5pm-8pm, Marvin Braude Constituent Service Center, Van Nuys
Sept 11, 10am-1pm, Hollywood City Hall
Sept 14, 5pm-8pm, Felicia Mahood Center
Sept 16, 5pm-8pm, Constituent Service Center, South LA
Sept 16, 11am-1:30pm, Webinar

Later in the meeting it was stated that these may change.

Infrastructure and planning was lost in the language and citations of just how much bike planning there is or will be in the future. Is there 384 miles of bikeway existing or 600 miles? Is there 1633 miles of bike lanes or bikeways? Does a street designated for bike lanes get a lane or a sharrow? The presentation and misrepresentation by the politicos is akin to walking into a bike shop and asking for an “innertube” and walking out with a 18-700c tube when we need a 1.65-26″. Or asking for a “handlebar” and walking out with a 25.4mm cruiser bar when you need a 31.8mm os drop bar. You’ve just got to be specific and make no mistakes for things to turn out satisfactory. This lends to the theory that some advocates have that the plan is just a “ghost of plan that could be” to give face value to the general public that LA has a Bike Plan and its great to ride a bike and blah blah blah. More than a few appointees cited the numerous program areas lacking in the plan.

Meowery was there (a rare appearance) to offer one tidbit of advice that was very disheartening: federal monies (the big big amounts) provided for bike infrastructure is only spent on bike paths because of “how difficult the requirements” are and because “the money must be spent on projects that are over $500,000″. Meowery fell back on her old rhetoric that the feds need to change the standards and blah blah blah cant be done. She also revealed that some state money is spent on bike paths when the path coincides with structures like bridges that are governed by Caltrans. Claire Bowin was there to report that 100% of Measure R money will be spent on the street and not on paths. That’s a relief.

Isn’t there a way to make a project on the street cost over $500,000? If we only had some creative and cutting edge designers on staff at the City… heck; even an unpaid intern might be able to make it happen.

Blame was cast on the existing engineering standards — “car-centric standards”, says Claire Bowin. Meowery argued that the City’s engineers are held to standards and led us to believe that their hands were tied and keeping us from experiencing safe and top level bicycle planning. I disagree. If I was to design everything by the book (CALDAG, CBC, LAMC, Graphic Standards, etc.) without challenging myself in logic, reasoning, problem solving and creativity I would never get anything approved to build and I would lose my job. Relying on minimum standards as an excuse for saying things just won’t work is not good ethics. The most recent example is the new sharrows “pilots” and the failures resulting from mediocre performance and lowest rung implementation package.

If I am, as an Architect, forced to adhere to the requirements for parking, restroom fixture counts, fire rating and separation, property setbacks and easements, slump tests, shear walls, live loads, dead loads, exiting widths, clear heights, aesthetics, character, energy, water retention, space, function, heating and cooling, power, disabled access, fire risers, workspace lighting, landscape, budget, phasing, leasing, marketing, branding, etc. and still be able to design and construct an award winning, highly functioning and profitable project then why can’t the City produce the best LA Draft Proposed Bicycle Plan the world has ever seen? Is it not their duty to provide the public with the safest facilities? Why not?

Many other audience members and appointees pushed for a higher standard of care for bicycling infrastructure that would consider (at the very least) the livelihood of the vulnerable cyclist. To place the “speed efficiency” and the “mass queuing” of cars over sustaining life on our streets is a grave mistake. To place the blame on the status quo of “car as king” is a folly. If you were to hire an interior decorator to design the rooms in your home and you desired a bedroom designed around the aesthetics of a Nantucket seaside cabin and instead you got a room that was themed in a New England Patriots football team aesthetic replete with a football shaped bed wouldn’t you fire the decorator? Personal taste and the status quo has no place in the design of the LA Draft Proposed Bicycle Plan.

In other news Sgt Krumer of the LAPD / Cyclist Task Force was on hand to report on and answer questions about the current state of the relationship between the police force and cyclists. After the summer of 2010 started off on a bad foot with brutality and harassment at the LA Critical Mass in May the next step was showing kind support and mutual respect at the June and July LACMs. This show of support will continue in order to foster a healthy relationship between the law and cyclists in Los Angeles. To his credit, Sgt Krumer stayed for the full length of the meeting and allowed the LA Draft Proposed Bicycle Plan take precedence over his place on the agenda. Not to say that LADOT and Planning are not invested in the bicycing community; but, they left as soon as their presentation was over.

LAPD reported on the many operations notices that have been sent out to the officers working the field (cyclists right to the road, citing motorists impeding the bike lane, etc) and how 2/3rds of the force has taken the new online bicycling education module. From my experience the training has reached some officers and I’ve found some to be very helpful; but, there are still some problems out there. Of course making changes to a 9000 strong police force is a challenge.

Sgt Krumer mentioned the tour of the LAPD Emergency Dispatch Center that took place a couple weeks ago. One item of importance is the recent change in the last few years of 911 calls originating from cellphones be routed to LAPD on most of the city that is not on a freeway of LA. This was at the request of LAPD. Previously 911 calls from the street were routed to CHP and sometimes left the cyclist in a limbo of disconnected communication to the wrong service. I hope to publish more of my findings from this tour when I get a chance.

Los Angeles, California

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced the date and time of his bike summit today – Monday, August 16th from 9am-11am. The mayor’s staff, renowned for the extraordinary political acrobatics, completed a triple front FAIL in organizing the bike meeting.

Failure #1: The meeting takes place during work day, making it impossible for many of the city’s best bike advocates to attend. Had the mayor’s staff consulted with bike advocates ahead of time, it would have realized this.

Failure #2: The mayor’s staff did not coordinate with members of the city’s Bicycle Advisory Committee – the official body focused on bicycle issues in Los Angeles. Members of this committee learned of the summit secondhand, from press.

Failure #3: The mayor’s staff titled the meeting the Bike Summit, disrespecting advocates who organized two previous bike summits in Los Angeles. More than 150 people attended each of the two previous bike summits – the Bike Summit in 2009, and the Street Summit (re-branded Bike Summit) in 2010. The Mayor’s event, early on a working day, can’t compete with the real Bike Summits, so his staff have set him up for a failure.

A summit is a bringing together of the most powerful energies on an issue. Bikeside endorses the good intentions of the Mayor and welcomes his energy and clout. We do not endorse the process or timing of this event. By positioning the Mayor’s staff as a daytime event that, the Mayor’s staff settled for third place. The Mayor’s staff sent a clear signal that convenience for city staff will continue to be a higher priority than engaging the community leaders who have been working on bike issues all along.

When the Mayor returned from Copenhagen he said “in the area of bicycling I’ve got to do a better job and the city’s got to do a better job.” Indeed. Mr. Mayor, you may begin by moving your bike meeting to a weekday evening, coordinating with existing leadership, and choosing another name.

For interviews or questions, contact Alex Thompson, President of Bikeside LA, at 323 620 8985 or alexcthompson@gmail.com
–
http://BikesideLA.org
http://twitter.com/Bikeside

from http://stephenbox4citycouncil.com/

LOS ANGELES – CALIFORNIA

Stephen Box takes citizenship and declares his LA City Council District 4 (CD4) campaign today, digitally on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. While he could have made a grand proclamation at the steps of City Hall Stephen chose to make the announcement June 23 shortly after taking the oath of citizenship at the Convention Center and released the tape on YouTube this morning. The website stephenbox4citycouncil.com lists his “VISION-driven” platform and dedication to providing “ACTIVE solution alternatives” as the foundation of his campaign for the March 8, 2011 election.

Box is well known for his blog soapboxla writing about his very public experience in the everyday minutia of LA CITY politics and services. Once you get to working with the CITY for a while you will hear the buck stops here line, “Now, let me tell you how ‘it’ works and why we cant do that.” BOX says, “Then ‘it’s’ not working the way it is.” He’s not the only one. Both the Mayor and the Police Chief(s) have made the headlines recently shown trying to improve and connect Los Angeles with the leading global standards of other major international cities. Our budget crisis is a national news mockery. All the while its the PEOPLE who suffer the consequences. Stephen demands “a city that works” and invites the people to participate (3.8 million residents: 1.5 million registered voters : 1/2 million participate ~ 13%). He calls for a collaborative customer service plan at City Hall — the complaint driven system is NOT working.

“Forward . . for a Change.”

His campaign is “not an issue based campaign” and in preference has a vision of connectivity, great city/urban plan aspirations, a sustainable budget (instead of entropic) and a progressive respect for the PEOPLE. Stephen squares off with Tom LaBonge, a decade long incumbent following the 35 year City Council term (longest ever) of millionaire, football star, conservative, southern strategist, police backer, insider John Ferraro. Box sees “LA as the ‘City of the Future’” and not one stymied by failures of the past or inaction of the present. When faced with the long history — difficulties in repairing the CITY — he challenges the impotent nature of the current General Plan and the fated sum rejection of the utopian vision lost eighty years ago. Today we are faced with a critical juncture between the next Great Depression or Great OPPORTUNITY and Box endeavors for a new community plan that endures.

Stephen Box is a first-time candidate, newly-minted American citizen and a veteran of civic engagement, community campaigns, and grassroots politics.

For more information,

Contact: Stephen Box, Candidate for District 4
Box4CityCouncil@Gmail.com
(323) 864-7586

Thanks to Chief Beck, Commander Doan and Sgt. Krumer for this public service announcement. This comes after a lot of hard work by the many cyclist/citizens that have dedicated their time and effort lobbying the LAPD, LA Bicycle Advisory Committee and LA City Council to actively and visibly promote safety and responsibility on the streets. Kudos.

Have a safe Bike Week LA 2010!

Save the date! Saturday, May 22nd, 5pm Bikerowave (12255 Venice Blvd) will host Bikeside for Bikeside’s new bike talk series: Bikeside Speaks! Everyone is welcome, and we’ll have food and drink. Afterward we’ll have a film screening, the second of it’s kind at Bikerowave.

Bikeside Speaks is a lightning round of talks on current projects in bike activism, each of them followed by Q&A. We’ll also have several heavy hitters giving talks on their interface with cycling, to be announced! Here’s part of the lineup:

* Mihai Peteu: Winning with Data – Crowdsourcing & LA Bike Map
* Sara Bond: Personalizing Hit & Run
* Jeremy Grant: Connecting LA with the Backbone Bikeway Network
* Enci: Moving LA with The Greensters
* Stephen Box: Changing the world with Cyclists’ Rights
* Ron Durgin: Every street is a People Street – Sustainable Streets
* and a special presentation on Bikerowave, and it’s incredible progress as a bike co-op.

Alex Thompson will emcee, and may even give a short talk on the Bike Plan.

This is an easy way to see what Bikeside and our collaborators are up to, and to get involved. Come out and get engaged!

To RSVP via twitter visit http://twtvite.com/BikesideSPEAKS
To RSVP via facebook visit http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=126622544017986

If you’d like to help out, email Alex at alexcthompson@gmail.com and we’ll plug you in.

(please note, Bikerowave will be closing earlier than usual in order to accommodate Bikeside. Stands will be available outside for emergency repairs only.)