Infrastructure & Planning vs. Petty Politics
Who could possibly argue that a few hundred grand in a county of half a million isn’t a drop in the bucket? In high times and low, we all need to recognize that the publicly paid pension of a single retired police officer (namely the likely new mayor of Santa Rosa) is somewhere around $150k annually – which is significantly greater than the cost of the next stage of study for a core piece of planning infrastructure.
So why then would this important connector between one of Santa Rosa’s largest employers, largest & thriving educational institutions, a future railway station and an expanding retail mall get the squelch treatment? Because of petty, petty divisiveness and bitter politics. That’s why. Namely: councilman John Sawyer.
I had the chance to send a message to the folks I most respect on the Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Board last week – and through the accidental “reply-all” feature by one of the most outspoken members of the BPAB, my original message is now into the public record. (Brown Act, etc)
So, I’d like to share that whole give & take with you. First is my message to the BPAB members, then a response by the “senior at large” member, and finally my response. Along with all the CC’s and BCC’s. I’ve merely removed the personal email addresses out of respect for the recipients.
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Dec 5 (2 days ago)
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I hope this note finds you & yours doing well.
I’m sure you are probably aware of the various things at stake at the upcoming City Council meeting this Tuesday. Councilman Sawyer has made it clear he intends to revisit the SRJC/101 overcrossing item in order to potentially kill or stall the project.
This morning I came across this recent video of a cyclist riding on Steele Lane & Guerneville Rd from Mendocino to the railroad tracks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMd8jqZtvo8
What I’m most struck by isn’t how appalling an unsafe conditions are for a cyclist (they are, and City planners need to be held accountable) but by what a mess this route must be for a pedestrian.
Thanks for your service to Santa Rosa – please speak at Tuesday’s at City Council’s meeting. For the life of me I cannot understand how good planning, foresight and infrastructure have become the petty political pawn that they have become. The public and the council need to hear from you if you agree.
Fondly,
Jake Bayless (former BPAB member)
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Dec 5 (2 days ago)
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What crap!
If one is afraid to cross under the freeway on a bike just get off and walk in the ped. lane.
Note that most of this route shown is marked with bike lanes.
It is not worth $20 million of tax payers’ money to build this overpass for a very few people on bikes.
Pedestrians on Steele Lane will not walk a half mile out of their way to use the overpass.
If this overpass is needed for SMART (read dumb) access let them pay for it.
Dusty Rhodes, Member, bpab
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10:42 PM (11 hours ago)
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Hi Dusty-
Are we going to be SMART about this?
…or are we going to continue being narrow-minded, short-sighted press democrat lemmings?
I’m hearing lots of chatter about the “news” that SMART, our beloved underfunded regional railway system, doesn’t have the cash. See also: references in the “agenda packet”
How short our collective memory is.
When we passed Measure Q to fund SMART in 2008, we all thought that we were AT the bottom of the economic meltdown! We figured (and SMART calculated, and we voted supporting) that there’d be the standard post-recession boom right around the corner! So while the feds & Wall Street argue about who knew the economic collapse was coming, when, and how bad, certainly we-the-voting-public had no idea just how bad it might still be, several years later. We’re all still waiting for the boom. We’re all waiting for the uptick in tax revenues that SMART’s (our) measure Q was designed around. Well: Surprise!
We passed a sales tax initiative to accomplish commuter rail in the North Bay – an ideal public goal (which still stands as an ideal public goal). So now that sales taxes haven’t stacked up like we all thought they would, this has suddenly become another government boondoggle? No. That’s just not accurate, no matter how many times you say it!
SMART doesn’t have the money because WE haven’t paid it in the form of the sales taxes WE agreed to pay! It’s OUR freaking fault, gang! While there may ultimately be a handful of cost overruns, we voted for it anyway knowing full well that’s the nature of the beast! Today’s issue isn’t about inflationary overruns either.
Now, hindsight being what it is, the taxation equation of the SMART measure probably SHOULD have had some sliding scale consideration to account for this. It didn’t. Perhaps a rewrite of measure Q is in order?
We have to decide: do we take the long view and accept it for what it is with a revised longer timeframe? Or do we come up with an additional stopgap funding measure?
We can choose to stand back and point fingers at the problem, get all blearey eyed mad and make fun of it, -OR- we can buck up, take some personal ownership of the problem and decide what’s right is to give it a hand back onto its feet, pat it on the butt, and push it along down the tracks.
What’re you going to do?
Levi’s GranFondo Cyclists in Hospital – PD Trolls Wage War.
Serious threats with looming felonious repercussions have been removed from the Press Democrat’s forum website in the last 12 hours. I was able to preserve a screenshot of the page, and the threats against Sonoma County Cyclists (image below).
It is my hope that by preserving this, everyone can learn to take this kind of hate-speech more seriously. While I understand that the folks at the PD have a very difficult job to do – every day – I do not want to see this potential evidence swept under the rug. Doing so, in my mind, would equate to complicity. It is not known if the original is lost forever, along with the offensive poster’s IP addresses, etc.
Currently, there are TWO Gran Fondo cyclists in the hospital with life threatening brain injuries. One is a confirmed & witnessed hit & run (as reported), the other has evidence of a hit & run, but no witness, and an injured party with no memory of the accident on Coleman Valley Road. The vehicle that is responsible for the confirmed hit & run is reported to have been seen on Coleman Valley Road around the time of the unconfirmed injury.
The community needs your help in tracking down and prosecuting these potential cyclist murderers.
Admittedly, the following may not be associated in any way/shape or form to the hit & run(s). Nevertheless, it warrants your attention:
Please read the following screenshot of the now-removed PD Forum topic: (Click for a Larger & original view)
The image above was taken from this URL prior to the removal/supression of the content:
http://forum.pressdemocrat.com/viewtopic.php?t=3579&f=6#p37736
What’s This All About?
North Bay News- High-temperature records fall - no rain in sight - San Francisco Chronicle
- minister censured for same-sex marriages - Santa Rosa Press Democrat
- Politician and educator reunite at SRJC - Santa Rosa Press Democrat
- Founder of Yardbirds stores dies - Santa Rosa Press Democrat
- Pilot pleads not guilty to flying under the influence - KGO-TV
- John Storey / John Storey - San Francisco Chronicle
- Santa Rosa's Ukrainian connection - Santa Rosa Press Democrat
- Doyle Park school to remain open - Santa Rosa Press Democrat
- Woman suffers major injuries in crash - Lake County Record-Bee
- St. Helena boys fall to Newman - Napa Valley Register
