illuminateLA

February 6th we’ll celebrate the 2nd Anniversary of  the “Storm the Bastille” ride. It’s taken us 2 years to get the Bicycle Advisory Committee reformed and to get the LADOT Bikeways Department under new management.  SoapBoxLA just posted this blog, so I’m reposting part of it here and you can read the rest on http://soapboxla.blogspot.com

On Tuesday, February 3, 2009, “Storm the Bastille” will celebrate its 2nd anniversary of bike rides to the City’s Bicycle Advisory Committee, all the while banging the drum and fighting for an open and inclusive process for bike advocacy and fighting for the reorganization of the long dormant and ineffective BAC.
It was a long and arduous journey but along the way the City Council responded to the clamor. The Transportation Committee and the Planning and Land Use Committee intervened, resulting in an action that reorganized the BAC and directed departments from Planning to Rec & Parks to Public Works to the City Attorney’s office to assign and direct staff to support the efforts of the “new” BAC.

Along the way, Paul Meshkin was named as the new head of the LADOT Bikeways Engineering Group. Paul is returning to Bikeway’s and to this position and we are optimistic that the City Council directed reorganization and his leadership will result in a successful LABAC.

Attached is a copy of a letter I submitted to Paul this week.

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Paul,

Congratulations on your tour of duty as the head of the LADOT Bikeways Engineering Group. I hope you are successful in revitalizing the department and I look forward to working with you.

As for the opportunity ahead:

1) The City of Los Angeles has an early notification system in place so that members of the community can simply sign up and then receive an email with the agendas of the City Council, the Council Committees, the Commissions etc. I realize that the LA Bicycle Advisory Committee has a long tradition of using the US Postal Service in order to deliver little packets of printed matter including agendas and clippings but those days are so long gone. We have a new president, he twitters and the time has come for the City of Los Angeles and the BAC to join the revolution.

Please, take advantage of the technology and let’s start communicating effectively and let’s truly engage the public in the business of the Los Angeles Bicycle Advisory Committee.

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