M
Mike Vandeman
Guest
ONE MORE park with Yosemite rules: no bikes off of pavement!
Mike
Subject: Griffth Park Master Plan meeting
Hi Mike,
The meeting was last night, so there hasn't been time to talk about it much.
We WON every point that was of concern. The bikers, all white 30 something
males, came off as rude, aggressive fools. Most of them were from out of town,
not even local to the Park. It was a disaster for them.
It was a wonderful turnout, probably close to 300 people. Plus some TV
coverage. I worked hard to get it going and then it took on a life of it's own
as
other people told other friends, etc. As far as I can see, just about every
barn was represented with both us old farts and lots of young people as well,
plus we had a nice cross section of income levels and races present, Latino,
black, white, little kids. It made it quite clear that horses were not simply
the province of the wealthy.
Not only did we accomplish a lot, but we generated a LOT of good will for the
equestrians on the part of the Parks. I had received a couple of "secret"
phone calls from people who were sitting on that dais last night who were
worried about the MB threat and wanted me to make sure and bring people to
support
them. The horse people out did themselves, were courteous (which I had
stressed when I prepped them), well spoken for the most part and represented all
kinds of races and income levels as well. It couldn't have been better.
After the presentation had started, I got up to go to the bathroom (the curse
of the teeny bladder) when City Councilperson ... hopped out of his/her seat
and grabbed my arm. "Don't you worry about a thing," he/she whispered, "I'm
going
to take care of you horse people. No mountain bikers on my watch."
It was a great moment when he/she got up and stuck it to the bikers and everyone
in the audience cheered! The whole thing was very gratifying to me. It was my
night, a culmination of my years of work, personal credibility and PR. The
mountain bikers were completely out done. Jim Hausenaur was there, although I
didn't see him. I loved that, he's such a lying jerk.
I didn't speak because everyone else made all the point that were needed to
be made, plus it's so much better when there's new input instead of the same
old faces all the time. I imagine that I'll probably be on the citizens
oversight committee and will have all the time in the world to speak then.
I was SO BUSY glad handing and thanking people for being there, that I didn't
even get to see all those who were there, plus afterwards I was mobbed and
was one of the last to leave.
Today I was staggeringly tired. I was too wired to sleep well, and dizzy when
I got up. I rode around the trails and encountered lots of folks from the
meeting last night. I made a big point of thanking them and letting them know
that without each and every one of them present, we couldn't have accomplished
what we did in such a short amount of time. YES!!!
We got 6 years worth of work done in a couple of hours. The meeting wasn't
just about MBers on our trails, but was about a Master Plan for the next 25
years in the Park. There were lots of issues to be dealt with.
It was a good to see how united our equestrian community was (as well as
home owners associations, the Observatory, the dogwalkers, the hikers, and many
more who were also opposed to bikes on our trails). The lesson is that you
don't have to put up with bikers on your trails in order to have trail access
for
horses.
It sort of restored my faith in the process. It looked discouraging there for
a while.
Yeeeaaaah! I'm so proud of everyone. Plus they had a good time participating
in the planning of their own Park trails, etc. Makes them more willing to do
it again in the future.
===
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)
http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande
Mike
Subject: Griffth Park Master Plan meeting
Hi Mike,
The meeting was last night, so there hasn't been time to talk about it much.
We WON every point that was of concern. The bikers, all white 30 something
males, came off as rude, aggressive fools. Most of them were from out of town,
not even local to the Park. It was a disaster for them.
It was a wonderful turnout, probably close to 300 people. Plus some TV
coverage. I worked hard to get it going and then it took on a life of it's own
as
other people told other friends, etc. As far as I can see, just about every
barn was represented with both us old farts and lots of young people as well,
plus we had a nice cross section of income levels and races present, Latino,
black, white, little kids. It made it quite clear that horses were not simply
the province of the wealthy.
Not only did we accomplish a lot, but we generated a LOT of good will for the
equestrians on the part of the Parks. I had received a couple of "secret"
phone calls from people who were sitting on that dais last night who were
worried about the MB threat and wanted me to make sure and bring people to
support
them. The horse people out did themselves, were courteous (which I had
stressed when I prepped them), well spoken for the most part and represented all
kinds of races and income levels as well. It couldn't have been better.
After the presentation had started, I got up to go to the bathroom (the curse
of the teeny bladder) when City Councilperson ... hopped out of his/her seat
and grabbed my arm. "Don't you worry about a thing," he/she whispered, "I'm
going
to take care of you horse people. No mountain bikers on my watch."
It was a great moment when he/she got up and stuck it to the bikers and everyone
in the audience cheered! The whole thing was very gratifying to me. It was my
night, a culmination of my years of work, personal credibility and PR. The
mountain bikers were completely out done. Jim Hausenaur was there, although I
didn't see him. I loved that, he's such a lying jerk.
I didn't speak because everyone else made all the point that were needed to
be made, plus it's so much better when there's new input instead of the same
old faces all the time. I imagine that I'll probably be on the citizens
oversight committee and will have all the time in the world to speak then.
I was SO BUSY glad handing and thanking people for being there, that I didn't
even get to see all those who were there, plus afterwards I was mobbed and
was one of the last to leave.
Today I was staggeringly tired. I was too wired to sleep well, and dizzy when
I got up. I rode around the trails and encountered lots of folks from the
meeting last night. I made a big point of thanking them and letting them know
that without each and every one of them present, we couldn't have accomplished
what we did in such a short amount of time. YES!!!
We got 6 years worth of work done in a couple of hours. The meeting wasn't
just about MBers on our trails, but was about a Master Plan for the next 25
years in the Park. There were lots of issues to be dealt with.
It was a good to see how united our equestrian community was (as well as
home owners associations, the Observatory, the dogwalkers, the hikers, and many
more who were also opposed to bikes on our trails). The lesson is that you
don't have to put up with bikers on your trails in order to have trail access
for
horses.
It sort of restored my faith in the process. It looked discouraging there for
a while.
Yeeeaaaah! I'm so proud of everyone. Plus they had a good time participating
in the planning of their own Park trails, etc. Makes them more willing to do
it again in the future.
===
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)
http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande
