I'm glad you feel that way, Mike, because the rules can be "bent" if BFW choses
to do so...and it is dangerous to strongly affiliate with one party or the
other because who is in charge is constantly changing. There may have been an
effort in recent years by some BFW board members to overcompensate for the
belief that BFW has been perceived by some as a "liberal" organization in the
past. Bicycling isn't left or right...it's straight ahead! Opps...I
mean...it's forward (sorry, inside joke, ask me later).
But I want to emphasize that it is more than just a BFW policy whim...it is a
legal requirement of 501c3 status (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501(c) ) to
remain somewhat neutral. If a 501c3 organization supports one political party
over the other, they can have their nonprofit status revoked.
-Dar
Michael Rewey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: I agree Dar. The BFW should support
our biking goals, mission, vison and subsequent
leglisation, not political personalities or parties. You never know where our
biking friends will
come from.
Mike Rewey
***********************
On 21 Feb 2008 at 6:28, Dar Ward wrote:
Tim:
When I was at BFW, we did our best to be non-partisan. As a 501c3 non-profit,
BFW is, in
fact, REQUIRED to be non-partisan. Davis was selected because he was very
supportive of
the EarthRider business when the owner went to visit him. He was enthusiastic
about
promoting bicycle tourism in his district and he contacted BFW on other issues,
which nearly
no other members of the state legislature did. In speaking with him, I'd say he
was in the top
5 most enthusiastic supporters of bicycling that I've talked to in the state
legislature.
I didn't care if he was purple...he was pro-bike.
Oh...I believe it was Ainsworth that was the original sponsor who bailed. He
was selected
because one of BFW's lobbyists at the time (we had three including me) had an
"in" at his
office and convinced him to do it...though, then he didn't do it. We just
needed someone to
introduce it.
You are assuming that I, as an individual, and BFW as an organization, are
supporters of the
Democratic Party...or enemies of the Republican Party. As I've said, BFW can't
have partisan
politics...it has to focus on issues, not parties. And my politics was
irrelevant in the situation.
And...personal politics sometimes has to step aside when you work for an
organization. I like
to think that I never crossed my own personal moral boundaries at BFW(and, in
fact, got in
trouble on occasion for refusing to cross such boundaries...some may even argue
that this is
at least part of why I was terminated, but I can't speak to that because I was
not given a
reason for my termination). In our political system, you have to work with
people from both
parties. If you refuse to work with both parties, you can not accomplish
anything.
You, Tim, are free to feel differently, but I suspect that feeling that way
won't lead you to work
for a 501c3 nonprofit any time soon.
-Dar
Tim Wong wrote:
Just out of curiosity, how did you select Brett Davis, a Republican in an
arguably
Democratic seat, whom the Dems have been trying to beat ever since he got
elected,
as the sponsor?
"It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established
authorities are wrong."--
Voltaire (1694-1778)
Direct Cost of U.S. War and Occupation of Iraq
$493,536,029,692
>>> Dar Ward 2/19/2008 2:49 PM >>>
The hand cycle and the right turn signal parts were both part of a bill
that the
Department of Transportation developed and drafted in 2005 (I think) and
the Bicycle
Federation requested be introduced. The state legislator who was supposed
to
introduce it (I've forgotten his name now) put off introducing it until the
session was
over...and eventually announced that he was retiring. I then approached
Brett Davis in
2006 and asked him to introduce it...he agreed and we were planning to do
that in
Spring 2007, but then I left BFW. I'm not sure how the legislation finally
got altered and
introduced (our version had a component that no longer is in the
legislation and there is
something new that wasn't in our version), but that where the legislation
originated this
time around.
-Dar
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