Hey Matt, You raise good points to consider. Basically, I agree w/you that we need to do more in regards to educating the general public & also advocate for bicyclist's rights in general. I know BFW is doing a lot but it's not very visible. There's a considerable amount of time & effort that the director is putting into municipal planning & I know other staff all have their own projects, etc. I don't think BFW currently caters to anyone's political leanings, but I could be wrong & probably am, but unfortunately isn't in a position to take too much political risk either. I feel BFW needs more guidance from its members & also needs to do more outreach to its members to get that guidance. After all, it's a membership-based org & it needs to hear from its members to do what they intend for it to do. Aaron
Please visit www.active.com/donate/act6ride/crandall to sponsor my bicycle ride (ACT 6) in Aug to benefit the AIDS Network. --- On Mon, 7/7/08, Matt Logan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: From: Matt Logan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: [Bikies] A lobby to cut bike/ped funding To: "'Aaron Crandall'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: [email protected] Date: Monday, July 7, 2008, 10:01 PM If being politically neutral is the primary goal of the BFW, then you might as well take the “B” out of “BFW”. What I would prefer to see is a goal-oriented BFW with the will to rise above political ideology, and instead of shaping a policy around what would be least offensive to some of the most transportation illiterate folks in the state, build your policy by tapping the knowledge of the most transportation savvy folks in the state with the goal of making Wisconsin a better place to bike, then educate the general public (who generally know very little about transportation in my experience). I am for whatever policy will provide the best bicycling experience in Wisconsin. If that policy employs tools that are traditionally conservative, fine by me. If that policy employs tools that are traditionally liberal, fine by me. In fact, it is all the better if you employ both methods and offend both sides– this will discourage folks who are motivated primarily by political ideology rather than by improving bicycling from becoming part of the BFW. But to welcome political extremists with open arms is a recipe for a BFW with a lot of members, but virtually no ability to affect meaningful change in the defense of my freedom to bicycle in Wisconsin. -----Original Message----- From: Aaron Crandall [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] I would say that BFW is more "neutral" than conservative. Just think of us at the Sweden of the transportation community. In all seriousness, I think we could be more progressive on issues & the unfortunate thing is that we've lost almost all, if not all, grassroots efforts, internally/externally. That's the problem w/growth & success of an organization, especially when the membership becomes more diverse (thought/ideology). Aaron Please visit www.active.com/donate/act6ride/crandall to sponsor my bicycle ride (ACT 6) in Aug to benefit the AIDS Network. --- On Mon, 7/7/08, Matt Logan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: From: Matt Logan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: [Bikies] A lobby to cut bike/ped funding To: "'Ann Freiwald'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: "'Sarah Gaskell'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [email protected], "'Russell Pietz'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "'Bereny, Allie'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Monday, July 7, 2008 , 9:55 AM This is standard fare for Free Republic – pile on, call people socialists, moonbats, whatever. There is a strong presence out there of people who are paranoid about alternative transportation. My favorite are the groups that believe “smart gowrth” is a secret U.N. conspiracy to subvert the constitution. The sad part is that the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin seems more interested in not offending people who hold these wildly distorted beliefs about alternative transportation than it is in making sure Wisconsin’s built environment accommodates urban bicycling. In this sense, the BFW has become a wing of the conservative movement. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ann Freiwald Sent: Monday, July 07, 2008 8:44 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: Sarah Gaskell; [email protected]; Bereny,Allie; Russell Pietz Subject: [Bikies] A lobby to cut bike/ped funding I recently found myself quoted and ridiculed on the Free Republic web site for mentioning, in response to a ped death, that car drivers ought to be responsible for the safety of others when they wield their 1.5 ton vehicles on the road. Some of the ridicule bashed the idea of walking and biking as a viable mode of transport. See link and read all comments at your own risk, some of these people are seriously sick not to mention they got most of the details of the actual crash completely wrong. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1894776/posts Then I heard this guy, Terry Jeffery, interviewed on a radio show about the "threat to the car" (see his full article at link below), and how government is trying to force people out of their cars. I am starting to wonder if this is a back door effort to make biking and walking look stupid or bad to the average American and thereby reduce support for funding biking and walking improvements. Am I being paranoid? http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCommentary.asp?Page=/Commentary/archive/200806/COM20080612a.html _______________________________________________Bikies mailing [EMAIL PROTECTED]://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
_______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
