If you haven't already made your plans for this evening please consider coming out to the city council meeting at City Hall where the budget for the next year will be discussed. A major sustainable transportation initiative to be discussed will be the Pedestrian Plan and fee proposed by the Pedestrian Safety Board. The board is asking your support, here's Christiaan Abildso's email describing what you can do.
1) Tues, Jan 26 6:30 - City Council meeting to develop budget priorities (Don Spencer will propose the fee as a priority)
---I will attend to encourage ped plan/fee prioritization; not many others need attend
2) Thurs, Jan 28 6:30 - Public Forum hosted by the DP re: plan/fee - South Middle School auditorium
---Bill & I will present the plan
***!!!we need as many as can be there to be there!!!***
In other news, we are continuing to write grant applications to help get funding to cover our operating costs now that we've gone beyond just bike recycling. Eventually we expect to get sustaining income from memberships, consulting, education programs, etc - but we are now in the organizational phase known as "capacity building". For this funding we are looking to city, county and foundation grants. Naturally the easiest programs to get funded are the ones that we are already doing, so our focus is on bike riding/repair skills and trip planning. If you'd like to help draft these proposals, which are due in the next few weeks, we could really use your help.
Additionally we are receiving a large amount of student volunteer help from the Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) Multi-Disciplinary Studies (MDS) teams and individuals. We can also use help supervising these volunteers. Call the shop for details.
Special thanks to Jessica Weber, a new WVU grad student in Public Administration who has volunteered her time and energy. Jessica spent the past year as an intern for the Alliance for Biking and Walking in Washington DC. Although her time is limited, her energy doesn't seem to be and we look forward to working with her.
Let's make the 2010 the year we "Bike and Walk to Break Gridlock"!
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