Quote:"I went to such a meeting and got nothing for my efforts. It was at the Via metro center on San Pedro. All the officials listened but gave no plan of action to address my concerns, What a waste of time."
He goes on to say quote: "Every month the San Antonio Event Center hosts the gun show. The attendees park in the bike lanes. The additional traffic from the event make bike riding very difficult. The event center has a huge parking lot but the attendees choose to park in the street instead of paying the $3 fee to park. The main problem is on Meadow way. I called my Council person ,Ray Lopez and spoke to the president of the Meadow Village Neighborhood association but got no positive response."
Now he didn't attend the Bicycle Collective meeting, he attended one of the BMAC Bike Nights which happen 3 times a year. BMAC, The Bicycle Mobility Advisory Committee meet every second Wednesday at 8AM at the Alamo Area Planning Organization, 825 S St Mary's St, across from Rosario's. All meeting are open to the public, so if you are unable to attend their bike nights, you can try to attend their morning meetings.
After reading his complaints, I got a notification of one of the three annual BMAC Bike Night meetings taking place on Wednesday, January 13, 2016, this time at the Westside Multimodal Center. Also that night, SA2020 is holding their own meeting called "Realizing the Dream of a World-Class City: Driving Action in San Antonio" which is going to be held at the Pearl Stables. Now since I already spent the money to attend the SA2020 meeting, I guess I'm going there, sorry BMAC.
Now sorry for sounding like a conspiracy nut, but why are both meetings taking place on the same night? Wouldn't the people at SA2020 want the people who sit on the BMAC to be present and give their input? Even though the person who sent me the message about the SA2020 meeting asking to get lots of cyclist to come to the SA2020 event, wouldn't it be better to have the people who already advocate for cycling be at SA2020 meeting? It sounds like they don't want anyone who rides a bicycle for transportation to come. Now I'm certain there are legitimate reasons why they just happen to be taking place on the same night and at the same time, but it sounds like they want to keep the cyclist away and focus on what I think Ron Nirenberg wants his plan, SA Tomorrow 2040 to be focus on, alleviating traffic congestion for which I precluded to what SA Tomorrow 2040 was about in the first place back in September 2014.
Now this is why you need to attend these meeting, because if you're not heard, you're complaints and concerns are not taken into consideration. Representative Government don't work if you don't go out and vote and attend local government meetings on things you're interested in and effect you. But the question is which one? Just remember the BMAC meeting is free and open to the public while the SA2020 meeting cost $15.
