Last Wednesday Charlie Gandy gave a presentation to the Santa Monica City Planning Commission.  With some team work from our own Richard McKinnon and our newest elected City Council member Terry O’Day, Gandy was invited to give a presentation at the meeting held January 5th, 2011.  Although this had been in the works for a some time the final confirmation of the meeting came up quite quickly with the meeting just days into the new year.  First notification of the meeting came on a post to our Google Group New Years Day and then to Facebook, with final reminders send out here and via email.  Apologies for those who would have liked to have attended but did not get sufficient notice.  Embedded here is the video of the complete presentation for you to watch.  First on the agenda is the LUCE presentation by staff, you can jump to 58:40 to start the video at Mr Gandy’s presentation.  (Note that the video takes a moment to load with no apparent status bar)

Present at the PC meeting were various city staff, commissioners, council member Terry O’Day and Mayor Richard Bloom.  Kevin McKewown, long time enthusiastic bike supporter was disappointed he was forced to arrived late as he was presenting at another meeting that started at the same time.  A disappointment, Mayor Bloom stepped out after the LUCE presentation and did not return until after two thirds of the way through Gandy’s presentation.  I hope he has had the opportunity to watch this important, informative and inspirational presentation since then on CityTV where the above video is streamed from.

In true gentlemanly fashion Gandy had many compliments for Santa Monica, some of which would likely not be echoed by some of us who ride here on a daily basis.  He examined the challenges we face and the diverse differences between the vast areas of Los Angeles and the surrounding communities and how they have tailored their efforts in Long Beach.  With the awesome grant writer Sumi Gant that Long Beach hired they have raised 21 million dollars for bike facilities with about 5 million more coming in each year.  Gandy talked of how a “bike city” has served as a catalyst for funding while adding value to businesses, along with inspiring a great community pride.  I hope Santa Monica was listening to that!  Having a specific department and staff has paid off for Long Beach even when city budgets may be tight due to economics conditions.

Mr Gandy described a political will that has shaped the “cultural shift” in Long Beach and how that was conceived with fore thought and full support from the city council.  I believe we all agree with him when he speaks of how a Bronze level designation from the League of American Bicyclists is no longer cutting edge.  So true.

With Charlie Gandy’s leadership, the City of Long Beach has taken the position of authority figure promoting cycling.  He has been able to do his in no small part because of the support he has from city government.  Elevating cyclists by demonstrating they are important in multiple ways by openly working toward a safe and complete bicycle infrastructure.  Most of us know of the miles of new bike lanes and green painted sharrows, but Long Beach is also installing bike boxes, a separated bike lane will be complete soon. A bike boulevard with roundabouts is under construction with enthusiastic support from the community.  Gandy shared how the Federal government offers liability protections for test projects similar to these that have already been implemented in places like Porland, OR so they can be tested here in California. Long Beach has the coveted first of its kind Bikestation that provides free secure bike parking during regular business hours, professional repair services, tools and other support features. Additionally Bikestation’s advanced entry and membership system allows cyclists paying a fee to have exclusive 24/7 access to secure, indoor bike parking.  Gandy spoke of how signage “augments” lane usage by demonstrating bike placement in vehicle lanes and how bikes have rights to the road and that they belong on the road among motor cars. He spoke of studies that identify children between 8-11 years are prime candidates for learning (bike education) and how they are spending money there and on adult education in the same areas, both of which are something we have long been lobbing for here in Santa Monica.

In Long Beach they have what they call Bike Friendly Districts, BFD’s.  We saw how they are promoting businesses to connect to their local residents and promote shopping locally.  Bike corrals (something we have been pushing for), preferred customer discounts for those that arrive by bike (or other than by car).  (We have seen similar programs working in Seattle and Portland)  We heard how the businesses are supporting this.   The city has a program where they are loaning cargo bikes to residents to go shopping while inviting people to get out on bikes.

During the comment, Q & A the recent incidents with LBPD were brought up.  Gandy explained how the city is working to correct these problems -ie bike license inequities and police conflicts, via open dialogue and communication with residents.  This is a problem we currently share with Long Beach.  Although we seem to still be lacking the dialogue and open communication with the city to promote substantive improvements to this climate we are hopeful this is on the cusp of change.

After the PC meeting presentation Charlie joined us at a local downtown Santa Monica restaurant BAR PINTXO for tapas and beverages. It was a delightful chatty meeting of talking about bikes and political strategies and just all around camaraderie.  We truly enjoyed both his always enthusiastic and inspiring presentation and his warm and sharing company afterwards.  We hope we can get him back again to speak to our full City Council and other city staff in hopes of inspiring some of what is going on in Long Beach to spread to our fair city.

If their’s no heat you are not moving (friction)
We must move in the direction we have designated