Cyclists to SLT — repeal Measure B

Dear Members of the City Council,

Unfortunately and untimely, I am not able to present this notice in person during the City Council meeting scheduled on Tuesday, October 20, 2009, because I am out of the country. Therefore, I submit the following notice to be read during the public comment period and placed into the public record.

You are hereby notified that on behalf of the citizens of South Lake Tahoe and its bicycle community, I call for the immediate withdraw of Measure B from the November 2009 ballot on the grounds of false and misleading representation that unfairly prejudices the electorate and does not follow the true democratic process of fair and equal representation of an issue.

The proponents of Measure B have willfully omitted a rebuttal to their Measure, knowing there is opposition, with intent of gaining an unfair advantage. They, in collusion with City Staff members, have intentionally avoided contacting members of the bicycle community and when asked, by me, for a response to the Measure it was replied with ignorance of the issue by City management. When I replied to the ignorance, with a reference to the Tahoe Mountain News article about Measure B, management replied with a direction to a department director to contact me and that never happened.

Therefore, a unilateral decision allowing the tactic of rebuttal omission, (non-full disclosure of Measure B opposition), for unfair advantage that carries the Measure forward shall represent a community travesty of miss-guided leadership and abuse of authority with far ranging repercussions – the heart of which is community distrust.

Sincerely,

Tyrone Polastri, Community Advocate

PS. Bike path maintenance funds authorized by Measure S is one of the most important achievements made by this community because maintenance funds for bike paths is one of the more difficult funds to acquire. Additionally, Measure S was a key factor leading to the City earning its national designation as a Bicycle Friendly Community because it demonstrated the community’s commitment to managing a ubiquitous challenge of funding for bike path maintenance. To repeal Measure S for reallocation of those funds may be sufficient grounds for re-evaluating the Bicycle Friendly Community designation of this community.