The first meeting for supporters of R1 at Ponte Vista is in the books, recorded on video, and in the memories of about 60 folks who attended.
My talk was as Mr. Stat Isticts. I too quickly went through many facts and figures that were true and resources can be found for. I did use Jay Kim's 12,253 vehicles per day estimate for the number of weekday trips he believes will be added if Bob gets approval for his current plans.
I also mentioned that it was Mr. Kim's estimate and not one written in the DEIR.
Jay Kim is the supervisor in the LADOT section which approved the Traffic and Transportation section of the DEIR. It is Mr. Kim's belief that 12,253 added vehicles per day on Western Avenue is more in line with his expectations. He is a traffic engineer and I am not. But his figures, no matter what pressure he may have been under are projections based on what he knows and believes will be true.
Mr. Kim stated the absolute fact that 12,253 more vehicles on Western each workday can not possibly be mitigated by anyone, including Bob Bisno.
Of course I mentioned that 9,212 is the number the DEIR states as the number. I also used facts from various sources and I will create a post with each and every number or fact I used in case I am challenged, which I very most likely will have to confront.
Steve Marconi, the columnist from the More San Pedro magazine of the Daily Breeze was the first speaker. Ray Patricio provided more laughs and information. He is pretty good for someone in his 80's.
Andy Mardesich spoke for some time. He believes that there should be no compromise by anyone who demands that the Ponte Vista site remain with its current zoning. Andy spoke as some length about the need for all of us to get involved in the process, including calling Councilwoman Janice Hahn's office as many times as necessary to get the pointe across.
Andy stated that he believes Ms. Hahn should demand that the site remain with its current zoning an state that her position is as straightforward as it can be, no compromise.
Mr. Mardesich knows that R Neighborhoods Are 1 is a start-up group and the group needs to get more people involved and dedicated to becoming a driving force within OUR community. He feels everyone need to get active in some way or another, and he knows that because there is no real central commanding body, then folks should be encouraged to create their own steps or join with others to work as a larger body to get their job done and make Ms. Hahn realize that her political future rests on keeping the current zoning as it is, at Ponte Vista.
Neal Kleiner gave a talk about becoming involved in OUR community. He stated that he probably waited too long before becoming more involved in the R1 movement. I told him that he and his family were among the first brave folks to sign the R1 petition and that he has actually been involved longer than he even realized.
An informational packet was handed out to all volunteers to help keep the grass-roots growing. Included in the information packet was a list of contacts, an R Neighborhoods Are 1 button, one bumper sticker, a fact sheet, a set of some talking points petition gatherers might want to use, a list of rules concerning who is eligible to sign the R1 petitions, and finally, five R1 petitions that also had a pre-addressed and stamped envelope for them to be turned into the group for counting.
Writing of counting, as of this afternoon, Bob's site listed 6,596 signatures on petitions favoring his current plans. He has been collecting petitions for over a year. While the R1 petitions have not been out as long as his has, there are now over 6,800 signatures on R1 petitions. I know I have stated that, to me, some of these numbers aren't important. But there are many folks who are happy the number of signers of R1 petitions is now higher that the number of folks who signed Bob's petition.
At the next meeting on June 4 at the Peck Park Community Center, more packets will be handed out. If folks can't wait that long to get their packets and petitions, they can write to me at the Email address on the top of this blog and we will see what we can do to help out.
Kris, a person who comments from time to time wrote to me and made some comments that I found very credible. I think R Neighborhoods Are 1 has grown up enough that they no longer need so much support from this blog. I will continue to make posts and comments about the group and their happenings, but I now feel that if folks want to know more about the group, they can visit: www.rneighborhoodsare1.org on their own to get information.
I would like folks who support that organization to begin creating their own posts for this blog to publish. I don't think that I should shoulder more of the weight of lobbying on their behalf, when their are so many other issues concerning Ponte Vista that this blog should comment on.
I am not going anywhere and I haven't turned to the dark side. I would like folks supporting R Neighborhoods Are 1 to also feel at home writing about things and events on this blog.
It's time to move forward and keep all the issues about Ponte Vista on the front burners.
There is still so much to do and Bob wants it done in too little amount of time.
So, on behalf of those good folks at R Neighborhoods Are 1, they continue to demand:
R1, NO COMPROMISE!
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