Be at City Hall next Monday night

This is important.

If you are a cyclist and you want Spokane to be a better bike town then clear off next Monday night and do some civic duty'ing.

On Monday, the City Council is going to vote on whether to update the Comprehensive Plan with the Master Bike Plan. There's so much I can go on about here. I've been blogging on the MBP for the last 2 years, so you can read the posts here for more historical perspective. Here's the genesis post.

The basic point of getting this Master Bike Plan passed is so Spokane can get some funding for our bike stuff. Without a plan, we will not get serious state or federal money. This giant basic irrefutable fact was the reason the Bicycle Advisory Board has made updating the MBP our number one goal since the BAB was refreshed about 3 years ago. Without the plan, we can't go for the real money. Like SmartRoutes for example.

Although the plan has been developed transparently for the last two years and there has been enthusiastic support for it, passing the plan through City Council is by no means a slam dunk. The usual foot-dragging, FUD-inducing, and obfuscating tactics of the usual crowd will be loud and organized. "This is yet another unfunded mandate" will be their mantra, though the Plan does not specify or require funding sources from the city.

So, this is where you, the cyclist comes in: Just show up on Monday. It's next Monday (May 18) at 6pm at the City Hall council chambers (in the basement). Hopefully you will witness something historic as the Plan passes. You don't have to speak, but if you want to, get there a bit early to sign up.

If you come and you're not going to speak: look like a cyclist. Just have a helmet with you. Or a loud vest. Or some Lycra. Or a messenger bag.

In the meantime:
-- Read the plan.
-- Call your city council representatives and make sure they're going to vote this through.