October 08's Beaverton BAC meeting

[K'Tesh]

One of the new members was present, one of the incumbents wasn't due to a conflict... Five visitors, Q`ztal, myself, a representative from ODOT, and two who I didn't get to meet afterwards.

I was late, so I missed the first few minutes of the meeting.

There was a report from one of the Beaverton Bike cops. As well as a discussion on perception of actions and how they may affect bike relationships with other modes.

We talked about SW 153rd's proposed signing for the area around the MAX tracks. Including pictures of proposed signs.

We talked about the "Bike Accident" list. It mentioned only a few crashes, Austin's was in there (mine wasn't as it happened on private property).

And Q`ztal and I talked about WES and the MUP for it. We were told that the seams are going to be filled, but we have to wait for better weather, and the bikelanes are going to be repainted. However the BAC is very unhappy about how their input was rejected. There is a report on this pending from Beaverton, but it's unsure if it will be ready for the November meeting.

One guest was there just to get a feel for whats going on, and the other had to leave mid-meeting w/o comment.

ODOT's representative was just there to observe.

There's a motion to move the meeting from 6 pm to 6:30 pm, I don't have a vote, but I'm in favor of it.

Thats what I remember of it... Q'ztal, you got anything to add?

Rubberside Down!
K'Tesh

[q`Tzal]

Is there a tips thread for cyclists who are new to Advisory Committee Meetings and the like? How to approach topics and get positive results? I'm thinking "How to Win Friends and Influence People" but in this case advisory committees ... maybe there is a book on how to be a lobbyist. ;)

It seems obvious in retrospect that I should have read the previous meeting minutes so I at least had some idea if a topic has been covered in detail. The MUP issue was covered in the prior meetings minutes but were lacking in any detail so there was no reason not to voice a negative opinion in this meeting.

Potentially we should work on verbal tactics for getting optimal results out of a relatively friendly group like Beaverton BAC or a more hostile/ignorant group like Tigard City Council.

I get the impression that a lot can be achieved by stuffing seats with cyclists and proving that we are not a silent and invisible minority.

I do know that it is nice getting this info first hand on what my community is doing, or failing to do, rather than receiving incomplete or inaccurate stories from somewhere; completely car biased stories from the dead tree publishers.