TC Commission Lodged between opposing priorities
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…When hope dies, action begins.” -Derrick Jensen, Beyond Hope
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A group of 30-40 walkers and bike riders met along 8th Street to parade to the study session.
Last night’s city commission study session on the 2010 Eighth Street kerfuffle went for 3 hours, was packed with over 150 people, with over 30 making public comment and NO positive resolution in sight.
Three options were given by City Manager R. Ben Bifoss:
- As is. Proceed with contract and current design.
- Re-apply: Start the funding process over and re-apply. Likely to lose money, incur costs & one contractor likely to suffer huge loss.
- Retrofit: Proceed, with a retrofit built into the process for after the project is complete & funds secured from MDOT/Feds. Drawbacks, likely forgotten, expensive and will have limited design options.
None of them that appealing for citizens that are lacking trust that their best interests are represented. Many people left the meeting confused as to whether anything was achieved or where the direction of the project is headed. The city will be discussing and voting on this at next week’s commission meeting. We need some bodies there as well.
Is there hope? Screw hope!
This is community work that needs bodies with ideas, energy and an inability to make excuses for inaction. The fact that we can get 150+/- people out to a meeting about a 2 block section of a street means something. The public comments last night were a sign that 1) the time is now; and, 2) the human resources in this city are above average–we’re well-educated, well-traveled and well intended. We need to continue to insert ourselves into city affairs as invaluable resources of support, information, experience, energy…
We need to support the commissioners and staff that support an immediate change of priority throughout the city to support its own master plan, Grand Vision and the call from the neighborhoods for street calming city-wide. MDOT streets are another issue, but our own city maintained streets are the line-in-the-sand.
It is no longer acceptable for the neighborhoods to accept a “it takes time“, “its complicated” and “we’re trying” mentality.
Those of us who want to see bike lanes on Eighth Street need to continue to hold those in power accountable. There are plenty of resources and connections that the city hasn’t tapped. Give them a day and then tomorrow call or write to ask,”So, what did you do regarding 8th Street today?” If they say nothing, let’s call them out on it.
It’s not good enough to say you “really, really want bike lanes” or remain silent on the subject, and then do nothing but make excuses.
This is a priority shift that begins at their feet. I’m asking my readers to call up a city commissioner or city staffer and offer to take them for a walk or bike ride. It’s obvious after last night that most serving the city have an inadequate appreciation for what it is even like on a city street without help from a motorized human-transport mobile.
Adopt a commissioner and stay on them.
Offer support. Offer them coffee. Offer to take them to a park.
That brings me to the commissioners. They are in a tough situation. They all have realized (once again) how much lack of control they really have and I trust that they will be trying to assert themselves this morning. While we assert ourselves, we need to help them.
There wasn’t a vote last night, so we can only go from what they said or didn’t say. My interpretation, from memory & without review, is as follows:
- Mayor Chris Bzdok: Is trying to represent the majority who have overwhelmingly asked for street calming for 20-30 years. His commitment is solid and he has a year and half left in his term to see some change. Needs support.
- Cmmn. Jody Bergman: Typically silent, she did feel compelled to speak last night. Unfortunately, it was with great deference to the city engineer, although she did express frustration with the flow of information from the department. She needs people to adopt her and take her for an educational tour. Needs adoption.
- Cmmn. Barbara Budros: Similar to Cmmn. Bergman, Budros’ priority is that a “contract is a contract”, deference to staff and no sense of urgency. Needs adoption.
- Cmmn. Jim Carruthers: Showed some of the spunk that got him elected and was pressing some difficult questions. Good to see. Still, needs people to continue to entice him out of his safety zone and get back out on the street. Needs support
- Cmmn. Ralph Soffredine: A walking conundrum. Man of the people who emphatically says he wants bike lanes and has a top priority of safety. Yet, safety for whom? His main concern remains the safety of those driving around in 2-ton machines. His insistence that he can’t support any changes to the center turn-lane between Rose and Garfield are a real block that will sway other commissioners. He has earned his dues, and people listen to him. The problem is, his priorities are wrong. By calming the street instead of providing for faster speeds and convenience for vehicles, you make the street safe for all users! Soffredine needs adopting by people who can drive this point home. Needs adoption.
- Cmmn. Michael Gillman: Gillman is on the city commission with one priority only: the budget. Anything that involves potentially losing money or needing more money and he is going to be as immovable as the Grandview Parkway Expressway. Yes, needs adoption. Good luck.
- Cmmn. Mary Ann Moore: She enjoyed the meeting last night and loves the energy of the ‘younger’ generation. She has clearly stated her support for a redesign of city streets to include traffic calming and providing for bike lanes. Her frustration with engineering is clear. She is prudent, strong and has told me, “I’ll talk the talk all day, but I can’t get on the bike.” I think she would gladly go for a walk and needs to know there is support. Needs support. Someone buy her lunch!
I could be way off on these quick perspectives. Please, let me know if I am.
We enjoy an amazing quality of life in Traverse City, but we have a lot of work ahead of us to maintain and improve it for the coming decades. I’ll be posting links to the news coverage and the video of the meeting later today. Perhaps I may have cooled down a little by then, but I hope not.
What was your take?
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To adopt or support a commissioner, please call or email:
- City Manager R. Ben Bifoss Traverse (231) • 922-4440 • bbifoss@traversecitymi.gov
- Mayor Chris Bzdok • 932-0319 • chris@envlaw.com
- Cmmn. Jody Bergman • 929-3438 • jbergman@ci.traverse-city.mi.us
- Cmmn. Barbara Budros • 929-3438 • bbudros2@ci.traverse-city.mi.us
- Cmmn. Jim Carruthers • 922-7768 • jccarruthers@gmail.com
- Cmmn. Ralph Soffredine • 946-0344 • rsoffred@ci.traverse-city.mi.us
- Cmmn. Michael Gillman • 941-1277 • mgillman@conklinbenham.com
- Cmmn. Mary Ann Moore • 947-3527 • maryannmoore@charter.net
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So after last nights meeting..whether we packed it with 200 or 2000
people..The commission still does what they want..why are we even
involved in this process? Are we not their boss? Is the city manager
not the boss of the engineer? I have no idea why they are not
listening to us..and in fact one of them at the end of the night
thought we wanted them to widen the street? I love Chris but even in
the end it doesn’t seem to matter..they have their agenda and do it.
How do they change?
I am frustrated with my city council..its a friggen small city and a
large % of their voting community were there and it shouldn’t be this hard! 400 G is a lot of money now but look at the long term gain. I left disheartened and frustrated with the whole process.
wtf?
I am going to adopt Gillman.. great idea Gary! And I like your descriptions.
I was aghast to learn about the inappropriate communication between the City Engineer and MDOT. I am an action/solution person but still think that staff issues need to be addressed rather than being allowed to continue indefinitely.
I can’t believe that proceeding with the plan as is and then trying to find funds to retrofit is being explored as an option. No wonder our state and country are in financial crisis. I do not want my taxes going to support this backwards process and inefficiency.
There is always another option – always another door – always another path to be explored. It is my expectation that those in leadership positions for our City relationship build, negotiate, and communicate to make the Vision a reality.
It seems the issue is money is a bigger boss then us….400g is a lot
of money but shit as a community how hard would it be to raise that
money? This is a wealthy town. if the city wont design the street we want because of MDOTS rules..why don’t we raise it? Then its our rules. We had a lot of
connected people at the meeting..to bad we can have a fund raiser-
block party -lemon-aid stand bake sale grant writing day..be like here is our money..for
our street and here are our strings attached to that money
Maybe its time to make a sign and have a public “sit-down” in the middle of the street to block traffic. LETS PROTEST!
Gary, there is clearly a ton of energy around this issue. Energy which will likely not be around the next time eighth street is up for a re-do – so kudos for continuing to push NOW. Will is right – these decisions can’t be made just about dollars. The Nobel Laureate of Economics won because of her paper on community management – clearly MDOT has no real idea of what’s best for this street.
It’s going to be messy. It always is. Contracts have outs. Money is always tight.
How can we show everyone what eighth street could be, and by extension, TC?
I wonder how much the law suit would be when one of my customers gets hit by a car while out on a test ride. I would rather it not be a “I told you so” situation. Kind of along the lines of Dr. Norm Licht…look at the whole picture.
I agree with Will in some aspects. I came home feeling a little defeated. It seems that government has once again heard the will of the people and taken with a grain of salt. I think what really upsets me is not the issue of bike lanes, which should definitely be a priority here, but the fact that Tim Lodge pretty much completely this design and gathered funding for it before there was any transparency for either the citizens or the City Commissioners. Why is there no push for his resignation when he clearly can’t perform his duties for the people who pay his salary. He sees “safety” issues with removing a left hand turn lane, which seems more of a convenience issue than a safety one, but sees no problem in refusing to try and come up with a solution to include bike lanes. People will continue to ride their bikes dangerously on 8th St. if no bike lanes are included. Tim and I would like to offer our house, right downtown above Plamondon Shoes, as a place we can meet to discuss what we can do the coming week up to the meeting on Tuesday. Maybe we need to take a heavier hand and remind those who work for the City who is truly the boss.
Does anyone else feel like Ben Bifoss knows more than he’s saying? It was clear to me that while Mr. Lodge hadn’t had much communication with the Commission (let alone the public), there had been some with Bifoss. I would like to see EVERY communication between the two of them on this subject; I also want the letter or email that Lodge sent to MDOT that prompted their reply.
I sincerely hope that the Mayor and Commissioners to get with the right people in town (Grand Vision Champions and working groups) to beg for commense sense with the head of MDOT, who was very involved in the GV and supportive of its outcomes. I also hope the Mayor and the Commissioners ask us – the citizens that they represent – to write letters of support for their request for a change. Show me that you need us and value us – maybe then you’ll be sure to ask us for input earlier.
At the next meeting, I want them to mandate – publicly – that city employees MUST: uphold the Master Plan; implement the Grand Vision; and involve the public early, often and comprehensively.
How about if 200 people show up at the meeting next week in T-shirts that say something like “My City has a Master Plan” (and maybe a “but what’s it worth” on the back)!
As for the idea of raising our own money – count me in! I think we could bag $400k by April 1…
How about shirts that say “Who’s the Boss?”
Found this POLICY on the City website with many references to the priority placed on bike and pedestrian safety:
http://www.ci.traverse-city.mi.us/Policy/InfrastructureStrategyPolicy.pdf
I think we just have to send daily emails to our commission to keep the pressure on to keep them doing what they are hired to do
Typical example of back door politics. How many other decisions have be made this way over the years? …In every city in our “democratic” nation.
MDOT/Lodge eMail: http://shrvl.com/5J02Q
If we must retrofit, we must engineer the fix into the project before the ground is broken. We must have the budget and funding for the retrofit in place. We must have a retrofit completion date in writing where 8th Street to be a Complete Street.
We need to do it right the first time this time.
Pressure yes. Support yes. . I love the adopt a commissioner approach and I’d like to add another element to that. I’m for dropping the cynicism and settling on action ourselves. And let’s make it clear, it is our responsibility as a constituency.
I will take on organizing a “get your elected official out of the car day” during Smart Commute week. I see this as an opportunity to put our elected officials in the position to see the deficits their lax attention to their own policies are creating. A simple ride east on State Street between Pine and Boardman will demonstrate the poor condition of the roadway for cars, bikes, pedestrians, and disabled folk. These visceral experiences will go a lot further to educate and motivate them to action.
Thank you all for your thoughts and your work.
Bill
Gary I am thankful that you have dedicated so much of your time to do this project. I look forward to reading your articles. This website is exactly what Traverse City needed. My question is this, how much longer can you afford to do this work without pay? Do we need to plan a fund raiser to help support this ongoing effort? Are people rising to the occasion and clicking on that Donate Here button? What can we do to help you help us?
I’m with Bill… Let’s get them all to ride down 8th street on bikes then see how worried they are about a left turn lane… I think we need to present a clear list of what we want accomplished if the city is to move forward with the project. I would like to think that need our approval at this point not the other way around.
I’m all for “get your elected official out of the car day”. Can we extend that to a week? This really boils down to awareness and education. Most folks really just have no clue what it’s like to commute by bike or foot regularly in this town.And what people have no experiences with, they tend to be blind to. I am tired of being treated as if I were invisible. What ever happened to public service announcements asking people to watch for cyclists and pedestrians? Does anyone else remember those from childhood? Not that many people watch TV anymore.
I think part of the solution is to increase our presence on 8th street and other busy streets in town as much as we can. Although, I do hesitate to suggest that, since I don’t believe it is safe the way it is. What do others think?
I just want to do something to create change..what can I do to make change?
“If you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em.”
This is the perfect opportunity for everyone to start campaigning for the next open city commission seat, parks and recreation commission seat, etc. From the time we all turned 18, we were all eligible for city office positions. I respect my elders for their experience and wisdom, but it appears to me that a “youthful” perspective is severely lacking; up there in the big, black leather chairs of command. Now is the time. Set your sights and join them.