From: pamlim@uclink3.berkeley.edu (McAlister/Lim) Subject: Buggiers still need help in Berkeley!!! Date: Wed, 1 May 1996 10:26:04 -1000 Organization: University of California, Berkeley Summary: Keywords: Message-ID: <4m8hcs$lor@agate.berkeley.edu> ===================================== 5-1-96 Hello again, everyone: Below you will find a repost of my calls for help in Berkeley. While I would like to thank all those who sent mail, we still need more support. Please don't feel that your letter should be long or fancy. A few lines of support is all that is necessary. If you don't have the energy to write something feel free to copy all or part of any of the examples below. I have also included a grouping of all the E-Mail address so that it is will be simple to copy and past the whole group of addresses. If you do write a letter of your own please post it to this group so that it may act to motivate others to send letters. EXAMPLE ONE: I am writing you to protest the arbitrary and unjustified manner in which kite buggying has been banned from Caesar Chavez Park. I also wish to voice my support for continued buggying there in the future. EXAMPLE TWO: It has come to my attention that the City of Berkeley Marina Manager has banned kite buggying activities from Caesar Chavez Park. I am dismayed anytime I hear of a recreational activity being restricted without public discussion. I understand the need for restrictions where there are concerns regarding public safety and health. However, in this case where buggying has been ongoing without serious incident since 1993 it is patently unfair to suddenly ban an activity without investigation or discussion with the parties affected. I have observed the kite buggying activities and find the participants to be responsible and more conscious of safety than many other park patrons. I urge you to reconsider the ban and once again allow wind powered buggies at Cesar E. Chavez Park. EXAMPLE THREE: Although I am not a kite buggier myself I would like to express my support for this activity at the Berkeley Marina's Cesar E. Chavez Park. Although I might not participatein this new and exciting sport myself, I enjoy the visual spectacle of Wind-Powered Buggying as a healthy part of the vibrant scene that is Cesar E. Chavez Park. I especially appreciate the fact that this new sport does not pollute the air or consume fossil fuels. Walkers, runners, roller bladers, dog walkers, picnickers, jugglers, anglers, mountain bikers, model sail plane fliers, musicians, dancers, artists, kite fliers, parahanger pilots, as well as wind-powered buggy riders, all contribute to a vibrant and diversified scene that is Cesar E. Chavez Park. As a regular user of this park I believe that it is this very diversity of usage that makes Cesar E. Chavez Park such a vibrant and exciting place to be. I have always found those who participate in Wind-Powered Buggying to be responsible, safety-minded adults who are respectful of the rights of other park users. I also believe that Wind-Powered Buggiers present no more threat to the environment or park users than rollerbladers, bike riders, or dog walkers, and I support all of these groups' rights as well as those of the aforementioned groups to have continued access to pursue their recreation of choice at Cesar E. Chavez Park. ===================================== Here is our complete addresslist as of 5-1-96. Please mail your letter to all of them. Spread the word. guyt@netcom.com, photo@dnai.com, bdsmith@dnai.com, rcwolgast@lbl.gov, pamlim@uclink3.berkeley.edu, clm2@ci.berkeley.ca.us, dean@ci.berkeley.ca.us, maio@ci.berkeley.ca.us, wainwright@ci.berkeley.ca.us, spring@ci.berkeley.ca.us, shirek@ci.berkeley.ca.us, bauer@ci.berkeley.ca.us, olds@ci.berkeley.ca.us, dean@ci.berkeley.ca.us, woodworth@ci.berkeley.ca.us, armstrong@ci.berkeley.ca.us, attorney@ci.berkeley.ca.us ================================================================ ========== 4-27-96 Hello, everyone: As you may have seen in a previous thread started by Chuck Sigal we have a small problem at Cesar E. Chavez Park in Berkeley, CA. For those of you not familiar with Berkeley as a kite flying site, it is located in the center of San Francisco Bay. It has been the site of the Berkeley Kite Festival and West Coast Kite Championships for 10 years, and was also the host site of the 1993 World Cup. In short, we locals think of it as a very special place to fly. The varied topography of the park combined with steady winds also makes it a great place to buggy. Some members of the bureaucratic structure of Berkeley would like nothing more than to see kite buggying banned permanently from Chavez Park. In fact it has already been banned pending further action, and we have no indication that banning of other types of kiting activities will not be part of a future agenda. If one activity is banned it becomes all the more easy to ban another. As Chuck Sigal pointed out there is only one known instance where any one--buggier, pedestrian, dog, or rollerblader-- has been injured in an accident with a buggy, and in that case a buggier was bitten by a dog. There will be a public meeting of the Berkeley Waterfront Planning Commission on May 8th at 7:00 PM at the Marina Conference Room, which is located at the south end of the Berkeley Marina across from the Adventure Play Land. I invite all of you to attend this meeting. We will be assembling an hour before the meeting at the turning circle at Chavez Park, which is also located at the Marina. In the event that you arrive late we will have someone posted at the turning circle until 7:30 who will direct you to the proper location. If you cannot attend the meeting there is another way you can help us. You can do this by sending E-mail to the city officials whos addresses are listed below. Express your support for kite flying and bugging at Cesar E. Chavez Park. It would also be helpful if you could try to give the recipients some idea of the stature of Berkeley as an international site for kiting. Berkeley is not just another place to fly kites, it is one of the best. It might also be helpful to stress to them the value of kiting and the Berkeley Kite Festival & West Coast Kite Championships as a public relations tool for the City of Berkeley. If you have traveled to our event, to World Cup, or if you plan to do so in the future let them know. Kite fliers from all over spend money in Berkeley and city officials need to be reminded. It might not hurt to also point how lucky they are to have the Waterfront Regular Kite Group, who take on the organizational and financial responsibility of presenting the city with a world class kite festival year after year. Some communities pay tens or hundreds of thousand dollars to support their kite festivals. If you do send mail please cc me so that I can present hard copy to each of the commissioners at the meeting on May 8th. Also, please identify where you are located so that we may organize your letters by geographic region. The addresses below are primarily those of the City Council. Tomorrow I will post address of the Waterfront Planning Commission so don't forget to write to them as well. Thank all of you for your support, Tom McAlister P.S. Tomorrow I will post addresses of the Waterfront Planing Commission. Please write to these officials as well. ===================================== 4-28-96 Hello again, everyone: Here is the updated mailing list for members of the Berkeley Waterfront Planning Commission. Unfortunately not all of them have E-mail addresses. Feel free to use the phone #s listed. The name in parentheses is the name of the Council Person who appointed them. I will follow up with more addresses as they become available to me. If you can't recall whom you mailed to already please mail them again. Two copies are better than none. Also, please cc me so that I can make hard copies for the May 8th meeting. I should note that while some of the commission members seem to be against buggying, the commission has not taken any action yet. The ban was enacted by an employee of the city. We do not want to flame these people but simply let them know how we feel and in the process educate them a bit about what the Berkeley Marina means to kite fliers, as well as the value of kiting to the City of Berkeley and the San Francisco Bay Area community. Thanks again, Tom McAlister BERKELEY WATERFRONT PLANNING COMMISSION: Guy Thomas / Chair / (Spring) guyt@netcom.com 3013 Stanton Street Berkeley, CA 94702 Hm. 510/841-3438 Fax 510/841-8822 Jamie Wasson / Vice Chair / (Bauer) photo@dnai.com Photo Works 2946 San Pablo Ave. Berkeley, CA 94702 wk/fax 510/548-0606 Brad Smith (Maio) bdsmith@dnai.com 1205 Francisco St. Berkeley, CA 94702 hm 510/524-1938 fax 510/527-7573 Richard Wolgast (Olds) rcwolgast@lbl.gov 1536 Olympus Ave. Berkeley, CA 94708 hm 510/548-0186 wk 510/486-5786 fax 510/486-6668 Kathleen Davis (Woodworth) 1711 Jaynes Street Berkeley, CA 94703 hm 510/528-8853 Matthew Graves (Shirek) 3211 Sacramento St. Berkeley, CA 94702 hm 510/654-1364 Rufus Jones (Dean) 2601 Warring St. #69 Berkeley, CA 94720 hm 510/664-3074 wk 510/643-9741 Claudia Kawczynska (Wainwright) cluaudik@hooked.net 2810 Derby St. Berkeley, CA 94705 hm 510/704-8027 fax 510/704-9033 Mary Ann McCamant (Armstrong) 2799 Piedmont Ave. Berkeley, CA 94705 hm 510/843-1834 MARINA MANAGER: Don Coykendall E-mail c/o pamlim@uclink3.berkeley.edu (510) 644-6376 MARINA ISSUES: clm2@ci.berkeley.ca.us BERKELEY MAYOR: Shirley Dean dean@ci.berkeley.ca.us BERKELEY CITY COUNCIL: Council member Linda Maio maio@ci.berkeley.ca.us Council member Mary Wainwright wainwright@ci.berkeley.ca.us Council member Maudelle Shirek shirek@ci.berkeley.ca.us Council member Dona Spring spring@ci.berkeley.ca.us Council member Diane Bauer bauer@ci.berkeley.ca.us Council member Betty Olds olds@ci.berkeley.ca.us Council member Carla Woodworth woodworth@ci.berkeley.ca.us Council member Polly Armstrong armstrong@ci.berkeley.ca.us CITY ATTORNEY: attorney@ci.berkeley.ca.us -- ================================================================ / H I G H L I N E / B E R K E L E Y WEST COAST \ / K > I > T > E>S / K > I > T > E & K > I > T > E \ / O F BERKELEY / F E S T I V A L CHAMPIONSHIPS \ <-----------------------------------------------------------------------> \ Don't miss our 10th Anniversary Berkeley Kite Festival & WCKC / \ July 27-28 / Always on the last full weekend of July / \-----------------------------------------------------------------/ \ Tom McAlister / AKA Director, Region #11 / BASKL V.P. / =============================================================== = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =