HomeMy WebLinkAbout7/19/2022 Item 7a, Ayral
From:Odile Ayral <oayral@calpoly.edu>
Sent:Monday, July
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Item 7a
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Mayor Stewart and Council Members,
The change of the name of the bike greenway from "Anholm" to "Cerro San Luis" is a bit strange, to say the least,
considering the bikeway does not have anything to do with the Cerro San Luis neighborhood (the neighborhood that has
adopted this name is located by Bishop Peak School) and everything to do with the Anholm neighborhood. What is your
purpose in doing this?
I am writing this note because I read Richard Schmidt's third email to you (yes, all 15 pages) and my memory came
back. After the isolation of the pandemic, the unexpected death of my husband, the accidental deaths of two more
students in my neighborhood, and the horrible events taking place in this country, I had almost forgotten there was such
a thing as city government. I also had forgotten the shameful manner in which the previous council had manipulated
residents in order impose this bikeway upon us all, but Schmidt reminded me. I am copying one fragment from
Schmidt's letter in case you did not find the time to read all 15 pages, to remind you that the previous council was
worthy of those who have been working with old Mitch McConnell. Here is Schmidt's fragment:
"\[…\] When the plan \[of the extreme bikers\] went, miraculously, to the planning commission, the commission
rejected it and recommended a traffic-calming plan instead.
Another council hearing, more resident pleas, and the council followed the planning commission lead.
Residents had every reason to believe, after turning out to three hearings and getting three favorable rulings,
that things were settled.
But not in dirty-trick city.
At the very next council meeting, a cabal of staff, the mayor and some council members committed an
extraordinary breach of public process. Using as an excuse a bogus consent agenda item, the mayor and a
council co-conspirator rallied a social media-based astroturf bike faction to demand to be heard. The mayor
then held an unagendized public hearing, at which only those summoned by focused social media were
present, at the end of which the council reversed their vote of the previous meeting. Residents, with no
knowledge of this fraudulent “public hearing” had no clue any of this was taking place. And that, dear council
members, is how we got to where we are today. Your proceeding with a plan delivered in such an
underhanded dirty fashion would add your culpability to theirs.
Footnote: …So I asked Derek \[Johnson\] point blank, was this placed on the agenda so the council could
decide it wanted to change its vote? He said no. He assured me that they couldn’t change their vote at that
meeting because it would be a violation of the Brown Act. If the council wanted to change their vote, he said,
they’d have to schedule a new hearing for a future meeting.
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What happened at that next council meeting, however was unbelievable. The two council conspirators had
packed the room with bike advocates. With no notice to the public such a thing could happen, the mayor
pulled the item from the consent agenda and proceeded to hold a lengthy non-agendized public hearing
offering the bike faction full stage without counter-testimony from neighbors, who were at home with no idea
the just-adopted plan was being relitigated.
\[…\] This colossal Brown Act violation is how the “Anholm Greenway” came to be before you for bid letting. It
is our own city’s contribution to the catalog of insider-instigated subversion of democracy \[…\]. It is a disgusting
moment in the governance of this city, and it’s what going to bid is based upon."
I assume that most people are like me. They were first astounded, then pondered what they could possibly do. They
could not believe that our "lovely city" had elected such a dishonest council. They also knew it takes quite a bit of
money to sue a city, while the city has all the money they want from our taxes. But the pandemic came, and everything
else was set aside.
There are many sad comments to make about this story, and the saddest one may be that this incredible dishonesty is
not going to help cyclists in the least because it is focused in the wrong direction. As Schmidt said, Foothill blvd is the
truly dangerous area, the one taken by Cal Poly students, the one that kills them. You know it because we already have
had two deaths, and there will be more when 790 Foothill is occupied. Therefore, instead of wasting time and money on
fancy but useless projects that will help no one, dare to face the deaths the city has generated in the past, and decide to
put our money where it is really needed.
Sincerely,
Odile Ayral
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