A week after the 2008-2009 Fiscal Year oversight hearing, the BAC was again before the Public Works and Transportation Committee (aka Jim Graham) on March 24th to discuss the Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Request Act of 2009. Speaking for the BAC were Heidi Goldberg (at-large) and Chairperson Meredith Begin (Ward 1).
Jim Graham informed the BAC that his office has contacted all the agencies that have been absent from BAC meetings and all the council members who haven't yet appointed a BAC member to ask them that they address the attendance issue, and, in restating last year's accomplishments, mentioned that the money spared from the $1.5M for public service announcements was $18k (so with the $60k for the parking study that's $78k out of $1.5M)
The good news is that the Mayor has proposed reinstating Jim Graham's $1.5M bicycle and pedestrian safety fund in the FY 2010 budget. CM Graham asked cyclists to "rally" around this funding and show visible support and asked the BAC to address how this money would be spent.
As for the $500k that remains from the FY '09 budget, it will be addressed in the supplemental budget which the Mayor will release in the near future - if he hasn't done so already. The BAC had not approved or sent the letter to the Mayor asking him to spare this money and CM Graham recommended that they make haste.
There was a brief discussion that the several million dollars in stimulus funding that the District will direct toward cycling projects will more than make up for the lost District money.
The BAC asked for $10k in funding to pay for some basic operating needs. This would relieve the DDOT Bicycle Program Manager from the technical aspects of assisting the BAC so that they could spend more time on transportation tasks. Everyone mentioned what a modest request this is, pointing out that each ANC, for example, gets $29k per year. The BAC would use the money for printing, creating promotional tools like banners, running community events and rides, setting up a website, and to pay for a share in a part-time staff person. The 2009 busget was to include this part-time staff person as a position in the Office of Policy of the District Council as part of the $1.5M that was dropped. There was talk of where the money for this would come from. CM Graham seemed to want to make it part of the $1.5M bicycle and pedestrian safety fund, but that money goes to DDOT. The BAC seemed eager to have all the BAC funding outside of the DDOT stream to maintain independence.
There was a brief conversation about the enforcement cadre. The legislative committee was to meet April 1 (so they already have) to discuss this. CM Graham called it the "DDOT bicycle-mounted enforcement team that would cite motorists, cyclists and pedestrians for flagrant safety violations." Now he's talking my language. Focusing on safety violations and against all users. That's better.
Adam Voiland wrote about this also, focusing on the $1.5M fund and wrote:
There are some good ways to let your voice be heard on this. I contacted Jim Graham's office and a staffer mentioned a few things citizens interested in protecting the fund can do.
1) Contact DC council members. Start with members on the Committee of Public Works and Transportation (Wells, Menelson, K. Brown, and Bowser). Then, all the other councilmembers.
2) Attend and voice support for the fund at a public hearing on Thursday, April 2, 2009 (10 a.m.)
The committee that handles this will vote on the proposed budget by April 29, so do make sure to do any lobbying before then.
More on that April 2nd meeting tomorrow.
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