Politics and cycling

[derailed]

I'm thinking about writing a letter to Rep. Boehner of Ohio, and am kind of nervous about it.

The blog I found his statements on are here;
http://bikeportland.org/2009/01/12/rep-john-boehner-widen-highways-for-american-families/

I have a letter all written up, but I'm scared to send it! It's polite, but I'm afraid that either it will be ignored, or I will get in trouble :(

Does anyone have experience with this? Any words of wisdom?

edit: I had the thought of printing it out and cycle-hand delivering it to my local representative, asking him to bring it along to D.C. Is that better or worse?

[PamNY]

Send the letter. Remember that you are paying this person's salary -- he works for you.

Here's what my local advocacy group has to say:

http://www.transalt.org/takeaction/write

Pam

[sfa]

Well, you're not going to get into trouble (unless you make threats in the letter), and generally any letter you send to an elected representative will get a response, even if it's a stock letter saying "thank you for your thoughs blah blah blah." If he's your representative, his staff will probably take some time in the response to explain to you why Mr. Boehner feels the way he does (and it'll have nothing to do with cycling--he'll talk about unnecessary expenses and wasting government funding and so forth. He wants to keep your vote, or sway it if he never had the vote to begin with.). If he's not your representative, the letter will not hold much weight. You'd do better to write to your OWN representative and tell her/him that you heard Mr. Boehner's remarks and hope that she/he doesn't agree with his thinking on this matter.

But absolutely you should send a letter if this is something you care about greatly. These people work for us, and it's up to us to let them know how we are thinking. Otherwise, how will they know how to represent us?

Sarah

[Tri Girl]

I remember that guy on Face the Nation. I wanted to punch him. Then again, in all fairness, I want to punch a lot of politicians. :p Our representatives are supposed to represent us, and so many of us complain yet never voice our opinions directly to the people who are supposed to be supporting us (myself included:(). Even if you get an answer that is only meant to appease you (like Sarah said- and she's probably right), at least you made your voice known. I'm sure you've backed up your letter with excellent reasons why this would be not only appropriate, but necessary in our changing times.
Good for you!!! Let us know what you hear back.

[Trek420]

Send the letter, encourage others to do so.

Maybe he needs to read this?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090127/ts_alt_afp/uswarmingenvironmentclimate_20090127132619

I forget the exact figure, you can look it up but something like an astonishing 60% of car trips in the USA are within a very bikeable 9 miles or so. It seems to me the easiet way to build 60% more roads is ... give us safe routes to ride!

[Irulan]

It's not like it's going to go into your FBI file or anything. They just sort responses and keep a tally.

[smilingcat]

Simple rule:

Don't make personal threats or to the family,

Don't use foul language,

May not like the guy but show respect. "Rep. Bohner said the following '..."

Stay to the point and be concise. You can be nice and still be very firm in what you say.

And do send it to your representative.

Nothing to be afraid of. Heck I'm speaking in front of the city council tonight with community TV pointing and video-recording me. The other day, I spoke in font of rather hostile residents about 200 of them maybe more... I'm still here and happy.

A happy cat,
Smilingcat

[Biciclista]

please write the letter, and please do not be afraid. He gets lots of letters. He might not personally read it, but he will be made aware of your sentiment
"we got 12 letters today that disagreed with you sir"

please dont' be afraid. in this country we have something called freedom of speech, and it's not only your right, it's your responsibility to use it!

[Possegal]

My mother had this friend that I've stayed close to since Mum died. She is 82 now and I swear a couple months don't go by that she isn't calling one of her reps to complain about one thing or another. I chuckle but figure, hey she's better than most of the rest of us who just complain to ourselves. :) No one has come to arrest her yet!

Definitely complain to the appropriate rep!

[Selkie]

I'm pretty sure they take their constituents concerns seriously. If you're polite in the letter, I wouldn't worry. Send it.

[redrhodie]

I'd love to make that guy ride a bike. It would do him a world of good.

[ny biker]

Absolutely send the letter. I've sent emails to my elected representatives more than once, with no regrets. It is definitely your right to be heard.

[derailed]

Here's my letter. Suggestions more than welcome. I strongly tailored it to American Made, as this is a local "hot button". Please don't think me a one dimensional jingo-ist.

Dear Representative (local);

Recently, I read comments by Representative Boehner on the topic of the place of bicycles in our infrastructure and culture. His attitude seemed to imply a sense that mature minded, sensible folks would not involve themselves with such silliness, and that we have no place on the public roads.
His comments upset me deeply, and motivated me to share my thoughts with you.

I am a proud American. I shop Made in USA, I take my responsibilities to the future of our Nation seriously. I pay my property tax proudly. All of my automobiles are made in USA, and I will not replace them with anything lesser.

I also happen to ride bicycles for fun, health, and sometimes, for transportation. I am not weak-headed or a fool, I see riding my bicycle as a very American thing to do.

All of my bikes are made entirely in the USA by Americans trained in technical skills at American schools. All of the parts are made here, by a company from Chicago. Every dollar I spend on maintaining them supports a local gentleman and his staff of local youth, who display an uncommon curiosity about engineering, structural science, metallurgy, and geometry, and who study hard in school.

Many bicycle riders seem to have higher than common interest in civil engineering and in local politics.

While cycling, like polo, swimming, and jumping out of airplanes, is not for everyone, please consider the activity from a new perspective; as a way to keep American Made in the forefront of our consciousness, a way to keep American labor working, a way to keep American science moving forward.

A somewhat modern innovation in bicycling is the carbon fiber frame. This aerospace material has found few practical uses in our lives, but in cycling, the understanding of this future-fabric is coming along very quickly. The bicycle has been serving as a test cockpit for this wonderful tool for the last decade. I find this to be a marvelous modern mindset in the American tradition of moving forward in a manner that the economy supports. Carbon fiber is now almost affordable for the everyday uses it will be most practical for, because cyclists have invested in the R+D already.

While out riding, I have had food and bottles thrown at me. I have had cars swerve towards me, young people slap my backside, people roll behind me and hit their horns to make me jump, had a car stop short in front of me on a slope, so I crushed myself on his bumper, and have been run over and almost killed. I have buried friends who wanted nothing more than to get to work then get home safely.

I don't believe that assaultive behaviors towards fellow citizens are particularly responsible actions. If these things were done to young people walking to class, someone would be arrested. As a cyclist, I know I must accept No one should expect to being assaulted and abused, and no one should think it's OK to do so.

Please consider those folks you see whizzing by on bikes differently. I respectfully request that you pay attention to the deep pride every one of us displays when we choose to spend our free time out of doors enjoying the majesty and beauty this great Nation has to offer.

Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts, and I hope you will share them with your compatriots in the House when next the topic comes up for discussion.

Sincerely,
Your constituent,

derailed

[Biciclista]

very nice letter; my only criticism would be that your letter is too long.

You said nothing that he would take umbrage to, however, so rest assured that what you wrote is something that any citizen would be proud to have written (if they agreed with you)

m

[ny biker]

I would not compare cycling to polo and skydiving. Most kids learn to ride a bike. It is much more common than those activities.

I also wouldn't say that you must accept being assaulted and abused. No one should ever accept being assaulted and abused, for any reason.

[keepclimbing]

[I]

I don't believe that assaultive behaviors towards fellow citizens are particularly responsible actions. If these things were done to young people walking to class, someone would be arrested. As a cyclist, I know I must accept being assaulted and abused.



I would be more assertive with this concern. Something like "Assaultive behaviors towards fellow citizens should never be tolerated...As a cyclist, I should not have to accept being assaulted and abused." You don't have to be so concerned with being "polite" that you accept abuse.

I just returned from a day of talking to my state legislators in the capitol--something I do quite regularly. The more to the point you can be, the better. I also think it would be in your interest to end with a direct request that the legislator can actually do, such as "Please support complete streets: streets that are safe and functional for cars, bikes, buses, and pedestrians."

[Irulan]

I would take out the part about carbon fiber.

I think the most important things is to emphasize his wrong thinking about bike paths.

[malkin]

I'd go further with strengthening your assertion about "assaultive behaviors" and state simply:
Assault is a crime and must not be tolerated.

[Trek420]

I would take out assault and carbon fiber and go with the figures (you'd have to do the research, it's on LAB) that something like an incredible 60% or somesuch of driving in the US is within 8 or so miles of home, an ideal distance for cycling. And that most people say they'd prefer to walk or drive.

To get 60% (or whatever the figure is) more roads give us safe routes to ride. We'll stay off yours ... mostly.

I think the construction industry or whatever lobby has him in their back pocket does not care whether they build bike lanes or bike overpass or highways as long as it pays the same :cool:

[Mr. Bloom]

Send him the picture of this hearty soul riding home in the snow storm tonight. Tell him to make sure there's funding to get the path cleared as well. This kid probably beat me home...

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa201/MrSilver1963/snowbike.jpg



Also, you can go to your representative's official website and submit concerns electronically.

[derailed]

My online editing skills are pretty poor and it's becoming sloppy. Sorry about that. I tried to do the strike through thing.

Thank you all for the wonderful hints and suggestions. I will be using them.

[Biciclista]

Good luck! may you write many, many more letters! It's the way our hired public servants find out what we are thinking.