CARNEGIE SVRA - Post Alameda County BOS Meeting Update - You Get Who You Vote For

Don Getting Ready to Enter the Political Arena

The Recreation HQ wants to thank all of you who sent in letters and/or attended the Alameda County Board of Supervisor’s meeting today in Oakland.

The proceedings today reminded me of an old political adage… “You get what/who you vote for.”   It was clear from the outset that the board had already made up its mind to support the staff letter. 

Dad and Kids Speak in Favor of Carnegie

What was different about today’s board meeting is that both sides of the debate showed up in force.  There was a great turnout by OHV groups and regular folks who spoke in favor of the Carnegie SVRA General Plan.

Dave Pickett, AMA D36, Speaks to Board

Besides the OHV group representatives, there was a family of Carnegie riders that supported the plan.  There were also two female environmental activists who were also dirt bike riders who said they reviewed the plan and felt it was a good general plan.  A rider in his leather jacket made a special trip just to speak in favor of the general plan.

Interested Rider Speaks in Favor of Carnegie General Plan

Both the board and board staff made it perfectly clear to the audience that the state is the lead agency and that all they can do is basically comment on what they feel are the plan’s deficiencies and where it appears to be in conflict with the county’s regulations and open space policy.

Board President, Scott Haggerty, told the audience that he used to ride dirt bikes in the old days and that his current stance on OHV can be a source of trouble during the holiday season when pro-OHVers in the family take him to task on his anti-access political views.

Haggerty also lamented that the former state legislators (Mark DeSaulnier and Joan Buchanan) failed to kill the Carnegie plan when they were in office.  Nice!

AMA's Nick Haris Speaks to the Board 

  

At the end of the day, this is all political.  I don’t think anybody expected the board to burn political capital by voting in favor of the general plan even though it was pointed out to them that the East Bay Regional Park District provides NO OHV recreation.

HQ looks forward to this fall when the Final General Plan (once reviewed by Division) is submitted to the OHV Commission for an up or down vote.  It is that political body that has the statutory authority to decide the fate of the expansion area and the future of OHV at Carnegie.

*Groups at the Meeting: AMA Dist. 36, AMA, BRC, CAL4WD, CORVA, and QWR.