GILBERT
Update-October 6th, 2008
Gilbert City Council/Parks and Rec Board Meeting
The Gilbert Municipal Center is on the Southeast corner of Warner Rd. and Gilbert Rd.
I'll be writing more about the Gilbert and AJ protests in my next update.
Update-October 30th, 2006
A new website has sprung up that is clowning Gilbert Mayor Steve
Berman, and I like their steez. Check it out at
http://www.goodbyeberman.com/, and
check out this article about the site, too:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15402754/
If you'll recall, when I interviewed him about kids being chased, maced, and arrested for riding their bikes in Freestone Skatepark, Mayor Berman told me, "The children of Gilbert are well taken care of. We don't provide horses for kids, either." The website's kinda joking around, but we really need to get this clown out of office next election. Seriously.
Update-December 8th, 2004
for a hi-res version of this picture, click here
What’s black and white and read all over? Newspapers, of course! Hardy-har-har. But what use are these shitrags when the journalists that write them are so wussified they won’t talk about what’s really going on? We’ve been trying to get somebody to write about the Gilbert Police abuses of kids riding their bikes in the Freestone Skatepark for months now, with no success. I already recounted our problems with the biggest newspapers, but check this out:
I notified the Gilbert Independent of our planned protest premiere at Freestone a few days before it went down, and asked if they would send a reporter out. I was told that I could write an article about how it went myself, and submit it, with photos, to the paper for the next issue. “Goody”, said I, “I’m all about it!”. I began to interview people that attended the premiere to get some quotes, and the more people I interviewed, the more I realized something: “If I’m writing a real article for a real newspaper,” thought I, “I need to interview the people that are on the diametric opposite side of this issue, too.” So that’s what I did. I put a lot of work into the article, finished it, and submitted it to the Independent along with Kimbro’s pic of Brandon Klar riding the Gilbert Bike Park.
Everything looked good until last Wednesday, when the Independent called me up to tell me they would run it, but they would be editing it down quite a bit. I was also informed that both Gilbert Mayor Steve Berman and the Gilbert Police Public Information Officer had called the Independent. They had claimed that I had lied that I was a reporter for the Independent, and they complained that I was “very rude” while interviewing them. Bull..Shit!!! I had specifically told the mayor and PIO that I was “writing an article for the Gilbert Independent,” and I was nothing but courteous during all my interviews.
I called the Independent just this past Monday to find out when my article would run, and was informed that the “higher ups” were not going to allow it to run at all. Ain’t that some shit! No wonder journalists are so low on the public trust meter. Sure, I’m not properly trained in journalism, but it’s not brain surgery. I wrote the truth in my article, and every last quote can be verified. This article probably wouldn’t have looked the same if a regular reporter wrote it, but that’s a given. Regular reporters don’t know this issue like I do. They write a story about one thing and then it’s on to something totally different. I, however, know the bikes in skateparks issue inside and out, upside and down. Read the article for yourself below, and you’ll see why Gilbert Mayor Steve Berman and the Gilbert Police Department don’t want this story to break.
Controversial Gilbert Skatepark Protest Documentary Goes International
photo: Brandon Klar by Kimbro Staken
By Jason Ryan
www.psychicflyingmonkey.com field reporter
A short documentary depicting a BMX bike rider protest at Gilbert’s Freestone Skatepark recently went international. The documentary, produced by Jason Ryan of Tempe, aired on the show, “Project Detention”, on the FUEL channel on November 3rd, and again on November 6th, and went to a reported 20 million households worldwide. The Bike, Blade and Board Coalition (The 3BC), an advocacy group for BMX bike riders, skateboarders, and inline skaters, premiered the documentary at Freestone Park on Sunday, November 14th. About 25 people came over the course of 2 hours to watch the 9 minute segment, which was looped repeatedly on a large screen.
Josh Betley, 18, attended the premiere. He lives only a mile away from the skatepark in Gilbert. “It did a great job of covering what it really was. There were no opinionated biases at all,” said Betley. He participated in the Freestone Skatepark BMX protest which took place on October 19th, 2002.
Also in attendance at the documentary’s premiere was Pat Blackburn, 55, of Chandler. “It was déjà vu, because I was at the Gilbert protest,” said Blackburn. “It was well done and to the point, but the piece wasn’t capable of expressing the overall event.”
“Police cars were parked all around the park,” Blackburn recounted. “I had heard there was going to be a demonstration there. I drove by and was blown away! It was after that protest I knew I needed to help these kids.”
Pat Blackburn joined efforts with The 3BC in October of 2002, and has had great success in his home city of Chandler. The Chandler city council has appropriated $75,000 for the design of a concrete bike park, and is expected to appropriate about $750,000 for its construction in next year’s budget.
The documentary showed 7 Gilbert police officers with gas masks and large containers of mace standing outside the park while the BMX protest took place. At one point, a 12 year-old bike rider entered the skatepark and started riding, but was promptly apprehended and taken to the police station in a squad car.
Ryan Cowling, 30, of Gilbert, is an avid mountain biker and skateboarder. Cowling, owner of Kore Bike Industries, a bike shop in Tempe, had some strong feelings about the documentary. “The whole idea of the kid getting arrested and his bike taken away, that was really sad,” said Cowling. “Taxpayers get screwed, because they pay for the park, and then they pay for the cops to bust the kids riding their bikes in the park, and they pay for cops to guard the park. It’s thousands and thousands of dollars every week for the cops to bust kids on bikes in the park.”
But Lt. Joe Ruet of the Gilbert P.D. insists that the protest didn’t cost the Gilbert taxpayers anything. Ruet recounts of the protest, “It happened to be S.W.A.T. team training day. Team Loco was trying to rally people to take over the skatepark. One bike rider was issued a citation at the park that day.”
According to Gilbert BMX riders, the protest originally took place because of the police treatment of kids who dared to break the “no bikes” rule by riding their BMX bikes in the skatepark. In 2002, Jeremy Elkin was riding the skatepark on his BMX bike, as were two of his friends. Three police officers first surrounded the park, then entered it to apprehend the BMX riders. Elkin hopped over the fence to get out of the skatepark to escape from the officers. “I surrendered, I threw up my arms,” Elkin remembers. “The cop hopped the fence, tackled me, pulled his gun out, and said, “Get on the ground! Now freeze!”” Elkin was arrested, and his bike was confiscated for one week. He got it back after paying a $100 impound fee.
Sgt. Mike Angstead, a public information officer for Gilbert P.D., said that it is against the town code for kids to ride BMX bikes in the skatepark. “If we catch them, we write citations. Impounding of bikes is done on a case by case basis. It depends on if the kids flee the scene.”
Andrew Wagoner was recently cited for riding his bicycle in Freestone Skatepark, and his bike was impounded. “I had been riding there with my friend for one hour. The cops pulled up out of nowhere, and said right away they’d impound our bikes. They gave us no warning.” Wagoner served 20 hours of community service, and had to pay a $50 diversion fee before he got his bike back.
Josh Betley, along with Matt Rich of Chandler, a Chandler-Gilbert Community College student, addressed the Gilbert Town Council in December of last year about allowing bikes in Freestone Skatepark. Two days after the council meeting, a special committee was created to explore bicycle use in the skatepark. Betley and Rich were invited to be members of the committee, which met monthly until suddenly ending in June. Also on the committee were three Gilbert Parks and Recreation advisory board members, a park ranger, and Kenny Martin, the Gilbert Parks and Recreation Supervisor. “We determined the skatepark was not the appropriate venue for bikes,” Martin says of the outcome of the committee meetings. “We are currently seeking to change the capital improvement plan to explore a BMX-type venue, but right now funding is not there to design or build one.”
Betley strongly disagrees with Martin’s conclusion. Based on his extensive research of bike-friendly, public concrete skateparks across the nation, he feels bikes can work in Freestone skatepark. He and his friends who also ride BMX are even willing to accept just a few hours a week in the park, set aside for bike use only.
Brian Peno, a concrete skatepark expert who helped build Freestone Skatepark, as well as concrete skateparks all over the U.S. and the X-Games ramps, was invited to the last committee meeting. Peno, who is a resident of Gilbert, and has skateboarded for over 30 years, gave his professional opinion to the committee. “Bikes will do more damage to the skatepark due to more use, but skateboards do that anyways.” “Cities need to start looking toward the future. They must build to protect the park from BMX bikes, like Glendale and Oklahoma City are doing in their parks.” Peno does, however, believe that a trial period in which BMX bikes are allowed to have exclusive sessions in the skatepark for one or two hours a week would work. “There definitely could be a compromise. Definitely,” said Peno.
Compromises of that nature are working well in other cities.
BMX riders in Santa Clarita, CA were allowed into the city's concrete park in February of 2002. Santa Clarita Recreation Supervisor Sandy Lehmann said officials decided to introduce a six-month trial. "There didn't seem to be safety problems, and the wear and tear seemed to be normal," Lehmann said. "Things went fine, and the trial was extended indefinitely." Douglas and Show Low also have concrete skateparks, and sharing is working in those parks as well.
Josh Betley has his own thoughts on why the skatepark exploration committee meetings came to such an abrupt halt. “Things were looking too good for us,” said Betley. “You’re supposed to be able to work problems out like this with cities, but it doesn’t work. We did everything they said we were supposed to be doing but it didn’t work.” “We did our part, they didn’t do theirs,” said Betley.
Pat Blackburn agrees. “It’s a true example of having egg on their face. [Gilbert officials] are just in denial. I think they need to be exposed.”
Gilbert Mayor Steven Berman has not seen the documentary, but he doesn’t think Gilbert is being disgraced in the eyes of the world because kids on BMX bikes don’t have a place to ride. “The children of Gilbert are well taken care of,” said Berman. “We don’t provide horses for kids, either.” Mayor Berman is well aware that kids are regularly chased and arrested for riding their bikes in the skatepark. “That’s good. They should be arrested if they’re breaking the rules. No means no. They’re told not to, and it’s posted.”
“If they want to keep kids on BMX bikes out, that’s up to them,” commented Pat Blackburn on Gilbert’s skatepark policy, “but they shouldn’t be allowed to brutalize kids like they do. People who I tell about the police treatment of kids on bikes at Freestone are blown away. The original protest was a huge black eye for the city of Gilbert. I’m just shocked that the mayor condones the police pulling guns on kids for riding their bikes in the park.”
Update-December 5th, 2004
The Arizona Republic article below came out last Tuesday. Although I spoke to the reporter extensively about how kids on bikes were getting chased, arrested, and tackled by police, and their bikes impounded, not one mention was made of it in the article. The topic must be too hot for the news. Brian Powell, the Tribune reporter for Gilbert, told us he was going to write a story depicting the bullshit that was going on at Freestone with Gilbert Police abuses of BMX riders, but he kept blowing us off until we realized it was never going to happen.
Update-October 30th, 2004
ANNOUNCEMENT
On Sunday, November 14th, from 5:30 pm to 8 pm, The Bike, Blade and Board Coalition will be locally premiering my Project Detention segment under the ramada by the basketball courts at Freestone Park in Gilbert. Now, don’t get me wrong. This is not a protest. We won’t be trying to ride the skatepark. We are doing this to celebrate the international release of the segment on FUEL on November 3rd. We are inviting Gilbert’s Mayor and City Councilmembers, as well as members of the television and print press. We want to let everyone in Gilbert know that we are still here, and bike riders need a legal place to ride in Gilbert just as bad now as when the segment was filmed two years ago. Bring as many people as you can, including your parents, supporters, and other riders. I was very impressed with how many people showed their support at the Gilbert parks board meetings back awhile ago. Please show your support November 14th at Freestone Park as well.
Update-September 9th, 2004
Remember that special committee that was formed to explore bicycle use in Gilbert's Freestone Skate Park? Well, after much hemmng, hawing, smoke blowing and bullshit, Kenny Martin, the Gilbert Parks and Rec. Superintendent, decided that bikes would never work in Freestone Skatepark. Matt Rich and Josh Betley even brought in a concrete expert to the special committee meetings, a guy who was involved in building Freestone, and he said the park could handle bikes. With this astonishing revelation, Kenny didn't know whether he should shit or go blind, but he finally settled on shitting on every kid who rides a bike in the greater Gilbert area. No bikes in Freestone, no new park will be developed for bikes, and the so-called "special committee" was disbanded. Add Gilbert to the "bike-unfriendly" list along with Scottsdale.
Update-February 12th, 2004
The article below appeared on the front page of Saturday's East Valley Tribune. THE front page, not the front page of some buried section. As in, you're walking into Circle K on Saturday morning, looking for chocolate covered doo-doo balls or some shit, and you see it, BAM! FULL COLOR IN YO' FACE, BIAATCH! Peep 'dis:
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Chandler, Gilbert lead drive to build park for cyclists |
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By
Brian Powell and Angela D. Wagner |
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Chandler and Gilbert support exploring plans for a regional BMX bike park to
serve enthusiasts lobbying for a place to ride. |
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"If
you can build a regional site, which means we share the expense equally, I
think it makes a lot of sense," said Chandler Mayor Boyd Dunn, who spoke of
the possible partnership during a recent candidate’s forum. |
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Contact Brian Powell by
email,
or phone (480) 898-6514. |
I love how the Gilbert mayor says bmx riders aren't a high priority right now because there's a shortage of public safety personnel in Gilbert. How is it, then, if Gilbert is so short on police, that the police personnel they DO have can spend so much time HARRASSING CHILDREN ON BIKES IN THE GODDAMN SKATEPARK!!! If the cops have so much spare time on their hands now, when more are added the only thing they'll have to do is lean on their on shovels in line at Winchell's.
Update-January 19th, 2004
VERY IMPORTANT!!! IF YOU HAVE BEEN TICKETED, ARRESTED, HAD A GUN PUT TO YOUR BACK, BEEN MACED, CHASED, TACKLED, HAD YOUR BIKE IMPOUNDED, OR BEEN JAILED BY THE GILBERT POLICE FOR RIDING YOUR BIKE IN FREESTONE SKATEPARK, I NEED YOU TO E-MAIL ME AS SOON AS IS HUMANLY POSSIBLE THROUGH THE E-MAIL
LINK ON THE HOME PAGE! ALSO, IF YOU KNOW ANYONE ELSE THAT HAS HAD AN ENCOUNTER OF THIS SORT WITH THE GILBERT POLICE FOR RIDING THEIR BIKE IN FREESTONE SKATEPARK, HAVE THEM E-MAIL ME, TOO. SOME BIG THINGS ARE GOING TO BE HAPPENING VERY SOON, AND I NEED TO GET YOUR STORIES!!!
Update-October 5th, 2003
I just got this e-mailed to me by Jose's daughter Gabby. She found it in the Tribune just recently, and sent it to me. Thanks for sending this, Gabby. I never would have known about this article otherwise.
Group considers bicycle use - BMX enthusiasts want to legally ride in Gilbert By BRIAN POWELL
A special committee has been formed to explore bicycle use in Gilbert's Freestone Skate Park.
The 10-member group is expected to meet in early January and could present a recommendation to the Gilbert Parks and Recreation Advisory Board in February.
The committee was created after BMX riders, who illegally use the skate park near Lindsay Road and Juniper Avenue approached the Gilbert Parks and Recreation Department about changing their rules.
Bikers met with town officials in August, attended the October meeting of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and brought along about 50 supporters to the November meeting.
"The committee suggestion came from the advisory board," said parks and recreation director Maury Ahlman. "Evidently they felt a committee ought to study it for a little while."
Matt Rich of Chandler, a Chandler-Gilbert Community College student, addressed the Gilbert Town Council earlier this month about allowing bikes in the skate park. Two days after the council meeting, an e-mail establishing the committee was circulated by the parks and recreation department.
"This is another step forward," Rich said. "I want to get them to go from being against us to being for us."
The committee will study research gathered by both the town and the bike supporters.
The group is expected to include four bike supporters, three parks board members, a park ranger, a town employee and one other person.
Town officials said Gilbert's preliminary research found that maintenance and liability costs would increase if bikes were allowed at the skate park.
The 22,000-square-foot Freestone Skate Park opened in March 2001 for skateboarder and inline skaters, but has always banned bicycles.
Brian Powell may be contacted at 480-898-6842 or bpowell@aztrib.com.
GILBERT'S ORIGINAL SITUATION
The Gilbert situation is pretty much the same as all the rest. The awesome
skatepark at Freestone Park does not allow bikes, even though it was extremely
well built by Hardcore Skateparks. Matt Rich and Josh Betley are the 3BC
Captains for Gilbert, and a couple of months ago they, a few other riders, Rex
and I met with Kenny Martin (the Gilbert Parks and Rec. Superintendent), some of
the park rangers, and the Gilbert Risk Manager. The Gilbert officials
claimed that they wanted to find a solution, but since the meeting absolutely
nothing has been done as far as finding a positive solution for bikes.
Matt and Josh organized riders on their own to attend the monthly parks and rec board meeting at the beginning of October, and again at the beginning of November.
The second Gilbert meeting was par for the course as far as the board went. Most of the board members were extremely uninformed about the bikes in skateparks issue, and even on facts about their own skatepark. They were making judgments based on their own quick observations without considering the facts that we presented to them. I recognized one board member to be Karen Rumore, whom I had first met at the grand opening of the Scottsdale skatepark. At the time, she was the director of Eldorado Park. She had held a meeting about two months after the grand opening to address finding a place for bikes to ride, after she felt pressure from citizens because kids were getting tickets for riding their bikes in the Wedge Skatepark. About 35 or 40 riders attended, and she asked if anyone would volunteer to be on a committee that would meet regularly to work with parks and rec to get a park that bikes could ride legally. About 15 other riders besides myself volunteered to be on that committee. It turned out, however, that KAREN NEVER ARRANGED ONE SINGLE MEETING FOR THE COMMITTEE AFTER THAT, even though myself and others called a good few times and asked her to do so. Karen changed positions after a few months and the whole thing just fizzled out. These are the kind of people we're dealing with on this parks and rec board. People that say, "Calm down, work with us, work through the system", and then don't hold up their end. Karen Rumore has a proven track record of not following through with pursuing a place for bmx bikes, so we absolutely cannot count on her to solve this problem in ANY sort of positive way.
I told Matt and Josh that I really felt the next best step in Gilbert would be to go to city council. The parks and rec board claimed they would look at the issue more before coming to a decision on bikes in the skatepark, so the Gilbert kids will be attending yet ANOTHER meeting at the beginning of December. Frankly, I don't think it bodes well. I think the case needs to be taken to the ones that have the power to change the rules, the ones that are accountable to the voters in the community...Gilbert City Council. I was very encouraged at the second Gilbert parks and rec board meeting by the great turnout from the kids and parents, and also by the excellent speeches and points that they made. After seeing the crowd at the meeting, I know we've got some serious political firepower in Gilbert, and we need to use it on the people that have the authority to make things right, not some blowhard panel of citizens that refuse to educate themselves on important issues.
