Photo: Derrick RiggsTEMPE
Update-August 3, 2008
The Tempe BMX/skatepark at Esquer Park is Open!
Story by Jason Ryan
Photo: Derrick Riggs
Out of all the communities in the Valley of the Sunstroke, the City of Tempe has easily seen the longest and hardest fight to get legal places for bikes to ride. Beginning in 1998, bike riders have asked, begged, pleaded, petitioned, rallied, protested, and voted to get a legal place to ride in Tempe until finally, a concrete BMX/skatepark opened in Tempe just last week.
A BMX rider and father of BMX riders, Ray Putnam attended the community input meeting for the planned southern Tempe Skatepark back in 1998. At that time, there were about 5 BMX riders and 150 to 200 skaters and inliners at the meeting. The bike riders were grossly outnumbered (duh) and were told bikes wouldn’t be allowed in the skatepark. The Tempe skatepark got delayed in the approval process for a few years due to lack of funding, and during that time, Rex Golos, a skater, and I formed the Concrete Bikepark Alliance (later to become The Bike, Blade and Board Coalition). From 1998 to 2003 we tried a number of “nice” methods to get bikes allowed into the planned skatepark such as talking with Parks and Recreation heads, speaking at Parks and Recreation Board meetings, meeting with then Mayor Neil Guiliano, and petitioning the city. When all of those methods ended up doing jackshit for us, we decided to get hardcore political.
On February 28th, 2004, the 3BC held an election rally for Mayoral Candidate Hugh Hallman and Tempe City Council Candidate Hut Hutson at Kore Bike Industries, a local Tempe bike shop. They both promised they would work for places for bikes to ride legally in Tempe if elected. Thankfully, they were both elected to office shortly thereafter. Then things got interesting.
Site Design Group is a major skatepark design firm that had been designing almost every skatepark in Arizona at the time. Colby Carter, a skater and known bike-hater, was SDG’s chief designer. Barb Carter, Colby’s mother, was a member of the Tempe City Council. Barb had originally pushed for the skatepark, but she never officially voted on any skatepark issues due to an obvious conflict of interest. Barb didn’t need to vote on skatepark issues to get her way. This was politics, people, and Barb was a good politician. She was well-liked by Tempe voters and one of the most powerful members of city council.
Well, besides not liking bikes in Colby’s skatepark, Barb didn’t like Hugh. They had been on the city council together in previous years, and they didn’t see eye to eye on, well, pretty much anything. Barb knew we had supported Hugh in his election, and she knew from my website that he was pro bikes in Colby’s skatepark, so she immediately dug in her heels to fight Hugh on this issue when he took office.
Before Hugh and Hut were inaugurated in July of ’04, The 3BC approached Tempe City Council on the issue a couple times. Even with a lame duck mayor and one lame duck city council member currently in office, we thought it necessary to tell the rest of the council members that we wanted bikes allowed in the Tempe Skatepark. To this day, we’ve never received such a cold response from any city council. The members acted like we were barging in on their thing, and what right did we have to tell them what to do? Barb Carter shot death from her steely eyes straight at me and my video camera. Those council meetings made me more determined than before to get a legal place for bikes in Tempe.
After taking office in July of ‘04, Hugh decided that the best plan would be to wait until the Tempe Skatepark opened before making a move to get bikes allowed through city council. We told him we would be protesting at the opening of the skatepark, and he thought a peaceful protest was a great idea.
Photo: Matt Pavelek
On February 26, 2005, the Tempe Skatepark opened to skaters, inliners, and a bunch of bike riders with protest signs running around. About 75 bike riders and supporters showed up to protest, and everybody shouted and waved signs. I had made big paper stickers that read, “ANOTHER SKATER THAT SUPPORTS BIKE RIDERS” the night before for skaters to wear that supported us. I knew we’d get some skaters to rock the stickers on their shirts, but even I was overwhelmed by how many skaters empathized with us. I had printed up about 80 stickers, and within the first hour they were all being worn, mostly by skaters. A couple days after the grand opening, Dennis Welch of the East Valley Tribune wrote an article on the new skatepark, entitled, “Ban at Skatepark Irks Bikers”. It was awesome; Tempe’s first skatepark wasn’t the story….protesting bike riders were. Bike riders had held 7 skatepark protests in cities around Arizona prior to this one, but this one……………....best protest ever.
Photo: Matt Pavelek
Photo: Matt Pavelek
In March of 2005, the council made a move to see if bikes could work in the Tempe Skatepark. The council meant to hire a completely independent skatepark design firm to evaluate the park’s ablility to handle bikes, but Wormhoudt, Inc. was hired instead. Zack Wormhoudt came out from California and examined the park, and his findings were heavily biased in favor of keeping bikes out of the skatepark. Although Wormhoudt had designed the bikes-allowed Louisville Skatepark a few years prior with virtually the same specifications as the Tempe Skatepark, incredibly he determined that bikes would destroy Tempe’s skatepark. I believe Wormhoudt’s colleague Colby Carter convinced him to skew the facts so that bikes would continue to be banned from “his” skatepark.
Photo: Matt Pavelek
Ray Putnam and I continued to put pressure on the Tempe Parks and Rec. Board with no success, and then a little miracle happened. I got a notice in the mail that Tempe was planning to finally build a park in my very neighborhood which had been desperately needed for a long time. The notice told when the first meeting was scheduled for the residents to request what amenities we wanted it to feature. I rallied some troops, and we bum-rushed the meeting. Even before any bike riders called out that we wanted a BMX/Skatepark, a mother of two spoke up and said she noticed a lot of kids riding bikes around the neighborhood all the time, and suggested a bike park be built. All of us 3BC members seconded that motion, and it was set.
By the next meeting, Tempe Parks and Recreation had a loose plan to build a basketball court with ramps on it for our BMX/Skatepark. I immediately shot it down, stating that a park of that type would not be challenging enough for the users, would require much more maintenance than a concrete skatepark, and showed a lack of commitment by the city to provide a quality park for BMX riders and skaters.
The city settled on building a small concrete BMX/Skatepark, and after assuaging a local neighborhood activists’ fears that it would bring a bad element into the community, the first design input meeting was held with Site Design Group, who had been hired to design the park. Although I was bummed that SDG got the contract after all our problems with them, I decided to keep an open mind. We found out at the first meeting that the owner of SDG, Mike McIntyre, had recently fired his entire staff. Sweet! No Colby Carter!
I can proudly say we had something to do with Colby getting shitcanned. At the same time this neighborhood skatepark was being planned, Colby pled guilty to charges of marijuana production and possession of drug paraphernalia, his third felony. Then The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the FBI began investigating Barb Carter as to why nearly $26,000 in federal housing money went to her son Colby. Barb also faced questions about why she got a police escort to skirt a traffic jam in 2004 and about a letter to the police chief asking for leniency on Colby’s behalf when facing the drug charges. I posted every newspaper article about Colby and Barb Carter’s troubles with the law up on my site, and just let them straight burn. Most newspapers around here will post their articles on their sites for a week, and then put them away in archives. Not so with my site. Every time someone Googled Colby or Barb Carter, those articles came up with a link to psychicflyingmonkey.com. My guess is that SDG started to see Colby as much more of a liability than an asset, so Mike wisely cut off the dead weight.
Usually at the
first community input meeting to design skateparks, all the designer wants to do
is get a general feel for what the users want, as far as tranny/flow versus
street. A few Tempe skaters from outside the neighborhood came, as well as a
couple 3BC guys. We knew the park would be small, so we made sure the design
would be 100% flow. There was just no room for street at all. A funny moment
came in the first meeting when one of the older skaters asked if bikes would be
allowed in the skatepark. Of course he was told bikes would ABSOLUTELY be
allowed, and I got a hearty laugh out of it. I mean, how entitled can you be
feeling, to come into our meeting in our hood to talk about a BMX/skatepark that
would NEVER have existed if it wasn’t for BIKE RIDERS taking action, and asking
if bikes would be allowed? Amazing, the balls on that guy! Tempe was ready,
by the way, to make this a bike-only park, but we declined that option. Enough
of the separation and bullshit. I didn’t want the skaters in my hood to be
excluded from this concrete park like I had been with my bike from every goddamn
skatepark in the Valley since 1998.
At the second
community input design meeting, only two people showed up: Rex Golos and
myself. One skater, one bike rider. We had a really good time hashing out a
design with SDG’s new architect, and we put a lot of cool features in it. It
was an excellent topper for all our efforts. Normally, Rex and I did a ton of
fighting in various cities to get new BMX/Skateparks, and then the resident
users from each city would design their respective parks. That’s fine, and Rex
and I would have input, but our voices usually got a little lost among so many
opinions. It was a good little reward for all our work to be able to design our
own BMX/Skatepark. We didn’t end up getting everything we wanted, but we got
most of it. The park is kinda burly for a little neighborhood park, but some of
the elements we designed were even burlier. The barely over-vert pocket was
supposed to be a cradle, the quarter that runs perpendicular to the spine was
supposed to be a vert wall, with the spine running into it and flaring out
Woodward West style, and at the end of the volcano was supposed to be a weird
little box jump type thing I came up with. I ain’t bitching, though. I just
constantly look at ways BMX/skateparks can improve, and there’s always the next
one.
So on July 26th, we finally got our new bike-friendly skatepark at Esquer Park in Tempe. Yes, it’s small. No, that’s not a bad thing. Reason being, this BMX/Skatepark is in a neighborhood park. Neighborhood parks are always small, much much smaller than community parks, which skateparks are normally built in. Neighborhood parks cannot handle the traffic, parking, and demands of large numbers of users that community parks can, so their amenities are naturally smaller. In fact, this BMX/skatepark is the first skatepark built in any neighborhood park in all of Arizona. The great part about this, is that this paves the way for cities to start thinking of skateparks in terms of putting them in ANY park they have. I heard from a rider once that over in England, almost every city park had some kind of concrete bowl or mini ramp in it. The city of Portland also has many small skateparks in neighborhood parks. We can have that everywhere in the U.S. All we’ve gotta do is work for it. This is not by any means a substitute for having large parks, though. I’m already hitting up Tempe for a 60,000 square foot BMX/Skatepark in north Tempe, preferably right off Town Lake.
Now the stage is set in Tempe. Barb Carter didn’t even try to run in this year’s city council election, and we have a mayor and 4 city council members that fully support a huge new BMX/Skatepark in Tempe. The other two council members aren’t necessarily for us, but they certainly aren’t against us all crazy like Barb Carter was. I attended the inauguration a couple weeks ago for re-elected Mayor Hugh Hallman and new City Councilmembers Joel Navarro and Corey Woods (all three supporters of a huge new BMX/skatepark). In his farewell comments to Barb Carter, City Councilmember Ben Arredondo thanked her for pushing for the first skatepark, but told her straight out that bikes CAN work with skateboards in a skatepark. Afterwards I commented to my friend on how the Tempe City Council had done a complete 180 on the bikes in skateparks issue since those first meetings we attended. All of our efforts paid off like a mug!
The new park is kinda in the hood, but it’s more like hood-lite. There’s no AK’s going off or anything even close to that. There are just mostly non-caucasian residents, and that freaks the white kids out sometimes. Here’s a bit of advice: If you want to fit into the hood a little better, don’t come up and hug your friends all homo style when you get to the park though, like a lot of you do at Chandler. The Latino men tend to act very macho, and if the vatos see too much of that faggotry they’ll start calling it the Parque de Hotos, and nobody wants that. You gotta realize, there are a lot of good things about living in the hood. Ain’t no bitchy, uptight neighbors complaining about loud parties, leashless dogs and HOA violations. Nobody’s sweating you about the quality of your lawn care or the seven cars in your carport. Hey, it’s all good in the hood, people!
So if you come through Tempe way, stop by Esquer Park and get your flow on. I already got a comment from a sick rider that this is the best park he’s ever ridden. He likes it even more than Chandler and Needles! If you ride the park and you love it, thank Rex and I by sending us your hot sisters (18+ only). If you ride the park and hate it, you can suck a dick and die! Naw, you don’t have to suck any dicks or die, just work on getting a park in your hood and you’ll get to design it however the eff you want.
Photo: Derrick Riggs
Esquer Park is located on MacArthur Street between the Loop 101 and Lebanon Lane in Tempe. To get there, exit Loop 101 at University Drive, head East on University to George Drive and head South on George. You'll run right into it.
Update-May 16, 2008
Pics of the new Tempe BMX/Skatepark
Yeah it's in my hood, only a 3 minute bike ride from my homestead. No, I'm not gonna tell you where it is yet, cause it's on a need-to-know basis, and you don't need to know.
Tempe City Council Runoff Election on Tuesday, May 20th
Since only candidates in the March Tempe City Council Election who received over 50 percent of the vote got on the council, there will be a runoff on May 20th. Here are the candidates the 3BC is endorsing.
The 3BC
endorses Hut Hutson for City Council
Hut has also helped provide for the needs of BMX riders,
skateboarders and inline skaters over the last four years, and with his help we
got the Victory Acres BMX/Skatepark approved and under construction. Like
Hugh, Hut has been working hard to provide a high quality of life for Tempe's
residents, young and old, and we know he will continue to do so.
Hut's website is
huthutson.com
The 3BC
endorses Corey Woods for City Council
Corey contacted me just before the city council election two years
ago, willing to discuss the bikes in skateparks issue. Unfortunately, it
was way too close to election time for me to determine whether or not the 3BC
should endorse him. I have spoken with Corey since, and I believe he will
work hard to get a 60,000+ square foot BMX/Skatepark in North Tempe. He is
also willing to work on lifting the ban on bikes in the existing Tempe Skatepark.
Corey's website is
www.coreywoods2008.com
Update-March 8, 2008
The 3BC's voting guide for the Tempe City Council and Mayoral Election on Tuesday, March 11th
The 3BC
endorses Hugh Hallman for Mayor
Hugh has been a great supporter of BMX, skateboarding and inline skating
over the last four years, and with his help we got the Victory Acres BMX/Skatepark
approved and under construction. Hugh realizes this park is small, and he
is in favor of a huge new BMX/Skatepark in North Tempe.
Hugh's website is
www.electhugh.org
The 3BC
endorses Hut Hutson for City Council
Hut has also helped provide for the needs of BMX riders,
skateboarders and inline skaters over the last four years, and with his help we
got the Victory Acres BMX/Skatepark approved and under construction. Like
Hugh, Hut has been working hard to provide a high quality of life for Tempe's
residents, young and old, and we know he will continue to do so.
Hut's website
is
huthutson.com
The 3BC
endorses Corey Woods for City Council
Corey contacted me just before the city council election two years
ago, willing to discuss the bikes in skateparks issue. Unfortunately, it
was way too close to election time for me to determine whether or not the 3BC
should endorse him. I have spoken with Corey since, and I believe he will
work hard to get a 60,000+ square foot BMX/Skatepark in North Tempe. He is
also willing to work on lifting the ban on bikes in the existing Tempe Skatepark.
Corey's website is
www.coreywoods2008.com
The 3BC endorses Rhett Wilson
for City Council
I recently received this e-mail from Rhett, and I think that from it you
can deduce why we're endorsing him for Tempe City Council.
Dear Jason,
Thank you for your e-mail. I was impressed by your group a few months ago when
I watched a YouTube video that was taped during the last council race. You
hosted then-Mayoral candidate Hugh Hallman and council candidate Hut Hutson. It
impressed me that your group has organized even your political efforts.
Excellent job.
As the youngest candidate in the race (28 yrs old), I feel I can be more
sensitive to requests such as those you mentioned in your message. And so, I'd
welcome a meeting in the near future to talk about your idea for a larger skate
park and the potential for lifting the ban on BMX riders at a park in South
Tempe.
Based on what I saw in your YouTube video several weeks ago, it seems as if past
leadership in the city was unwilling to meet with you and talk about your
ideas. I hope that has changed since the last election, but if it hasn't, I can
promise that I'll be the kind of councilmember that will have an open door
policy.
Regards,
Rhett Wilson
Rhett's website is www.wilsonfortempe.com
As for the other candidates, I got a positive response from everyone except Julie Jakubek, who didn't answer me back.
It was a tough decision, but I chose not to endorse Joel Navarro for city council because, although he skateboards and is all for a huge new BMX/skatepark in North Tempe, he felt the only way bikes could be allowed in the South Tempe Skatepark was by having separate hours or days. All it takes is one look at how well co-mingled use of a concrete transition park by BMX bike riders, skaters and inline skaters is working in Prescott, Show Low, Mesa, Glendale, and Fountain Hills to know that it can work in the existing Tempe Skatepark.
As for Mark Mitchell and Darryl Jacobson-Barnes, they felt a huge new BMX/skatepark was needed, but they wanted us to help raise money/find funding sources. I firmly believe that is not our responsibility, as we pay enough taxes already that should provide the funds. Parks and recreation departments everywhere are already over 30 years behind in providing public places for people to ride and skate, and they need to catch up. All the city needs to do is adapt to the drastically changing recreation trends, which means building fewer ballfields and amenities that are used 1/4 of a day on average, and use that money to build BMX/skateparks which are used almost 100 percent of each day on average. Also, I watched Jim McCasland, Prescott Parks and Rec. Director, garner a great deal of donations in time, materials and money from his community for the Prescott Skatepark, and I don't see why Mark Richwine, Tempe Parks and Rec. Director, can't do the same if needed.
Update-October 30, 2006
Here's an article by Ty Young about what's going on with my little neighborhood concrete BMX/skatepark here in Tempe:
http://www.azcentral.com/community/tempe/articles/1028tr-bmxpark1028Z10.html
Update-July 27, 2006
This past January, I e-mailed all the candidates that were running for Tempe City Council except for Len Copple. Here is what I wrote to each of them:
Hello XXXXXXXX,
My name is Jason Ryan. I am a Tempe resident and the President of the Bike, Blade and Board Coalition, a group that advocates for the needs of BMX bike riders, inline skaters, and skateboarders throughout Arizona. Tempe has provided well for the recreational needs of inline skaters and skateboarders since opening the Tempe skatepark, but BMX riders are outlawed there. Tempe Parks and Rec Director Mark Richwine has told us that it will be realistically SEVEN years before Tempe can open a BMX bike-friendly concrete park. Meanwhile, an extensive Portland, OR Parks and Rec discussion paper came out in June of 2005 that affirms that BMX bikes can use concrete parks with no danger to other users OR the park, something we at the 3BC have known all along. Also, the Tempe risk management's opinion is they have no problem with bikes riding the Tempe Skatepark in separate sessions from skateboarders and inline skaters. The discussion paper, and our history of dealings with Tempe can be found at: http://www.psychicflyingmonkey.com/The3BCpage.htm
Mark Richwine and the Tempe Parks and Rec Board have refused to acknowledge the revelations of this discussion paper, so we are looking for support from council members to vote to allow bikes in the Tempe Skatepark, as it should have when it first opened. If we can count on your vote, our organization will be more than happy to endorse your candidacy, and we will hold a rally for you at a bike shop in Tempe before the March election. The website that hosts the 3BC page, www.psychicflyingmonkey.com, gets an average of 120,000 hits a month, with an average of 5,500 visits a month. Your endorsement would be posted on the site news and in the Tempe section of the 3BC page. You can count on at least 100 Tempe bike riders, parents and supporters voting for you if you support bikes in the Tempe Skatepark. We will absolutely not endorse Len Copple, as he has sided with Barb Carter in not allowing bikes in the skatepark.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Jason Ryan
President
The Bike, Blade and Board Coalition
Producer, Monkey Trainer
Bearded Lady/Psychic Flying Monkey Pdctns.
Barb Carter found out what I had written to all the candidates, and it has recently come to light what she wrote to one of them concerning my e-mail. Here is Barb's e-mail below:
XXXXXXXX,
Don’t even respond to this guy. Go to his web site and see what a nut he is. Hugh promised them two years ago to let them have access. Then Hugh set about calling for an independent study of our park. It was done, and the study said not [sic] bikes for a variety of reasons. I have a copy of the study if you want it. This should not be an election issue, so don’t respond. Go to the park and take digital images of the damage done to the concrete from the metal pegs of the bikes. Bike parks need bigger radiuses, different copping [sic] and denser concrete. Site Design, whom Colby works for, designs both bike and skate parks, but rarely together. It is a risk management issue as well…can’t mix the two. Then if you have separate times, you have to hire staff to manage it, and that wasn’t in the plan from years ago. The final point is that there is permanent damage caused by the bike pegs and other metal parts that doesn’t hurt the bikers ride, but seriously hinders the skaters [sic] and inline skaters [sic] ride. I have been around the industry for 20 years and have a clue, that is why it hurt so much for the Council to side with Hugh. I started working with the skaters in 1996 to help them navigate through the city bureaucracy. The first meeting, there were 300 skateboarders and 3 bmx riders. In the last five years urban bmx riding has increased in popularity, but there are still 10 skateboarders to every one bmx rider. Bikes can ride on any terrain on their pneumatic tires, but skate wheels need concrete. The bmx bikers are aggressive to get what they want, and they break into parks all over the country, and Jason Ryan promotes hostility and aggression, while young skateboarders are afraid to go to parks when there are bikers present.
Just say that the issue is resolved, and the full council agreed with the independent study that was done…end of story. In the meantime, Colby has designed a park for Chandler, bmx only, and one in Peoria. They are coming, but these guys want it all and want it all now. The skaters have been skating on wooden ramps on asphalt parking lots for years, being patient, and respectful of the process that municipalities must go through. You can go back through the records to see how many years the proposed park in Tempe went on the unfunded list. Parks and Rec members like Bob Lofgren, Mel Kessler, Dan Arredondo etc. will all tell you many of the same things I have just told you.
Confidentially, I am working with a private developer to give land so that we can do and [sic] urban plaza for both uses. I shouldn’t do anything for the bikers like Jason Ryan, but I am doing it for the other young kids who aren’t 32 yrs. old and a pain in the ass. He needs to grow up and work within the system, and quit with the Gestapo tactics…then maybe people would listen and promote his cause. In the meantime…the bikers should wait patiently like the skaters did for 15 or 20 years.
The final point he makes about our risk management saying that it would be o.k. if they used it at separate times, is a fallacy. One, if bikes are allowed at all, they will come anytime they want, unless you have a full-time park ranger there. Two, the damage to the copping [sic] and the concrete will cause injury to skaters when their wheels hit the holes of missing concrete or they get cut on gouged metal copping [sic]. When that happens and we have not taken measures to repair the damage, then we are liable and it becomes a tort case because we were negligent in not repairing the damage.
Sorry this has gone on and on. The guy pisses me off. Colby has many studies showing the the [sic] opposite of what Jason Ryan is saying. Even the study from Oregon is not very conclusive favoring joint parks. Jason Ryan is a bully, and no elected official or staff should be intimidated by him, and as for the votes he says he can deliver…Hugh only got 56% of the vote against one candidate…I got 68% of the vote against 7. Jason Ryan called for everyone to vote against me on his web site….he was vicious. Guess it maybe cost me 10 votes. Who cares. Do what is right and in the best interest of 80%. Go by the skate park this afternoon and see for yourself. It is the most used single park amenity in Tempe, other than Tempe Beach. Kids are there 24/7, 365 days a year. We are getting our monies [sic] worth.
Barb
Now I’ll go through this letter and share my thoughts on each part. Barb's text is in white, and mine is in red.
XXXXXXXX
Don’t even respond to this guy. Go to his web site and see what a nut he is. Hugh promised them two years ago to let them have access. Then Hugh set about calling for an independent study of our park. It was done, and the study said not [sic] bikes for a variety of reasons. I have a copy of the study if you want it. This should not be an election issue, so don’t respond. (I love how Barb commands the candidate not to think for themselves. One of the best things about the election process is that new candidates and newly elected officials bring to the forefront issues they and their supporters think are the most important. This keeps governments on their toes, and helps to hold them accountable to the governed. It seems Barb doesn’t respect this as much as I do.)
Go to the park and take digital images of the damage done to the concrete from the metal pegs of the bikes. Bike parks need bigger radiuses, different copping [sic] and denser concrete. Site Design, whom Colby works for, designs both bike and skate parks, but rarely together. (Site Design designed skateparks for Oklahoma City, Lake Forest, CA, and Prescott, and none of them have bigger radiuses, different coping, or denser concrete than the Tempe Skatepark. And yet, somehow all these parks are working out wondrously for both bikes and skateboards. They all report that their parks seem to require hardly any more maintenance than a skatepark that doesn’t allow bikes.)
It is a risk management issue as well…can’t mix the two. Then if you have separate times, you have to hire staff to manage it, and that wasn’t in the plan from years ago. (So what if a change wasn’t in the plan! Instead of punishing kids for recreating and creating conflict, CHANGE THE PLAN.)
The final point is that there is permanent damage caused by the bike pegs and other metal parts that doesn’t hurt the bikers ride, but seriously hinders the skaters [sic] and inline skaters [sic] ride. (Permanent damage. Huh…Sounds like a maintenance issue. Skaters grind. Bike riders grind. GRINDING by anybody does not improve the condition of any skatepark. That is why they must be maintained. And they most certainly can and should be maintained. I’ve seen damage in skateparks that had to have been from skateboards. I’ve seen damage in skateparks that had to have been from bikes. I’ve seen damage in skateparks that had to have been from construction mistakes. I’ve seen damage in skateparks that I can’t figure out what the hell caused it. SKATEPARKS MUST BE MAINTAINED REGULARLY)
I have been around the industry for 20 years and have a clue, that is why it hurt so much for the Council to side with Hugh. (So the city investigated an additional use of the skatepark, to get more bang for their buck and to possibly provide a positive solution to an ongoing problem, and that hurt Barb? It was the very least the city could do. And I do mean the very least the city could do.)
I started working with the skaters in 1996 to help them navigate through the city bureaucracy. The first meeting, there were 300 skateboarders and 3 bmx riders. In the last five years urban bmx riding has increased in popularity, but there are still 10 skateboarders to every one bmx rider. (Hmm, is that a fact? I did a little research, and it turns out it’s not a fact. The SGMA, the world’s largest sports product association, reports in their newest Sports Participation Topline Report that in 2005 in the U.S. there were 11,382,000 people participating in skateboarding, and 2,480,000 people participating in BMX bicycling. If my calculations are correct, that means there are 4.59 skateboarders to every one BMX rider. But why confuse the issue with the facts?)
Bikes can ride on any terrain on their pneumatic tires, but skate wheels need concrete. The bmx bikers are aggressive to get what they want, and they break into parks all over the country, and Jason Ryan promotes hostility and aggression, while young skateboarders are afraid to go to parks when there are bikers present. (This reminds me of something. Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous Letter from Birmingham Jail was addressed to a group of white clergymen from Birmingham, Alabama that had openly criticized him for helping to organize “untimely” protests and breaking laws that kept blacks from using public facilities. The clergymen pegged King as being “hostile” and “aggressive”.)
Just say that the issue is resolved, and the full council agreed with the independent study that was done…end of story. In the meantime, Colby has designed a park for Chandler, bmx only, and one in Peoria. (SDG has not designed any bike park for Peoria. Peoria has refused to do anything for bikes. Peoria park rangers actually target BMX riders and harass them while they’re in the skatepark parking lot, identifying them as troublemakers by stickers on their vehicles and BMX bikes in tow. Beware of the thought police!)
They are coming, but these guys want it all and want it all now. The skaters have been skating on wooden ramps on asphalt parking lots for years, being patient, and respectful of the process that municipalities must go through. (Really? Then why are skateboards banned from downtown Phoenix? Why was “Skateboarding is not a Crime” such a popular slogan back in the 80’s and 90’s? Most skaters are hardly angels, just like us criminal bike riders. Both skaters and bike riders want a place to ride, and neither group tends to wait until someone says, “Yes, you can ride here.”)
You can go back through the records to see how many years the proposed park in Tempe went on the unfunded list. Parks and Rec members like Bob Lofgren, Mel Kessler, Dan Arredondo etc. will all tell you many of the same things I have just told you.
Confidentially, I am working with a private developer to give land so that we can do and [sic] urban plaza for both uses. I shouldn’t do anything for the bikers like Jason Ryan, but I am doing it for the other young kids who aren’t 32 yrs. old and a pain in the ass. He needs to grow up and work within the system, and quit with the Gestapo tactics…then maybe people would listen and promote his cause. In the meantime…the bikers should wait patiently like the skaters did for 15 or 20 years. (I’m not even going to dignify this name-calling with a response. It’s beneath me. I will say that waiting 15 or 20 years for a place to legally ride is completely unacceptable, and I will NOT lie down and wait.)
The final point he makes about our risk management saying that it would be o.k. if they used it at separate times, is a fallacy. One, if bikes are allowed at all, they will come anytime they want, unless you have a full-time park ranger there. Two, the damage to the copping [sic] and the concrete will cause injury to skaters when their wheels hit the holes of missing concrete or they get cut on gouged metal copping [sic]. When that happens and we have not taken measures to repair the damage, then we are liable and it becomes a tort case because we were negligent in not repairing the damage. (Wait a tick! In her first paragraph, didn’t Barb mention “damage done to the concrete from the metal pegs of the bikes” at the Tempe Skatepark? If this is true, then Tempe is already liable and could have a tort case on their hands for not repairing damage, regardless of where it comes from.)
Sorry this has gone on and on. The guy pisses me off. Colby has many studies showing the the [sic] opposite of what Jason Ryan is saying. Even the study from Oregon is not very conclusive favoring joint parks. Jason Ryan is a bully, and no elected official or staff should be intimidated by him, and as for the votes he says he can deliver…Hugh only got 56% of the vote against one candidate…I got 68% of the vote against 7. Jason Ryan called for everyone to vote against me on his web site….he was vicious. Guess it maybe cost me 10 votes. Who cares. Do what is right and in the best interest of 80%. Go by the skate park this afternoon and see for yourself. It is the most used single park amenity in Tempe, other than Tempe Beach. Kids are there 24/7, 365 days a year. We are getting our monies [sic] worth. (I wonder if Barb will get 68% of the vote in the next election? Something tells me she won’t.)
Barb
Update-June 15, 2006
AZ Republic article.
Update-May 25, 2006
I'm stoked to say that Tempe has just replaced a bad councilman with a good councilwoman. Onnie Shekerjian won the runoff election against Len Copple by a pretty good margin. Thanks to everyone who voted for Onnie. She'll do a great job for us in Tempe, and a new, bike-friendly concrete skatepark is on her list of to-do's.
Speaking of Tempe City Council, check out this article from the East Valley Tribune:
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Tempe official’s son got housing money |
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By Garin Groff, Tribune |
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May 12, 2006 |
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Tempe refused to release documents Thursday that would show whether the city violated federal conflict of interest laws for giving housing assistance to the son of one of the city’s top elected officials. |
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Colby
Carter, the 31-yearold son of City Councilwoman Barb Carter, has
received at least three benefits totaling more than $23,000 from the
city’s housing department since his mother was elected in 2000. The city
attorney is refusing to release more than 100 records pertaining to
financial assistance given to Colby Carter — a decision that seems to
conflict with federal disclosure laws. |
|
Contact Garin Groff by email, or phone (480) 898-5938 |
You know, we just could not get a break here in Tempe. BMX riders fought to be allowed in the Tempe Skatepark from the very first public input meeting in 1998, all the way to the grand opening of the park in 2005, and we're still fighting. In light of all this news about Barb and Colby Carter, and these allegations of not only misuse of power but CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, is it really so hard to believe now that Barb was behind bikes being banned from the Tempe Skatepark? Everyone knows that Colby is an avid bike hater. That's no secret. Why he harbors such hatred for kids who ride bikes is beyond me. Maybe a group of rabid BMX riders once rode over a crop of his prize marijuana plants, crushing the buds with their knobby tires. I don't know. All he had to do was say, "Mommy, I don't want bikes allowed in my skatepark." At this point, is it really so hard to believe she said, "Yes, Colby, I'll keep those nasty kids out of your park, don't you worry. Now go apply for some more federal housing money and I'll make sure you get it instead of that family with 5 kids barely making it down the street."?
Update-May 13, 2006
The election for the last Tempe city council seat is this Tuesday, May 16th. You can still vote early if you so desire at the Tempe Public Library (located on the Southwest corner of Rural and Southern) anytime it's open. I'd like to encourage everyone, especially bike riders, skaters and inline skaters to all vote for Onnie Shekerjian. She supports positive activities for youth and a high quality of life, and she supports building a new, bike-friendly concrete skatepark in Tempe. Visit www.electonnie.com to learn more about Onnie Shekerjian. If you have any questions at all for Onnie, call her up! She's totally accessible and more than willing to talk about any issue.
Update-March 21st, 2006
The Tempe City Council election was held last Tuesday. Turns out one of our candidates, Ben Arredondo, is in. So that's very cool. But Onnie Shekerjian (who is totally down to build a new bike/skatepark ASAP) ended up 50 votes behind Len Copple (who is against building a new park and against The 3BC and our whole movement) Neither of them got 50% +1 so there will be a runoff election between Onnie and Len in May. We have about 3 weeks to get people registered. Voters have to be registered before 30 days prior to election day. Registration forms will be available at Kore Bike so any Tempe resident can go in and register. You don't even have to take the form in, we'll do that for you. Then all you gots to do is vote for Onnie in May.
There are another couple things we can do to help get Onnie elected:
We can write letters of support for Onnie to the newspapers. If you need any help, please e-mail me through the link on the homepage.
Also, Onnie will be walking neighborhoods with volunteers to get people out to vote. Again, e-mail me if you can help.
Let's make it happen, people! Ready.........BREAK!
Update-March 8th, 2006
Sorry for the short notice, but we just got this finalized yesterday. Kore Bike Industries (located on the NW corner of Curry Rd. and Scottsdale/Rural Rd. just North of the 202 freeway) will be holding a showing of the history of BMX documentary, "Joe Kid on a Stingray" this Saturday, March 11th at 6 pm. Also, the 3BC will be hosting an election rally for the Tempe City Council candidates that support kids who ride BMX bikes. "Joe Kid on a Stingray" is a must see for anyone who rides or used to ride. I've been riding for 21 years and I learned tons of things I never knew about BMX'in.
If you're under 18, try to bring your parents or someone from Tempe who is of voting age. Come show that support! The election is Tuesday, March 14th. And whatever you do, don't vote for Len Copple. He has consistently voted and spoken against kids who ride BMX bikes, and in a candidate's forum hosted by the Arizona Republic, he even called this site "disgusting". So let's do this town a big favor and get rid of Barb Carter's prized toadie, 'cause he's screwin' up the joint!
Update-February 3rd, 2006
The Bike, Blade and Board Coalition would like to announce our endorsements for the upcoming Tempe City Council election. Three seats are available, and there are five candidates. We are fully endorsing Ben Arredondo and Onnie Shekerjian for Tempe City Council. We believe they have the best interests of all Tempe citizens in mind, including bmx riders, skateboarders, and inline skaters.
For more information on Ben Arredondo, please visit www.BenArredondo.com, or e-mail Ben at ben@benarredondo.com or call him at 480-966-3084.
For more information on Onnie Shekerjian, please visit www.ElectOnnie.com, or e-mail Onnie at Onnie@electonnie.com or call her at 480-831-2733.
This, of course, leaves one more City Council seat for someone to fill. I don't know who would be best for the third seat, but I would recommend that you DON'T vote for Len Copple. He has expressed no interest whatsoever in providing a place for bmx riders to legally ride in Tempe, and it appears he has actually worked against bikes being allowed in the Tempe Skatepark.
Update-October 25th, 2005
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Turf wars heat up at skate park |
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By Garin Groff, Tribune |
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October 12, 2005 |
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Skateboarders are used to getting the bum’s rush. They’re told their tricks ruin concrete. They’re a nuisance. And their quick moves are a danger to everybody around them. |
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Now as a new skate park
near Warner Road and Hardy Drive in Tempe marks its first summer, skaters
are turning the tables and making the same gripes against BMX bicyclists.
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Contact Garin Groff by email, or phone (480) 898-6554 |
I wish I could have gotten the picture that ran with this article in the print edition of the Tribune, but it wasn't on their website. It depicted grafitti in the Tempe Skatepark that read, "NO BIKES".
I have lately been sensing a growing trend in attitudes towards skaters among East Valley bmx riders that I find disturbing. This attitude change has come about due to the prejudice and discrimination that bmx riders have encountered at the Tempe Skatepark from a relatively small group of old-school skaters. Ben Dixon (also known as Green Shirt from Ryan Report X) and a few other skaters, many of whom are associated with AZPX skate shop, have been harassing bmx riders, threatening us with violence, and actually carrying out violence against bmx riders when we have come to ride the skatepark since it opened.
Some bmx riders, in turn, have become angered at the actions of these bigots and lashed back, which has drawn much attention from the Tempe Police Department of late. Tempe Police recently chased four kids for 4 miles until they finally caught one who stopped. The police went to Marcos De Niza high school the next day, where they suspected the kids attended school, and proceeded to thumb through yearbooks looking for the perpetrators of the heinous crime of riding their bicycles in the skatepark. One of the kids was recognized and called down to the principal’s office for a reprimand. Undercover police are now posing as skaters in the skatepark, trying to catch bmx riders riding it red-handed. I never thought I’d see “progressive” Tempe one-up Gilbert in repressive solutions to “the bmx problem”, but, alas, they have.
Is this prejudice and discrimination levied by the old-school skaters wrong? Of course it is. But if we lash back, it will only make it worse for us. Not only with police crackdowns, but also in the way bmx riders and our movement is viewed by the public. I know it’s very difficult to chill and just ride when guys like the owner of AZPX, Rob Locker, are yelling at you at the top of their lungs to “get the hell out of his park” as I saw him do to a bmx rider a few months ago. But we have GOT to be the proverbial “bigger man”. It’s far too easy for us to develop a sour image of skaters from the way we’ve been treated by these few. We can’t do it, though. Remember how many skaters supported our protest at the Tempe Skatepark grand opening? Remember your friends that skate? Remember the skaters who shouted when they saw park rangers or cops coming while you were riding a skatepark, so you wouldn’t get a ticket?
Don’t let this one group of haters give all skaters a bad name in your minds. We’ll all be skating and riding together in Prescott, Glendale, Flagstaff and Tuba City pretty soon, and I have absolutely no reason to believe this group of biased skaters will leave their hate at the gate, at least not at first. Learn to deal with it the right way now. Keep your cool when they yell at you and when they confront you. Remember, you came there to ride, not to fight. Just ride.
Update-August 9th, 2005
IMPORTANT!
WE NEED AS MANY RIDERS, PARENTS, AND SUPPORTERS AS POSSIBLE TO COME TO A COMMUNITY INPUT MEETING FOR A NEW PUBLIC PARK IN TEMPE! THE MEETING WILL BE HELD AT THE ESCALANTE COMMUNITY CENTER, LOCATED AT 2150 E. ORANGE IN TEMPE, FROM 6:30 PM TO 8 PM. TEMPE IS PLANNING FOR A NEW NEIGHBORHOOD PARK, AND THEY WANT TO GET INPUT ON THE TYPES OF AMENITIES CITIZENS WOULD LIKE TO SEE IN THE PARK. THIS IS ONE OF THOSE RARE OPPORTUNITIES THAT A CITY IS ACTUALLY ASKING WHAT WE WANT AND LISTENING. COME OUT AND LET TEMPE KNOW WE WANT A BIKE PARK IN THERE!
Update-April 4th, 2005
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Study backs Tempe park bike ban |
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By Dennis Welch, Tribune |
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March 26, 2005 |
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The report, released Thursday afternoon by Wormhoundt
Inc., found that BMX bikes would likely cause "excessive damage" to the
park’s concrete surfaces and edges. |
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Contact Dennis Welch by email, or phone (480) 898-6573 |
Many thanks to Dennis Welch for keeping up on this story. Don't even think this is the end for us in Tempe. We have not yet begun to fight.
Update-March 7th, 2005
Because if you can't have fun at a protest, then, really, where can you have fun?
These kids were so rad. They ran through the whole park, waving their signs and yelling reasons why bikes should be allowed in. I've got to give it up to the cops... They let us get our point across and didn't try any bullshit like Buckeye did to us. Maybe that was because Tempe is a college town and they're used to dealing with free speech being exercised a lot.
Thanks for the support, guys. We really are all in this together. That's why Rex and I changed the name of our original group from the Concrete Bikepark Alliance to the Bike, Blade and Board Coalition.
Kids, meet Brad Siedlecki, Designer/Project Manager for SDG, and Mark Richwine, Director of Tempe Parks and Recreation Department. Brad asked me in the parking lot, "You know you guys are getting parks in Glendale and Chandler, don't you?" I replied, "I know, but I don't live in Glendale or Chandler. I live here in Tempe."
I just recently heard about this one rapper named Big Lurch that got high on PCP and killed this chick, then he tore open her chest and started grubbing on her innards. They found this rather large man running naked down the street a few hours later, and when they checked his stomach contents, it was confirmed to contain pieces of this unfortunate lass's lung. I can't see how these park rangers can stand so comfortably next to a rather large and annoyed BMX rider that bears the same moniker as the afore-mentioned musician. Good thing Lurch doesn't do the old angel dust, huh?
Pat-"Excuse me, officer. Can you tell me why the same sign that says bikes are prohibited from riding the skatepark, also says safety gear is required to be worn by all users when skating the skatepark, and yet the bikes rule is being enforced while the pads rule is not?"
Officer-"The no bike rule is in the city code, but the no pads rule is just a suggestion."
Guy with the GL-1, thinking-"Makes perfect sense to me!"
Some dudes brought out a launch and a rail to ride during the protest, and everybody started jumping from the parking lot to land on a little dirt hill. The cops shut that down after a little bit, saying that we were ruining the landscaping (refer to Lurch's sign a few photos above). Lucas figured that if he launched all the way to the sidewalk (20+ feet) he wouldn't be messing up the landscaping and the cop would be cool with that. Well Lucas made it to the sidewalk, but he wrecked and his bike went straight into this sapling tree and broke it's support pole. At least his heart was in the right place.
For some odd reason, this cop didn't think Lucas's heart was in the right place at all.
Fortunately, the cop did let Lucas off with just a stern warning. Why don't these kids just ride a park designed for this sort of activity instead of tearing up public and private property? Oh yeah, KIDS ON BIKES AREN'T ALLOWED IN THE SKATEPARK!
From the e-mails I got and riders I talked to beforehand, I'm convinced a BMX protest would have gone down at the Tempe Skatepark grand opening whether I had told people about it on this site or not. If you work for a Parks and Rec department anywhere in the Valley, expect a protest on grand opening day of your bike-unfriendly skatepark from now on. Might as well schedule it in with the day's events.
Update-March 2nd, 2005
What the hell are we going to do about all these bike riders?
I can guarantee that was the question on the mind of Tempe Parks and Rec Director Mark Richwine, Lisa Saylan from SDG, Brad Stielecki from SDG, Colby Carter from SDG, Tempe City Councilwoman Barb Carter, all the park rangers, and every policeman at our Tempe Skatepark Grand Opening Protest last Saturday. 75+ BMX bike riders showed up to protest bikes not being allowed in the new Tempe Skatepark. In addition, the 3BC passed out 75 full-sheet stickers that read, “Another skater that supports bike riders”, which were promptly rocked on the shirts of mostly kids who only skated and rode inline skates. Best protest ever! Thanks to everyone who came out, because we couldn’t possibly have done it without you. We really appreciate everybody protesting peacefully and getting our point across but not getting out of hand. You’d better believe our voices were heard. I even saw guys there who had openly criticized the way The 3BC does things. All I gotta say to those kids is you ain’t gotta lie to kick it with us! You know very well we’re runnin’ thangs the best way we know how, and that’s why you showed up. The latest from the city is that the council has decided to go ahead and hire an independent evaluator to determine the feasibility of allowing bikes in the Tempe Skatepark. Rex and I consider this a gigantic step, because this marks the first time any Valley city has gone this far in considering allowing bikes in their pre-existing, bike-unfriendly skatepark. I’ll let you know who the independent evaluator will be just as soon as I find out. We only had one newspaper reporter show on Saturday, but as good as the article came out, that’s all we needed. So many reporters in the past have pussyfooted around with their articles on the bikes in skateparks issue, but I’m happy to say Dennis Welch didn’t. Check this:
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Ban at skate park irks bikers |
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By Dennis Welch, Tribune |
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Tempe unveiled its first skate park Saturday morning under the protests of dozens of BMX bikers upset that the city barred them from using the facility. |
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Wearing
shirts that read "BMX is not a crime" and "Arrest me," the bikers lined up
outside the new park near Warner and Hardy roads watching the grand opening
and voicing their opposition. |
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Contact Dennis Welch by email, or phone (480) 898-6573 |
Since we've got such great momentum going, please take a little time and e-mail a letter to the editor of the Tribune. It just gets our cause more exposure if supporting letters pop up in the editorial page. The e-mail address for submitting editorials can be obtained by going to www.aztrib.com
Update-February 22nd, 2005
TEMPE BMX RALLY
I know it's nutty, but we're doing a rally in Tempe, too. All you east valley riders need to come out this Saturday, February 26th, at 10 AM, when Tempe will be holding their grand opening for the new Tempe Skatepark. Ray Putnam, our Tempe 3BC Captain, has been talking closely with Tempe city officials, and they have been looking for a way to get us into the skatepark before it opens, but it's not going to happen just yet. We want to do a positive BMX rally on Saturday to show that there are a lot of bike riders in Tempe that need a place to ride. We will be taking signs out there to let everyone know that we're going to keep pushing until we get a public place to ride in Tempe. I believe we'll be getting some good media coverage, so be ready to talk to the news. At this point, I think it's really important to keep this rally positive. We have made much progress in Tempe, and we don't want to ruin anything or portray a bad image. This is a much different situation than Mesa, Gilbert, or Ahwatukee was. During those protests, we had to attract attention and make a point any way we could. We had nothing to lose. In Tempe, we do have something to lose. We don't want to make the city officials that support our cause look bad in any way. The 3BC's main objectives on Saturday will be to get more exposure for our cause, to talk to the media, and to recruit support from skaters and inliners for bike riders. Come out Saturday, and bring as many supporters as you can, including your parents, or anyone who looks old enough to vote. Sometimes that's all that will get through to certain public officials-the fear that their job is on the line. The skatepark is located just north of Warner Road off of Hardy Drive.
Update-May 20th, 2004
HUT WINS IN TEMPE!!!
Check these articles out:
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Hutson wins final Tempe City Council seat |
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By Dennis Welch, Tribune |
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Hut Hutson fended off political newcomer Augustus Shaw for the final seat on the Tempe City Council in Tuesday's election. |
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Hutson,
who touted a record of fiscal responsibility, overcame growing scrutiny over
his handling of the city's Industrial Development Authority funds. |
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Contact Dennis Welch by email, or phone (480) 898-6573 |
So there you have it. I called Hut to congratulate him on his win, and to let him know Ray Putnam and I did a phone tree to help mobilize voters to vote for him on Tuesday. Hut asked me to tell all the riders, parents, and bmx supporters thank you very much for supporting him, and he also wanted me to let you know that he never forgets his friends.
I wanted to ask all the riders who attended the May 6th Tempe City Council meeting, all the Tempe riders, and all the riders who live in nearby communities to e-mail and call the Tempe City Councilmembers. Especially you dudes that said you would come to the meeting but didn't. This is very important to let them know that we will not leave this issue alone and there are a lot of us that want bikes allowed in the Tempe skatepark. You can use this sample letter below or compose a similar one on your own. With the phone calls, you'll most likely get their voicemail, so leave a quick message saying the same things as your e-mail. Also, with the e-mails, e-mail the same letter to all the councilmembers, but one at a time, not in a group. The word is that councilmembers don't read e-mails that are sent to a group, but they will read one that is personally addressed only to them.
Thanks for doing this. This will help the Tempe effort greatly.
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Councilmember _______,
I wish to thank you for allowing bmx bike riders, their parents and supporters to speak on the agenda at the May 6th Tempe City Council meeting on behalf of bmx bike riders asking for skatepark access. This is a quality of life issue, and now is an excellent opportunity for the city of Tempe to lead Arizona in finding an equitable solution to the plight of bmx bike riders. Please don’t ban us from your new public skatepark
Thank you,
(Your name) _________
Here are the councilmember's e-mail addresses and phone numbers:
Barbara Carter, Vice
Mayor
480-350-8794
e-mail:
barb_carter@tempe.gov
Ben Arredondo,
Councilmember
480-350-8792
e-mail:
ben_arredondo@tempe.gov
Len Copple,
Councilmember
480-350-8796
e-mail: len_copple@tempe.gov
Pam Goronkin,
Councilmember
480-350-8791
e-mail: pam_goronkin@tempe.gov
Mark Mitchell,
Councilmember
480-350-8793
e-mail:
mark_mitchell@tempe.gov
Update-May 17th, 2004
When I was at the Free Ride contest a week ago, someone asked me how this Tempe City Council meeting went. I don't want anyone to ask me how this or that city council meeting went ever again, unless the night it went down, you were on death's door with sickness or your mom just croaked. You shouldn't have to ask me how it went, you should have been there.
The Tempe City Council meeting went very well, and I think we had the best presentation at a council meeting we've ever done. Pat Blackburn, Leslie Saturday, Ryan Cowling from Kore Bike Industries, Ray Putnam and myself all spoke on the agenda very articulately. When the time came for unagendized speakers to present, about 8 or 9 riders and supporters came forward to tell the council their viewpoint. We made a great impact, and it will pay off when Hugh Hallman takes office as the new mayor, which will be tomorrow as a matter of fact.
Tomorrow will also be the runoff election for a Tempe City Councilman seat. Again, the Bike, Blade and Board Coalition supports Hut Hutson in this election. Hut has two kids that used to race bmx, and he is down for our cause. He spoke at our political rally at Kore Bike Industries, and you can see that video by clicking here.
Update-April 20th, 2004
The 3BC invites you to attend the…
Thursday,
May 6th
Members
of the Bike, Blade and Board Coalition will be on the Tempe City Council’s
agenda on May 6th at
Precious little.
Update-April 10th, 2004
This article ran in the East Valley Tribune last Saturday, April 3rd:
|
Skate
park plan angers bicyclists |
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By
Dennis Welch, Tribune |
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Bicyclists
are up in arms about a proposed skate park in south |
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Construction
crews hope to break ground at the end of the month on the $750,000 Tempe
Sports Skate Complex, said Mark Richwine, city parks and recreation
director. He added that the complex should be open to the public by late
fall or early winter. |
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Contact
Dennis Welch by email,
or phone (480) 898-6573 |
Update-March 31st, 2004
Members of the Bike, Blade and Board Coalition from Tempe will be speaking during the citizen comment section at the end of the Tempe City Council meeting which starts at 7:30 PM this Thursday night, April 1st. The meeting will be held in the Tempe City Council Chambers, located at 31 E. 5th Street in Tempe. You may know the building better as the upside down pyramid. Hugh Hallman is the mayor elect, but he won't take office until May. What we are trying to accomplish on Thursday is to make the city council and the newspapers aware of our issue. This will make it easier for Hugh to get bikes allowed in the park when he takes office. The city council is voting that night to award the construction contract to a builder. Now that's not SDG, SDG is the designer, and they've already done their work and gotten paid. We figure this is a perfect time to bring up the issue of bikes in the skatepark and to call City Councilwoman Barb Carter to task for helping her son, Colby Carter, who works for SDG, get the skatepark design contract. A designer who cannot design a skatepark for all reasonable users should never have been hired in the first place. I'm sorry for the short notice, but we need as many riders, parents and supporters as possible to come and show that you want bikes allowed in this new skatepark, and you won't take no for an answer!
Update-March 11th, 2004
HUGH HALLMAN IS THE NEW MAYOR OF TEMPE!!! He will take office sometime in May, I believe. I am stoked, and you should be, too. As it stands now, bmx bikes won't be allowed in the new Tempe Skatepark, but with the new mayor...Hugh Hallman on our side, this will soon change. Keep in mind, though, that we aren't totally out of the woods yet. We'll probably need to go to city council once or twice to present the issue, so be ready to go there when the time comes. Also, Hut Hutson, a candidate for city council who supports our cause, will be in a run-off election soon, because it was too close. All you Tempe residents make sure to vote for him in that run-off, and I'll let you know for sure when that will occur.
Update-March 5th, 2004
The 3BC Rally for Tempe Mayoral Candidate Hugh Hallman and Tempe City Council Candidate Hut Hutson did indeed go down this past Saturday, February 28th. My favorite quote from Hugh was, “…the only reason nobody wants to give your cause a little hearing is somebody someplace has decided to exclude you, and that shouldn’t happen.” Hut got on the mike next with something in his hand wrapped in a white garbage bag. He promptly unwrapped it, and, lo and behold, it was your basic bmx trophy, complete with the classic turnbar deadsailor on top! Check out their speeches for yourself by clicking on Hugh’s picture.
If you live in Tempe, vote for these guys, and tell your friends to vote for them as well. They’re on our side. I want to give special thanks to Hugh Hallman and Hut Hutson for speaking and supporting bmx, Ryan Cowling from Kore Bike Industries for providing a place to hold the rally, Jose Yanez for the ramps, and Ray Putnam and Pat Blackburn for all their hard work in making this happen.
Also, I have an update to the Tempe voting guide as far as the other candidates for Tempe City Council. Barb Carter is very unfavorable towards us. Her son, Colby Carter, works for SDG, which is designing the Tempe skatepark (big surprise there, huh?). Barb feels the same way Colby and SDG do, which is that bikes should be banned from being in the Tempe Skatepark. So don't vote for her. Mark Mitchell never answered my e-mail asking him his opinion on the topic of bikes in the soon-to-be-built Tempe Skatepark, so don't vote for him either. I hear Augustus "Gus" Shaw is favorable towards our cause, though I have not talked to him directly, another 3BC member has. I have talked to David Strang through e-mail, and he does support a park for bikes in Tempe, but not necessarily bikes being in the new skatepark. He wants to get a chance to look deeper into the issue before he offers his opinion.
2004 TEMPE VOTING GUIDE
The Bike, Blade and Board Coalition is proud to endorse the following candidates in the upcoming Tempe Mayoral and City Council Election on March 9th:
Hugh Hallman for Mayor
Hut Hutson for City Council
These candidates have both expressed support for bmx bikes to be allowed in the new Tempe skatepark. They understand that bmx bike riders need a place to ride, just like the skateboarders and inliners. Barbara Carter, Mark Mitchell, and David Strang are also running for city council. We know that Barbara Carter is dead set against bikes being allowed in the new Tempe skatepark. Her son is Colby Carter, who works for Site Design Group (SDG). That should tell you exactly why she is so against bikes being allowed in the skatepark. Mark Mitchell and David Strang have not answered my question of "would they support bikes being allowed in the Tempe skatepark?" as of yet. Dennis Cahill is running against Hugh Hallman for mayor, and Dennis has not answered my question yet, either. Be sure to register to vote by this Monday, February 9th, and vote in the election on March 9th. Your vote WILL make a difference!
The new Tempe skatepark is slated for final approval by Tempe City Council this month. Mark Richwine, the Tempe Parks and Rec Director, told Ray Putnam that bikes will not be allowed in the skatepark, but he can get $100,000 to build a bike park. Although we do appreciate the fact that Tempe parks and rec is willing to provide a place for bmx riders, this is hardly an equitable solution, as $725,000 will be spent to build the new skatepark.
Hugh Hallman is running for mayor of Tempe in the upcoming election on March 9th, 2004. He believes that bikes should be included when the Tempe Skatepark is built, because bike riders need a place to ride, too. If you live in Tempe, make sure to register to vote. If you want to ride in the Tempe Skatepark when it's built, I'd highly advise you vote for Hugh Hallman. For more info on Hugh, check out this AZ Republic article: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/tempe/articles/0501HallmanZ10.html
Ray Putnam, the 3BC's Captain of Tempe, had a great idea. Tempe does an organized bike ride every year with the mayor. Ray had the idea to have a bunch of bmx riders show up and ride in it to raise the awareness that we need to be allowed in the new Tempe skatepark when it's built. The Tour de Tempe Bike Ride is 7:00 AM, Sunday Oct. 26 at the South end of Kiwanis Park. Actual ride starts at 8:00 AM. Free breakfast and a t-shirt if you e-mail register ahead of time. Complete ride is 12 miles. As Ray said, our goal is not to do whole ride but to get attention for the cause. The whole press release on bike tour is available at www.tempe.gov .
Tempe has a skatepark planned, but it is not going to allow bikes. We tried to get the parks and rec board to recommend that it does, but it didn't work. They voted against allowing bikes 4 to 3. Under Ray's leadership, a few Tempe bmx-riding citizens met with Mayor Guiliano, but he basically gave us a deaf ear. He couldn't have cared less about what we had to say, he just wanted to put a rubber stamp on what the parks and rec board had decided was best. At this point, the park construction has been delayed indefinitely because the budget crunch has left no money for park operation costs.
