Metal Man

I wrote a Letter To The Editor in response to a letter that was in last week. I had a link to the original letter in another thread here, but here it is.
We can' » Letters » The Daily Item, Sunbury, PA

And mine.
Whose road is this? » Letters » The Daily Item, Sunbury, PA

For the last three years I've have been trying to get one bike related letter in the paper each spring.

rydabent

Metal

Your post is well taken. Here in Lincoln we have over 125 miles of hard surface hiker biker trails. There are letters to the editor all the time complaining about them. Yet they are well used, everything from college students going to the U to regular cyclist and family outings. Any more the trails are used far more than the regular parks. The cyclist hating drivers should be happy there are so many trails in town, since the get those "damned bicycles" off the streets.

Camilo

I liked your letter to the editor Metalman. It is far better than a lot I see linked to which are generally pretentious and very wordy. Yours is easy to understand and to the point.

The original letter you responded to is a piece of work. He starts out by complaining about the cost of a school and then a quote he heard years ago which probably doesn't even apply to current school board members. He seems to be making the stand that there is no value in public schools or local control of public schools in that he sees no value in the school board.

Then, he takes an exceedingly minor part of his original point (the tiny budget for rails to trails) and makes that and a rant against bicyclists and pedestrians a major topic in his letter. To me, he sounds like a knee-jerk "anti" that is so common among the so-called Tea Party folks these days. They see absolutely no value in developing good community facilities, no value in a publicly educated populace and think that anyone who doesn't agree with them is stupid (his reference to the brain at the end of his spiel). This is getting to be so tired. It involves little or no real thought about the nuance of public decisions and the fact that there are more people in the community than himself, and all those interests have to be combined into public policy. His is a black and white world, I wish I could be so naive as to think of things this way.

Chris516

Metal, I went to the link of the original letter.

I replied to that at the link. I doubt they will publish it. But I 'critiqued' the original letter for claiming that RTT is a failure. Because, They were making the assumption that, just because cyclists' are on the road. That there are no cyclists' on the trails.

One thing I forgot to mention, is how some trails intersect with the roads.

WebFootFreak

Did you not just do the same thing?

Camilo

How so?

WebFootFreak

It appears that you attributed the writer of the original letter's attack on RTT and cyclists in general to having a Tea Party-esque "anti" reaction. Then you followed it with your own rant against the Tea Party.

We do not know the writer's political affiliation, or really anything else about them. Yes, I found it rather nutjobbish to rant on the least costly and most healthy lifestyle encouraging item on the list, but that hardly assigns them a political party. And for the record, I am most assuredly not defending the Tea Party.

Camilo

I never labeled him with any party affiliation. I said: "To me, he sounds like a knee-jerk "anti" that is so common among the so-called Tea Party folks these days."

I merely stated that his opinion sounded to me a lot like what I'm hearing from the Teaparty folks these days - that is, a more or less knee jerk anti opinion about anything having to do with public spending (including schools). I didn't say he was one, just that his opinion sounded similar to what I hear from those folks, around my parts at least.

I stand by it and don't think it's unfair at all in a discussion like this.

WebFootFreak

I appreciate the clarification. I'm absolutely not asking anyone to change their opinion.

El Cid

Actually the guy does have a point about school boards; reminds me of an old Mark Twain quote: "In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then He made school boards." Not too long ago, I read a newspaper article about a few Toronto District School Board members using public money for fancy dinners and excessive alcohol. So if Claire Moyer sees no value in school boards, that's hard to argue. It can be hard not to see every elected official as a liar and a thief.

But on the Rails to Trails issue, I have mixed feelings. I just love the trails around my home, and I'm one of the few people hardcore enough to use them in every season (not too many other fat bikes in this neck of the woods). But do I demand tax money to pay for them? No, although those trails are maintained by the city parks department. If times were tough and the city had to make some budget cuts, I don't think I'd be angry about losing trail maintenance.

Waterloo, ON has a handful of community groups that sprung up to maintain areas abandoned by the city, and I could easily see the local cycling club looking for volunteers and cash to keep trails going in the event of municipal belt tightening. I'd be happy to lend a hand, and even happier to see some politicians saving money instead of blowing it.

Metal Man

It's fine with me if he doesn't like rail trails. It was his taking ownership of the roads that was out of line. This particular rail trail has been very successful and very well used.

Camilo

It's easy for me to disagree. People tend to take individual instances - like idiocy and dishonesty - and generalize them to entire groups, especially if they have a bias against such groups to begin with. School boards, whether they happen to be good ones or bad ones, are local control of schools. What's the alternative? Being run strictly by educational administrators? - now that would be a joke (me, reflecting my bias against educational administrators). Run by state or federal governments. Not for me.

I agree with this totally. Local (and state and federal) governments need to set priorities and fund higher priority services before lower. The hope is that the priorities are rational and/or reflect the will of the people. However, I would tend to "demand" good if not equal public financial support of recreational facilities that reflect my values along with what are usually considered standard and normal recreational facilities such as baseball fields, football fields, soccer fields, etc. etc. I have absolutely no use for them, but I'm happy with anything that gets kids and adults out and using their bodies. Local governments are quick to fund the standard fare of parks and rec. but tend to look at bikes and skis as secondary fringe activities.

I'm a huge supporter of user groups working to improve their niches, and the only downside is that local governments where I'm from tend to penalize such groups by decreasing funding for those areas because they're taken care of - and continue to support the expensive "normal" public recreational areas that don't have people who pitch in. Example: local softball fields. All the people do is show up to play (of course they pay league fees, etc.). I NEVER see them organizing huge work crews to build new parks or maintain others. The county has "always" had ball fields, therfore it's not an issue at all.

Newer sports not so. Soccer: fields were built on public park land, but with a lot of volunteer labor and contributions. In the early days, when the fields were crude, there were huge spring work events picking rocks, spreading soil, raking, etc. etc. Skiing: trails are on park land but almost all maintenance and development is done by volunteers and voluntary contributions to special funds. Skateboard parks were almost all built totally by volunteers.

Metal Man

Mr Moyer had a response in todays paper. He's a little more thought out on this one, but I still get the impression he would be more than happy to run me off of his road.
Rules of the road » Letters » The Daily Item, Sunbury, PA

CB HI

This explains most of the drivers problem:

Altair 4

A little googling reveals that Mr. Moyer is an interesting person. He's been mentioned in the Sunbury "The Daily Item" newspaper several times. He had a write-in campaign for the Presidency (yes, of the United States) in 2012 and is in fact running again in 2016 with his campaign speech on youtube. He's 67 years old and appears to be active in the Lions Club organization. Based on his video and the Lions Club roster, I'd say he owns a Harley Davidson motorcycle. I would also assume (perhaps erroneously) that he wants you to stay the hell off of his lawn....

CB HI

I want you to stay the hell off of my lawn as well, yet I still do not agree with Mr. Moyer's letter.

Altair 4

Neither do I.

david58

Listen more carefully and you might hear more than just what you want to hear.

Signed,
david58

Bike commuting, recreational riding, economy car driving, Tea Party supporting cyclist.

Camilo

Ah, thanks for clarifying!