Long, Steve
Jeff,
Thank you for your response and the time you put into this issue.
I will post your response to OBRA, which is where I aired concern about
the comments made on the Nelson and Terry show. Not everybody on our
group agrees with me concerning listening to the Nelson and Terry show.
But, that is neither here nor there.
You know, the thing about this is, that we are out there on the roads on
a daily basis, basically putting our lives on the line for our passions.
I realize that's not your problem, but, when some of us hear the kind of
anti-cycling dialog, even in jest, that was said on the Nelson and Terry
show, we take it very seriously. Portland is at a stage in it's
evolution toward a more diverse transportation type city that we need to
foster as much compasion for alternate modes of transportation as
possible. My companion called me with this information, basically, as
soon as she heard it and it offended her and she is a sensible,
responsible person and she is also a local business owner so she
understands the business culture as well.
Last year alone, there were more than five of us killed on the roads of
the Portland Metropolitan area. I myself have been pulled over and
attacked my motorists that thought that I shouldn't be impedding their
travel by a couple of seconds, which by the way is about all any of us
ever impede anyone's travel.
We have nearly all heard of the lawsuit between a local cyclist and
Trimet in which the bus driver stopped to allow a passenger off the bus
to attack a cyclist. Even if the cyclist was impeding the buses travel,
that's no reason to attack him physically.
A couple of weeks ago, the Oregonian ran a couple of stories, FRONT
PAGE, that seemed rather anit-cyclist. And, if they weren't
anti-cyclist, they were certainly an airing of motorist's hostility
toward bicycles being on the road. Goodness, when will it all end. We
pray for the day when our safety from moving object becomes our second
concern. For now, it is still many of our first concerns when we get out
there on the roads.
Said in jest or not, perhaps The Buzz could help us in our efforts at:
1. Safety
2. Alternate, envirnomentally friendly forms of travel
3. Bringing the Portland Metropolitan region together on this issue of
"Share The Road."
Now that would be a community thing to do, helping bring people together
don't you think Jeff McHugh?
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff McHugh [mailto:jmch-@entercom.com]
Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2006 4:13 PM
To: Long, Steve
Subject: RE: FW: Local radio station slams bikes being on the road
Steve,
Thanks again for the dialogue. I am attempting to post this response on
your group's discussion page. Please feel free to disseminate it any
way you feel appropriate, and call me if you feel further discussion is
warranted.
I have been able to review the segment that aired concerning bicyclists
on the Nelson And Terry show. This is a case of comments
made in jest being re-told secondhand and out of context. I recieved
only ONE complaint call about the segment. And that was from the person
who posted a complaint about our station on the internet - without
hearing the segment himself! Of course now, people are reading this on
the internet, and mad without reason.
If you're not familiar with the Nelson And Terry show, there are jokes
made about just about every subject. It's a comedy-based show, so the
expectation of taking any comment seriously is not the same as it would
be for NPR, for example.
At around 7:55, during a topic called "what would you change about
Portland," a caller named Marcy said first that she would change all the
buildings to mirrored exteriors, so that instead of big buildings
blocking your view, you would see the reflection of sky and other stuff.
Nelson joked that the bright sunlight would reflect off the buildings
and then half our population would end up blind, so he was against it.
(You can see that this is clearly not a substantive discussion, right?)
Marcy's second suggestion was that she wanted to change the laws about
bike riders. Her comment was that if there wasn't a bike path, they
should not be able to use the street. Marcy said that her husband never
rides in the roads without bike lanes because vehiclists do not pay
attention, or they get backed up behind bikers and they get ticked.
Marcy said that she thought it would be safer for everyone.
Nelson then joked, (in a character voice) "we should have a track where
they all could ride in until they get tired and then take a cab home!"
Marcy chimed in, "So if it doesn't have a motor it shouldn't be on the
road! Nelson added, (again, in a character voice) "They shouldn't be in
the road! I feel the same way about CATS!"
There was laughter throughout, so I think it was clear to everyone that
Nelson was pretending to take a rediculous position for comedic effect.
He also joked about the bicyclist's apparel. But he then added, "I'm
just kidding," and later said "God bless you for riding a bike and not
polluting," and expressed sincere concern about the bicyclists safety.
There were other comments sprinkled throughout, some agreeing with
Marcy's concern about mixing traffic and bikes, but that's the major
part of it.
I am myself a bicyclist, and I am satisfied that while our hosts made
jokes that not everyone found funny, they made every reasonable effort
to make sure that they were not taken seriously, and meant no harm.
If you, or anyone else wants to call and discuss this with me, my office
number is 503-535-0315. Thank you.
Jeff McHugh
Program Director
1051 The Buzz
"Long, Steve" <Steve-@clark.wa.gov> 02/02/06 3:09 PM >>>
yesterday
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff McHugh [mailto:jmch-@entercom.com]
Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2006 2:51 PM
To: Long, Steve
Subject: RE: FW: Local radio station slams bikes being on the road
which day was this?
"Long, Steve" <Steve-@clark.wa.gov> 02/02/06 12:26 PM >>>
Jeff, I just talked to my girl friend again and here's what she had to
say.
"I was accurate. People were supposed to call in and say what about the
city they would change if they could only change one thing. This lady
called to say she would limit cyclists to only streets with designated
bike lanes. Then the DJs went from there with the stuff I told you--take
them to a track by taxi and let them ride in little circles till their
tired, keep all things without engines off the street, pulling my boat
stuff, blah, blah, blah."
She says it must have been around the 8:30 +/- hour.
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff McHugh [mailto:jmch-@entercom.com]
Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2006 11:48 AM
To: Long, Steve
Subject: Re: FW: Local radio station slams bikes being on the road
Hi Steve,
Thanks for your note. I got your call this morning and tried to call
you back during my drive into work, but I could not understand your
number from the voice mail. Please call me at 503-535-0315, or email
your number and I will call you back.
"Long, Steve" <Steve-@clark.wa.gov> 02/02/06 10:13 AM >>>
Good Morning Jeff, Brian, Jeff and Erin,
I'm sorry to say that yesterday morning, 105.1 The Buzz, joined in
with a caller that was complaining about bicycles being on any road
without a bike lane. Our good buddy, Nelson, seems to think that
anything without a motor in it has no place on the road and that
cyclists should be forced to take a taxi to their place of riding,
indoors, and take a taxi back home again. And, good old Terry had to
agree with the caller too because, once when he was pulling his boat
out of the water with his Ford Excursion, and there was a bike in
the
way and it slowed him down a little.
I called them to discuss it a little this morning and they were so
rude that I couldn't believe it. Josh answered the phone and he was
just about as rude as could be, not even wanting to give me the time
of day.
Yesterday, I called the Program Director of The Buzz, Jeff McHugh
and
he never even returned my call.
In this day and age, in this City of Portland, and its Metropolitan
region, that has been labeled the friendliest cycling city in
America,
and when on this very day, there's a front page article in the
Oregonian discussing a, nearly 2 million dollar, add campaign
targeted
at reducing the Portland Metropolitan Area's traffic congestion, it
seems, whole heartedly, irresponsible and bad citizenship for a
public
entity as popular as the Buzz to behave in this manner.
Some of the companies that advertise with the Buzz are Wells Fargo
The
Shane Company Safeway Allstate Les Schwab PureRomance.com KATU
Mattress World
I am strongly considering contacting these companies and letting them
know that I can not support a company that support the above behavior
Steve Long