SWFBUD -- South West Florida Bicyclists United With Dealers

Friday, July 10, 2009

SWFBUD Bike Ride To Hillsborough County Budget Hearing Still On Despite New Location

Hillsborough County has switched the location of its July 16 budget hearing at 6 PM to the All People's Life Center at 6105 East Sligh Avenue.

The SWFBUD Bike Ride will still be on for 5 PM, meeting on Central Avenue in front of the garden center at 5800 Central Avenue.

The tentative route will be Central Avenue north to Hanna Avenue, and a right turn on Hanna for a straight beeline to 56th Street North. Then a left on 56th Street and a right turn on East Sligh.

It's about 5 miles.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

SWFBUD Asks Hillsborough County Commissioners To Keep Flatwoods Open 7 Days A Week

At a time when bicycling is growing in popularity in Hillsborough County, a budget proposal to cut back on park access at Flatwoods county park and nine other county parks is a regrettable idea and opposed by SWFBUD (South West Florida Bicycle United Dealers).

Flatwoods, especially, is a special natural resource used by thousands of county residents, including bicyclists of all types, runners, paddlers, hikers, bird watchers, roller-bladers, walkers and many families. To close Flatwoods and not make it open two out of seven days a week is bad business; that is, the county is not using an invaluable resource effectively as possible.

Flatwoods county park is not owned by Hillsborough County, so it's unclear how the county would keep people from using the vast land during the two days that it would "close" the park.

What makes Flatwoods so valuable for bicyclists is that the majority of roads in Hillsborough County are perceived by everyday bicyclists as unsafe to ride, so Flatwoods is an essential safe haven for anyone wanting to ride a bicycle in a safe environment.

SWFBUD is asking the county commissioners to instruct county budget staff to re-shape the county budget and fund the necessary money to keep Flatwoods open seven days a week as it is right now.

SWFBUD has attached a few photos to show you the natural beauty of Flatwoods, which is a gem for county residents.

Monday, July 6, 2009

SWFBUD In The News: Bay News 9 Report On Flatwoods Park

Bay News 9 included SWFBUD in its Monday report on the Hillsborough County proposed budget that calls for the county to close Flatwoods and nine other county parks two days a week. SWFBUD is leading a bike ride on July 16 to the county budget hearing at 5 PM and is asking people to bike with us to tell the county commissioners to keep Flatwoods open 7 days a week.
Check out the live link to the Bay News 9 report.

SWFBUD On Bay News 9 Tonight

Look for a Bay News 9 TV report today on the SWFBUD bicycle ride at 5 PM July 16 to the Hillsborough County Center to tell the county commissioners to keep Flatwoods county park open 7 days a week. The proposed budget calls for Flatwoods and other county parks to be closed two days a week.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

SWFBUD Urges Public to Give Input on Friendship TrailBridge

The Friendship TrailBridge might be closed, but it's not dead. SWFBUD wants Hillsborough and Pinellas counties to fix and re-open this valuable regional resource that bicyclists on both of the Bay enjoy and value.

Public Input Sought on Friendship TrailBridge

Hillsborough and Pinellas counties are seeking input on alternatives for the future of the Friendship TrailBridge.

The counties received a follow-up inspection report for the Friendship TrailBridge in May. The inspection and tests confirmed the initial reports that girders of the bridge were heavily corroded and broken. Several options and their cost were provided in the report that included repair, replacement and/or demolition of all or portions of the bridge. The full report, along with graphics of proposed options, is available on the Friendship TrailBridge Oversight Committee website.

Two public meetings will be held, one in Pinellas County and one in Hillsborough County. Following the Hillsborough County meeting, the Friendship TrailBridge Oversight Committee will make its recommendation to the two County Commissions.

The dates, times and locations of the meetings will be:

Tuesday, July 14
4 p.m.
Weedon Island Preserve Cultural and Natural History Center
1800 Weedon Drive N.E., St. Petersburg

Wednesday, July 15
7 p.m.
Presentation and decision on recommendation
Jan Platt Regional Library
3910 S. Manhattan Ave.

All meeting facilities are ADA compliant. For additional assistance, call Steve Valdez at (813) 307-8384 (TTY: (813) 301-7173).

Residents can submit a comment through July 14 at the Friendship TrailBridge Oversight Committee website or by mailing it to: Pinellas County Planning Department, Attn: Friendship TrailBridge, 600 Cleveland St., Suite 750, Clearwater, FL 33755.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

SWFBUD Organizes Bike Ride To Budget Hearing July 16

As you know, Hillsborough County's proposed budget calls for closing Flatwoods county park Monday and Tuesday.

This is unacceptable and SWFBUD (South West Florida Bicycle United Dealers) is asking bicyclists and park users to join a 5-mile bike ride to the county building on July 16 to tell the commissioners to Keep Flatwoods Open 7 Days a Week at a budget hearing at 6 PM in downtown Tampa.

SWFBUD is announcing a "Keep Flatwoods Park Open 7 Days a Week" Bike Ride from the Seminole Heights Garden Center at 5800 Central Avenue to the County Government Center for the first Budget Hearing on July 16. Email your contacts and tell others.

5PM: Meet in front of garden center on Central Avenue, a half-mile north of Hillsborough Avenue. Lots of space to park if necessary.

5:30PM: Reach county government building in downtown Tampa and sign up to speak.

6PM: Hearing begins.

Also, make your voice heard:

Call the budget hotline at 813-307-8337 at tell the county to keep Flatwoods open 7 Days a week.

Send an email to hcbudget@hillsboroughcounty.org

And show up July 16 at 6PM at County Government Center to speak at the hearing.

I have contacted the offices of all 7 County Commissioners and the aides for each commissioner provided the following information:

Rose Ferlita: Not available. Will get back to SWFBUD possibly tomorrow.

Ken Hagan: Opposes closing the park two days a week. He's asking budget officials to look for ways to restore the two days.

Kevin White: Aide will pass message to White to keep Flatwoods open 7 days a week..

Al Higginbothom. Supports not raising taxes. Looking for money to restoring those two days by knocking out "dead weight" in the budget and streamlining and cutting other areas. "We're trying to put money back to parks and see if cuts whether in other places.

Jim Norman: Jim is going to look to do everything he can to keep it open.

Kevin Beckner: Aide doesn't know and aide said Kevin Beckner will call.

Mark Sharpe: Eric the aide is getting a lot of requests and it's an issue to be determined. "We're getting hit on it on a daily basis. We hit a nerve on this one."

Budget Public Hearings (all starting at 6 p.m.) and Public Comment is taken:
Thursday, June 9, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009 (First State-Required Public Hearing to adopt tentative millage rates and a tentative budget)
Thursday, September 17, 2009 (Second State-Required Public Hearing to adopt final millage rates and the FY 10 operating and capital budgets)

Budget Workshops (all starting at 1:30 p.m.) and NO Public Comment is taken:
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009 (if needed)
Thursday, July 30, 2009 - Budget Reconciliation

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Tell County Commissioners To Keep Flatwoods Open 7 Days A Week

We bicyclists come from all backgrounds but one thing we can agree on is that Flatwoods county park is a gem of a bicycle resource and we need to come together to convince the county commissioners to not slash hours and personnel there.

SWFBUD is asking for a call of arms (and legs) for people to tell the county commissioners to not close Flatwoods two days week.

Flatwoods County Park faces deep budget cuts under the proposed Hillsborough County budget, including the park closing on Mondays and Tuesdays.

This is unacceptable.

Please attend county commission budget hearings this summer to tell the commissioners one thing: Keep Flatwoods open 7 days a week.

WHAT IS SWFBUD and HOW DID IT START?

SWFBUD (South West Florida Bicycle United Dealers) is a Tampa Bay bicycle advocacy alliance of 12 bicycle store dealers and four law firms committed to raising the profile of bicycling in the Tampa Bay market, getting more people on bicycles and drawing more public resources for bicycling.

The 12 bike shops are: ABC Bicycles, Bicycle Outfitters, Carrollwood Bicycle Emporium, Chainwheel Drive, Just Ride Bicycles, Oliver's Cycle Sports, Street Fit 360, Trek Bicycle Store of Tampa and Clearwater, Trek Bicycle Store of St. Petersburg, The Ironman Store, University Bicycle Center and Velo Champ. The four law firms are Tom Singletary, J. Steele Olmstead and the Mark Roman Law Group.

The SWFBUD members enlist Alan Snel, a bicycle advocate and former metro newspaper reporter, to lobby local governments to provide more bicycle resources and to put on the Bicycle Bash festival.

SWFBUD is a play on words of Swiftmud, the Tampa Bay water district agency.

SWFBUD traces its roots to the summer of 2006, when then-Carrollwood Bicycle Emporium owner David Luppino (who now owns Just Ride Bicycles) hired Snel for promotions, marketing and to help put on the Bicycle Bash festival. At the start of 2007, Luppino believed it was appropriate that other Tampa Bay bike stores get involved in promoting bicycling, so Snel recruited other store dealers to get involved.

The Bicycle Bash was first held in October 2006 on the St. Pete Times Forum plaza before a Tampa Bay Lightning afternoon hockey game before SWFBUD moved the Bicycle Bash to St. Petersburg's Vinoy Park in 2007 and 2008 and to North Straub Park in downtown St. Petersburg in 2009. In 2010, the Bicycle Bash was moved into Hillsborough County's Flatwoods Park on Nov. 7 so that bicyclists can enjoy the Bash's exhibitor village and also have fun doing live biking in the park. In 2011, the Bicycle Bash will be held again at Flatwoods Park on NOV 6.

SWFBUD won national retail bicycle advocacy awards in 2009 from the Bicycle Retailer and Industry News (BRAIN) and the Trek Bicycle Corporation. The Bicycle Bash won the Florida Event of the Year in 2007 from the Florida Bicycle Association.

SWFBUD's Snel attends many public meetings in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, plus the National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C. to lobby political leaders and governing agencies to commit more resources to bicycling. SWFBUD believes communities that embrace and invest in bicycling become more successful and sustainable.

Flatwoods Park Ranger Thanks SWFBUD For Saving Park and Jobs

SWFBUD Wins National Bicycle Advocacy Award

The national magazine that covers the bicycle industry in this country honored SWFBUD with the 2009 Bicycle Retail Advocacy Award at the Bicycle Leadership Conference in Monterey, Calif. SWFBUD is deeply honored by this national recognition and I received the award from Megan Tompkins, editor of Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, and Tim Blumenthal, executive editor of Bikes Belong Coalition. Click photo for more info and check SP Times story, too: http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/article996595.ece