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The Future of Ca OHV is at Stake

and now this:

Two Minutes to STOP Your Green Sticker Funds from being STOLEN!!

Please call or email the Director and her bosses the Secretary and the Governor and tell them:

"Don't Take Our OHV Trust Funds". Ruth Coleman hasn't exhibited the leadership necessary to save State Parks from closures, she needs to step down and let someone better take over. Instead of taking funds from our OHV Trust Fund, State Parks needs to look at their issues and solve their own problems without hurting the OHV program.

The OHV Trust Fund is a program that works and needs to remain intact.

1. Call State Parks Director Ruth Coleman at: 916-653-8380
Email Ruth Coleman at: ruth@parks.ca.gov

2. Call Secretary Laird at 916) 653-5656
Fax: (916) 653-8102
Email Secretary Laird at: secretary@resources.ca.gov

3. Call Governor Brown at 916) 445-2841
Fax: (916) 558-3160
http://gov.ca.gov/m_contact.php
 
Take action now!!!

Yes all caps.

Attached you find a letter from County Supervisor Dan Cortese.

The guys rocks and gets it. :thumbup
Great to see a politician step up.

Sorry this is a long post, but it is so important to the future health of the OHV system it needs to be done!.

Also the OHV system serves snowmobiles, trucks, jeeps and even SUV's in some locations so if you have friends or family that recreate that way send them a link to this post!!!!

I must say I am super impressed the the OHV Parks Dept. These folks have their act together!

You can check out what they really do here:
http://ohv.parks.ca.gov/

Here is a link to their report and if you glance through what they do and how they manage their money it is truly impressive.
http://ohv.parks.ca.gov/pages/1140/files/ohmvr 2011 report - final-web.pdf Look at where the Grant money goes and see what the effect of the money grab will be affected. Most of these grants will no longer be given out.

Never in 40 years has this Park System had to go to the State to ask for money from the General Funds for support. Right now the State of California owes more than 160 Million to the OHV Trust. In this case they are trying to take operational $$ which won't be able to be paid back without a lawsuit.

More importantly this has not been determined to be Legal!!!
It has been in the Attorney Generals hands for 18 months with no decision since last years 10,000,000 dollar grab.

Not only that through Grants they help County Facilities and also projects to restore and protect damaged environments where Off Road activities have taken place in the past and endangered species reside.


So for the meeting and the issues..
Butch joined me along with Amy Granat from Corva, Christine Parsley from Cycle Gear and a friend who is intimately familiar with the OHV Program.
We had an 1-1/2 meeting in which we had a good discussion with Senator Simitian. However I don't feel he will change his mind.

He is running for County Supervisor later this year and letting him know what you think about taking the funding would be great as I know it will affect your vote!

Here is my summary on the meeting and below that is the note I sent back to him after the meeting.


Sustainable Parks Proposal. Item # 3790

**Note some of my notes were addressed to the Committees meeting, which I watched on the internet***

Senator I see these Funding shifts as the issue here a respectfully would like to point out why.

1. I understand that without the efforts your committee is taking, 16 State Parks will remain open – that is great. Another 19 are working on it.. and 21 are looking at “for profit” help to keep them open.

2. You stated to the State Park representative “ If you got a problem with something here then come back with something better” Addressing the internal working of the Park system for the State. **Please note the Acting Director did not show up at the meeting and the State Parks have not had a formalized leadership for 18 months -- Part of the problem eh??***

A couple of points from the previous meeting.

1. Fees for park use is a good thing. Users helping to pay for them makes good sense if the cost of doing it can be overcome.

2. License plate to support the Parks seems like a good plan and I think you will find them be successful.


3. Taking clean water funds as a loan makes sense.. why would the OHV system funds just be taken and not a loan? Our trust has already been raided and nothing paid back? Do you think this is fair to OHV users. Where is exactly did that go.?

4. I appreciate your effort to get this problem solved and trying to stop the circle jerk on this. The “no can do” attitude as you put it is refreshing indeed, but taking the money from the OHV system should be a “no can do”.

5. I was pleased to see that the Holister Proposal was approved. Thank you and the other committee members for that. **5M to fix septic systems that have been in disrepair and are endangering local creek system**

6. I understand that the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) which serves as the attorneys for your committee (and the rest of the legislature) indicated that they “think” they can take the portion of the money from fuel taxes (fuel burned while operating SUVs, MCs or ATVs off road) before it is deposited into the OHV Trust Fund. They have provided no legal determination or supporting documentation, just their opinion. They did however acknowledge that the money from the red/green stickers is not touchable and must go to OHV.

7. On the Ca. Vehicle Code (article 19)
I am tired of seeing our elected officials feeling that with their majority they can change the law however they like it to read. This puts it on the “public” to prove that this is not a violation of a law that can be changed with a Trailer Bill. There is no mention of that in Article 19 so how is the LAO coming up with the Statement that this is OK to do? Again they said “think”.

**Article 19 is the statute basically for the OHV System**

8. I understand that the LAO has concerns and that the OHV trust fund is not clear on the legality and the State Legislature should be mindful of how it should be used. Why would you go with an opinion that is not a definitely legal determination?

They even went further and stated that this money may want to be saved for the General fund and she mentioned a loan at that point.


9. I understand that 55 M of the gas tax goes to OHV. Some of those funds are gathered from OHV users who both use gas for travel to get there and for point of use. This money should stay where it was directed and per the above there is no legal means to take it.

The OHV receives 17 Million in registration fees and that will not to be touched. I am glad you respect that.

10. However taking all the gas tax money essentially away from where it was directed as part of the trust without paying it back looks illegal to me. Since the LAO has concerned why has this not gone to the Attorney General for confirmation that it is indeed legal. Do you not think that would be a proper course of action as a Senator?

11. As stated in the meeting the current status of the OHV is:
67 Million fund balance.
143 total.

If part of this is the consideration that 21 million could be moved and be authorized for 5 years why is this not being confirmed as legal before any action is taken? This should be made as a loan IMO if indeed it has to be done.


12. I also understand the OHV budget is 75 Million to keep the system running as it currently is even though there has been a 150% increase in use since early 2000. That increase no doubt has made a positive economic impact in the areas surround the Parks and other related industries.
**Cycle Gear noted that almost 40% of their sales are dirt related, keep in mind this does not address sales, off road vehicles and accessories or Snow mobile of the same***

13. I want to remind you. In 40 years this program has never used general fund $$. ** This shows how well the OHV system has been run and the enthusiasm of it users who actually voted to increase the sticker cost to help support the parks!***

14. Over the last six years more than 193 million has already been taken.
Is that being paid back.. ?? How can we stop this so the OHV can be expanded, cared for and become more of a positive for the State of California as it should be viewed. The Attorney General needs to be contacted as to the legality of this pillaging of the OHV funds and I urge.. URGE you to make that happen before this happens again.


15. The Parks system should not be looking at buying new park lands. They cannot make what they have work. New programs do not make sense to me. Unless it is a development of a new OHV Park or expansion of an existing facility to meet the needs of the users and increase the economic impact to the surround areas. **The CA State Park system is still buying land and letting the existing Parks close.. this makes sense huh?***

16. There are already cuts being made as stated at the meeting to keep the OHV parks operating within their budget.

17. I fully understand that authority by legislature is true.. but I believe without legal president being confirmed this funding status should stay intact until the due course of the program runs its course. Please don’t go by a vote.. contact the Attorney General to ensure this is legal.

18. These parks support local economies in a huge way. Cycle Gear is just one of those that can attest to that. Many of these parks are in more rural areas and the income to those local communities is a big part of their survival.

19. The damage of potential five years of taking 21M from the Gas Tax funding with no plan for the funds being replenished is of great concern. We cannot accept the potential closure of the OHV parks as many Californians enjoy these facilities and support them in ways that other parks do not enjoy.

20. The OHV Parks system, because they are one of the fastest growing of any parks in the system may need the funding for this growth. The State Park system is not using current funding wisely and the additional funds may be wasted and the parks still be closed if they cannot figure out the problems they currently have.

21. To take this money away from a successful program and put it in the hands of a system that is failing is not acceptable by me and as my representative once again I urge you to rethink this and respect the Users and businesses that thrive because of this system.


Those were the key points I made in the meeting however other points were well made my Mrs. Granat and others as well. I collected a few of those in my
email thanking him for the meeting and urging him once again to think this through!

Here you go:

This went to both Brock Winstead his staff member who we met with and to the Senator.

Hello Brock,

Hope your well.

I just wanted to ask you to pass on my thanks to the Senator for taking the time to meet with us on Friday.

I feel I bullied you guys a bit to get the meeting and wanted to make sure you both knew we appreciated his time and yours to listen to our passionate stance on the OHV funding issue.

If you could pass this to the Senator I would appreciate it.!

The big items I brought to his attention as his constituent were:

• There is no determination by the Attorney General that the 21M grab is legal and the LAO is still not sure it is. Based on that I would not want my representative to move forward with this without knowing it is indeed legal.

• There is no Director of the park system in place. Only an Acting Director who could not even come to the meeting. How can the committee provide the funding cart blanche with these funds going into a broken system that has proven to waste the money and is slow to react to the problems at hand? At the same time this would hurt the current operations and leave the OHV communities with the potential limitations of the operations affecting their enjoyment of the system. It growth and popularity should be a primary consideration.

• Per Amy’s input I also urge the Senator to please be aware that the OHV has no say in how the money is to be spent by the Parks. There is no representation within the current structure to allow them input. Amy had suggested that an equal number of OHV people be on the committee to decide how $$ should be spent if it does go to Parks. This is a great consideration and if this is proven to be legal I would urge the Senator and committee to add this action to the bill.

• My biggest fear with taking operational funding away from the OHV system and the grants that are made from it is the potential damage to the OHV system. Because this is operational money is part of what makes the system one of the best of the State Park systems. After 5 years we could find the OHV system broken down when the system comes back for review in 2018. At that point the system could be easily targeted for closure if the State is still in financial crisis.

• By taking away the funds grants will be affected that are for restoration of lands previously damaged and this could affect endangered species.

• Due to the above and the ability to take a loan from the trust I urge you to do that rather than take operational funding that will never be paid back to the system.

It was a good meeting I am happy that the Senator took the time to share his views and allowed us to share ours as well.

Sincerely,

Bud

Denny "Budman" Kobza
Owner: Bay Area Riders Forum - AMA O/MC #01
Founder:1Rider Motorcycle Safety Campaign
www.bayarearidersforum.com
AMA #: 203453~Life Member

So.. what can you do??

Email Senator Simitian and call the folks listed above.
Senator Simitian
Senator.Simitian@SENATE.CA.GOV

If you are a Santa Clara County resident please let him know what he does will affect your vote!!!

Copy and paste any of the above.. change it a bit and do it!!! Please
the meeting is tomorrow and cutting this off before it goes for a full vote is of utmost important!!!
 

Attachments

  • Santa Clara Co Opposes Simitian.pdf
    60.2 KB · Views: 79
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Emailed, and subscribed. Thanks guys for bringing this to my attention, and for standing up for our rights as motorcyclists. I really appreciate the email coming from Bud, as I don't login here enough so wouldn't have known about this without that email.

-s
----------------------------
Got an autoreply:
Thanks for your email. I appreciate hearing from you, and I hope that you'll continue to be in touch about issues of concern.
(yadda yadda)
Sincerely,
Joe

State Senator Joe Simitian
Eleventh District, California
 
Right on Steve :thumbup

Thank you!
 
Sent.

Dear Senator Simitian,
I would like to express my extreme displeasure at the prospect of self sustaining OHV funds being taken to prop up the State park system. While I completely sympathize with the need to maintain and support our State park system. Pulling funds from what in essence is a separately funded segment of the system is disingenuous at best to the thousands of Californians that have, and continue to pay into this fund for very specific purposes. I want urge you, in the strongest possible terms to rethink your position as it relates to OHV funds in your proposal. I appreciate your thoughtful consideration of my and many thousands of other Californians on this matter.

Sincerely,
Patrick Flora
 
I have not read the details. But it doesnt matter. The summary sounds horrible. Email SENT!!! OHVs are some of the few places we can enjoy the outdoors/wild in this overpopulated/over private propertied fucking state...!!!
 
AMA is on it :banana
 
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Done Again, and Again with Phone calls to each as well.

People it just takes 10 minutes off your day, 10 minutes. Please make your concerns known. Please read and educate yourself on the 1964 Wilderness Act. Understand the tactics of the Greens and how they are using the very laws to sue the USF and BLM and get their court costs paid for by you and me. EDUCATE YOURSELF PLEASE, There is more at jeopardy here than who can fucking marry who or if Illegals should vote, screw your own party system and THINK FOR YOURSELF
 
It passed. :mad

Unfuckingbelievable, now since they STOLE the OHV money, can we at least get an advocate of the OHV program overseeing the use of this tainted cash?
 
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