Advocacy Advance Convenes Coalition

This is a guest blog post from Jessica Meaney, Managing Director at Investing In Place. Advocacy Advance is the League’s dynamic partnership with the Alliance for Biking & Walking.

In partnership with Advocacy Advance, Investing in Place and the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (LACBC) were thrilled to engage over 30 community based organizations and leaders throughout Los Angeles County (list of organizations that attended at the bottom of the post) to discuss the pending expenditure plan as the region considers its fourth transportation sales tax for the ballot in November 2016. And of course we were tweeting! Check out LACBC’s storify post to see what we were saying during the workshop.

It was a full day together at the beautiful Audubon Deb’s Park where we discussed the potential 2016 Los Angeles County transportation ballot measure. We started with a deep dive into Councils of Governments (COGs) and subregions, with presentations from the San Gabriel Valley COG Executive Director Fran Delach and South Bay COG researcher Mohja Rhoads. We then heard from Dave Campbell from Bike East Bay, a leading organizer for the successful Measure BB campaign in Alameda County, which allocates 8% of regional transportation funds to walk/bike and 15% of local return to walk/bike for a total of approximately 12%.

After lunch, we discussed lessons learned from Los Angeles County Measure J (unsuccessful in 2012) and what was important for the group to see in the pending Metro sales tax expenditure plan for consideration in 2016. Active transportation, social equity and public health were all common priorities for workshop participants. Since COGs and subregions are currently finalizing their funding priorities, we broke up into working groups by subregion to develop ways to boost effective engagement with COG leadership. (See the FAQ on Los Angeles County COG’s for more info.)

This convening built upon the efforts of the Los Angeles County Active Transportation Collaborative which was led by the Safe Routes to School National Partnership and Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition from 2012 – 2014. The collaborative produced research, based on best practices from other counties and input from partners, recommending that at least 10% of the next Los Angeles County transportation sales tax measure be dedicated for walking, bicycling and safe routes to school investments. In addition to the set-aside of 10%, it is recommended that 20% of local returns be designated for walking and bicycling investments, following the lead of Alameda County Measure BB and consistent with the City of Los Angeles’s draft Mobility Plan 2035. Read the full research findings here.

The group wrapped the day with next steps, which involved outreach to COG leaders over project list priorities, engaging with Metro on the development of the potential 2016 sales tax expenditure plan and more.

And a huge thank to you to all our partner organizations for this great workshop!

• AARP California
• Advancement Project / Healthy City
• Advocacy Advance
• Amigos de los Rios
• Bike East Bay
• Bike San Gabriel Valley
• California Walks
• Climate Resolve
• Day One
• Community Health Councils
• Estolano LeSar Perez Advisors
• Ghost Bikes / Empact Long Beach
• Investing in Place
• LA River Revitalization Corporation
• LA THRIVES / Low Income Investment Fund
• Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles
• Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition
• Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action
• Los Angeles Walks
• Move LA
• National Health Foundation
• Natural Resources Defense Council Urban Solutions
• Pacoima Beautiful
• Pomona Valley Bicycle Coalition (LACBC Chapter)
• Proyecto Pastoral
• San Gabriel Valley COG
• Santa Clarita Valley Bicycle Coalition (LACBC Chapter)
• Santa Monica Spoke (LACBC Chapter)
• South Bay Cities COG
• The Trust for Public Land
• Walk Bike Glendale (LACBC Chapter)
• West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition (LACBC Chapter)

We’re excited for what’s ahead for a more walkable, bikeable and transit rich Los Angeles region. For more information please contact Jessica Meaney at Investing in Place or Eric Bruins at the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition. And thanks to Andrew Yip for the great photo!