What's needed?

Hmm, excellent idea sparky, an email salvo from MBc members directed at one member of a State Legislature. Four or five hundred emails could get someones attention, especially if it were to happen over, say, 24 hours.
 
Kerf, I got no response from Trip Pittman, even after sending a second copy of that letter. I'm mightily peeved. I will probably have to call his office to get anywhere.

Funny thing, I always thought that mailed letters were the best way to get something from your reps since it shows a bit of effort (well not really the best; flat out bribery seems to work well in Alabama).
 
Payoffs work everywhere but since we're broke, that's out. When all else fails, go to brute force, a good clubbing to the side of the head gets attention. Just look at what happened during the immigration issue when we shut down the Capitol Hill switchboard, they listened. I don't think we have enough following to shut anything down but we may be able to run a good bluff.
If we could get enough MBc members to bomb Trip Pittman with emails, all pushing the issue, we might get the attention we need. I don't think anyone would know where they live and would just assume that you and I have a large following of Alabama MB riders behind us. If it could work here, it could work in other states as well, it wouldn't be the first time a small vocal group got what it wanted.
 
I was thinking more along the lines of bombarding all congressmen at once... but when kerf said just "one member" of a legislature, I figured we could make this a theme week idea. Once a week we all send letters, emails, & even phone calls to just one congressman. Then the next week, we'll bombard another congressman. This way we have more focus on our actual progress; we'll be able to see results quickly.

As long as the letter is a general one, about *assisted* bicycles not motored bicycles, this could solve many problems at once. Or at least once a week!
 
I think we're going to need some admin help to create the groundswell of member support we need. Watdouthink?
 
To Sparky and Kerf,
I think you've got a good idea going. I would add the advice that all of us should write our legislators. If we get no response, that's ok. There's nothing wrong with us sending the same request again a bit further down the road. Over and over is fine. Maybe not daily; that might just get them annoyed. But there's nothing wrong with sending a polite request and doing so again (and again) after a while if we get no response. Even if we get an outright rejection, there is nothing wrong with sending a request that they reconsider.

If they started to receive these requests with no obvious connection to the other requests, that might convince them that the MB community is growing to the point that they can profit from cooperating with us.
 
Only way I can really help as of right now is to give a list of US congressmen: Senators & Representatives

I figure if kerf gives us his letter, we can all tweak it & turn it into a real template for all of us to use, perhaps even with a link to a new thread here at MBc so that the congressmen can respond if they so choose due to our "overwhelming" support. Then we can start knocking off one problematic state per week. Every one of us bombard Alabama officials for a whole week with emails, snail mail, & telephone calls... and we'll prolly see how it'll work for the other states.

We could have every state done within a year... and much sooner actually, seeing as how some states like New Hampshire & Colorado are pretty educated on motored bikes.
 
I figure if kerf gives us his letter, we can all tweak it & turn it into a real template for all of us to use, perhaps even with a link to a new thread here at MBc so that the congressmen can respond if they so choose due to our "overwhelming" support. Then we can start knocking off one problematic state per week. Every one of us bombard Alabama officials for a whole week with emails, snail mail, & telephone calls... and we'll prolly see how it'll work for the other problematic states.
Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, and a bump, bump!!

I'd really like to see this happen. What's up with that letter, kerf?

Also wondering if too much support could cause backlash?? What're your thoughts, guys?
 
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