SandWizard's talking about bringing balance back to the OHMVR committee. We actually have a chance to do that, if we can fend off the bad guys. Here are the members that will run out of time January 2004:

Judith Anderson, appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly

Michael Prizmich, appointed by the Governor (guess we'd better start talking to Arnie)

Paul Spitler, appointed by the Senate Rules Committee (and he's one of the biggest of the bad guys)

And yes, there is an OHMVR hearing on December 5th, where the 2003/2004 southern California grants will be discussed (and Glamis will once again be a hot topic):

Start at 9:00 a.m.
Four Points Sheraton
Palm Ballroom
8110 Aero Dr.
San Diego, CA 92123
(800) 992-1441
(858) 277-8888

OHV leaders will be meeting before December 5th to discuss not only the pending grants, but also the January openings.

Vicki

As you can see the three in red are up this Jan. one of which is appointed by the new Governor, A.S. I haven't seen any out reach effort to get A.S. help in appointing the right person.

Such individual should help foster a more concerted effort in realizing the positive economic impact our sport brings to the communities and localities where we recreate.

As a side note, we all felt the pain of the new higher veh. registration cost, we we're told that this was needed to defray our state neg budget. However I wonder how new losses from sales tax revenues (45% drop in new car sales) and loses from payroll taxes (laid off car dealership personnel) was factored in?

Now with the removal of this fee, car sales have hit record #, generating grater overall revenue for the state, yet another example of "bad economic science"

I wonder if the same argument could be applied to our concerns, now that we have A.S. as our Governor

You're right Slappy, this is important. Think of how much influence 1.4 million people could have over this process!

Vicki

Yes it is absolutely open to the public. Here's the agenda as of right this moment:

Agenda
Meeting of the
OFF-HIGHWAY MOTOR VEHICLE RECREATION COMMISSION
Four Points Sheraton/Palm Ballroom
8110 Aero Drive, San Diego, CA 92123
Friday, December 5, 2003

9:00 a.m. I. CALL TO ORDER

A. Pledge of Allegiance
B. Roll Call
C. Swear in New Member

II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA (1)

III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A. October 2, 2003

IV. PROPOSED CALENDAR
A. 2004 Schedule
1. February 20, 2004 - Sacramento
February 21, 2004 - Public Input Meeting, Sacramento
2. May 7, 2004 - Burbank
3. August 18, 2004 - Subcommittee on Northern CA Grants, Sacramento
4. September 1, 2004 - Subcommittee on Southern CA, Ontario
5. October 28-29, 2004 - Sacramento
6. December 3, 2004 - Sacramento

V. REPORTS (2)
A. Commissioner's Reports
B. Division Chief's Report
C. Federal Government Reports
Rich Farrington, USFS
James Keeler, BLM
D. Standing/Special/Sub Committee Reports

VI. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
OR-602 Alpine County Sheriff OHV Enforcement (Summer)
OR-2-E-64 USFS El Dorado Law Enforcement (Summer) 04
OR-2-ME-49 USFS Mendocino Owl Noise Study 04
OR-2-ST-51 USFS Stanislaus O&M (Winter) 04

VII. NEW BUSINESS
2003/04 Southern California Local Assistance Grants and Federal Cooperative Agreements
A. Review the status of the 2003/04 Local Grants and Federal
Cooperative Agreement applications as shown on the attached list, and process for Commission consideration and allocation of OHV funds. Consider applications, take public testimony, select priorities, and allocate funds for Local Assistance and Safety Grants and Federal Cooperative Agreements, as shown on the attached list.
1. Consent Calendar (See below footnote 3a )
2. Local Grants and Cooperative Agreements (See below footnote 3b )
B. Rescope of existing Grants and Cooperative Agreements
GRANT NUMBER AGENCY GRANT NAME REMAINING FUNDING
OR-2-ST-43 Stanislaus NF Stanislaus Resource Management $136,000.00
OR-2-LA-67 Lassen NF Lassen Resource Management $40,000.00
OR-2-T-68 Tahoe NF Tahoe O & M $19,481.00
OR-2-LTB-44 Lake Tahoe Basin MU Lake Tahoe Basin Winter O & M $19,946.00
OR-2-P-64 Plumas NF Plumas NF O & M $36,182.00
OR-2-SE-50 Sequoia NF Sequoia NF O & M $35,431.00
TOTAL $287,040.00

11:00 a.m. Public Comment Period (See below footnote 3c )
12:00 p.m. Lunch
1:00 p.m. Continuation of Agenda
5:00 p.m. Adjournment
(1) The Commission will proceed through the agenda in order until the agenda is completed. The Commission will take a lunch recess at approximately noon. The public comment period shown is for non-agenda items only. The agenda will be interrupted at approximately 11:00 a.m. on Friday, December 5, 2003, for public comment.
Commissioners/staff should request that an item be placed on the agenda prior to printing. No action may be taken on any item of business unless it appears specifically on this agenda [Gov. Code sections 11122, 125 (a) and (B )].
(2) No action may be taken on any item included under "Reports" [Gov. Code sections 11122, 11125(a) and (B )].
(3) PUBLIC TESTIMONY
(a) Consent Calendar: Items on the Consent Calendar are considered non-controversial. If there is public interest, concern or discussion regarding any consent calendar item or a request for public comment, then such consent items will be removed from the consent calendar and considered during the hearing on individual items. Any person or group, including grant applicants, who wishes the opportunity to be heard with regard to an item or items on the Consent Calendar must fill out the yellow Public Comment Form; Consent Calendar.
(B ) Individual Items: The Chair will entertain public comment as agenda items are discussed. Comment will be limited to two (2) minutes per individual or four (4) minutes for organizations. Any item taken off agenda at the time the agenda is approved may only be discussed during the public comment period.
(C ) Public Comment Period for All Other Items: Those persons wishing to address the Commission during the public comment period must fill out the Public Comment form. Members of the audience presenting public comments to the Commission are requested to provide a total of thirteen (13 ) copies and give four (4) copies to the Recording Secretary. Only those matters listed under Unfinished and New Business are action items upon which the Commission may take action.

That's a darn good question. Go here for a list of the grants that they've been chewing on since May.

Once again it's very clear which way this commission leans by the projects they are willing to spend our money on.

For instance, they reduced the ISDRA safety education grant from $82,000 to $10,000, turned down the ISDRA interpretive sign project and nixed both the monitoring grants submitted by the ASA. Oh yeah, they also turned down the ISDRA equipment grant too.

But not to worry... they approved spending $16,000 of our dollars for a Yuha brochure. (That one was submitted by the Desert Protective Council.)

What do you think of that?

If you have something to say to your OHV leaders or something you want them to say, now is the time to start letting them know. The OHV leadership group will be meeting before the hearing and quite often we're asked to approve or support certain grants. Make your wishes known now, before the moment comes.

Or simply be there to show just how strong we are, especially since the tides could turn in our favor. And Ed Waldheim, a well-known OHV leader, will be sworn in at this meeting... he'd probably really appreciate seeing his fellow OHVers in force.

Vicki