Hi Matt Thank you for the information, the updated website, and, especially, the conversation yesterday. I am glad to hear that there is more behind the scenes and that the City Attorney does see the bike plan injunction as a priority. I do, also, agree that the website may not have been the best place for me to interpolate the efforts of the City Attorney. I do still believe, however, that the record of Mr. Herrera on the bike plan injunction will speak volumes to his creditials as an environmentalist as he continues his exploration of a future Mayoral candidacy. As this injunction continues to drag on, the environmental priorities of the City Attorney's office will be best judged by the strategies, resources, and creativity that is put into the bike plan injunction. If you request the court provide relief from the injunction once and recieve such relief.... the obvious question will be "why didnt you request relief a dozen times". That story would look like an office that did not do all that it could. Alternatively, if you request relief 20 times and are successful five, that would look more like an office that is working hard to make the best of a bad situation. As it stands, the City Attorney's office did not appeal the injunction and (as I understand it) hasn't spent much time infront of a judge arguing for relief on behalf of the 160,000 SF cyclists that ride a bike once a week. I am encouraged by your strong words, even as I was disappointed not to see the City Attorney attend yesterday's bike plan rally. But, still, I look forward to the months to come when the priorities and efforts that you described come to fruition. Thanks again for the good discussion Ted Strawser San Francisco ----- Original Message ---- From: Matt Dorsey <Matt.Dorsey@sfgov.org> To: tedstrawser@yahoo.com Cc: board.of.supervisors@sfgov.org; cityattorney@sfgov.org; gavin.newsom@sfgov.org; SF BIke <sfbike@lists.riseup.net>; steve@sfbg.com; transpo@sfgreens.org Sent: Monday, July 21, 2008 1:11:38 PM Subject: Re: No bike injuction information on City Attorney website We certainly understand your frustration with respect to the timeline of the court-ordered environmental review as well as with the underlying injunction, Ted, and I can assure you that City Attorney Herrera shares that frustration. In response to your email, I've uploaded a PDF of the major pleadings and orders from the case, which I am certain will demonstrate this office's considerable efforts in fighting the legal challenges to the City's Bicycle Plan. To the extent the absence of these documents left you with the mistaken impression that this matter has been anything short of a top priority, I apologize: the Web site is my responsibility, and I regret that it doesn't always reflect the hard work and priorities of this office and the public servants who work here. Our Web site is available at the following URL... http://www.sfgov.org/cityattorney/ Apart from the City Attorney's legal defense of the Bicycle Plan, this office has repeatedly petitioned the Court to narrow the scope of the injunction; for general relief for modifications necessary for public safety exigencies; and for specific modifications, including that recently approved at Fell and Masonic. If you wish to access the complete docket of the case, you may find it online at the San Francisco Superior Court Web site at the following URL... http://webaccess.sftc.org/scripts/magic94/Mgrqispi94.dll?APPNAME=IJS&PRGNAME... ...and by entering the case number: 505509. It is my understanding that a Deputy City Attorney will provide a brief status report on the legal case at this afternoon's hearing of the Board of Supervisors' Land Use and Economic Development Committee. As with any litigation to which the City is party, however, detailed discussions of litigation strategy are conducted only in closed session with the Board because of attorney-client confidentiality. I hope the documents I've made available online help inform you of some of the legal challenges we've faced and the efforts we've undertaken to address them. If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to let me know. Best, MATT DORSEY Communications Director ------------------------------------------------------------- OFFICE OF CITY ATTORNEY DENNIS HERRERA San Francisco City Hall, Room 234 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place San Francisco, California 94102-4682 (415) 554-4662 Direct (415) 554-4700 Reception (415) 554-4715 Facsimile (415) 554-6770 TTY Ted Strawser <tedstrawser@yahoo.com> 07/21/2008 10:44 AM To cityattorney@sfgov.org cc SF BIke <sfbike@lists.riseup.net>, gavin.newsom@sfgov.org, board.of.supervisors@sfgov.org, steve@sfbg.com, matt.dorsey@sfgov.org, transpo@sfgreens.org Subject No bike injuction information on City Attorney website Dear Mr. Herrera Looking at the front page of your own website and searching through SF Gate, I can find zero evidence that you are spending any time at all working on the bike injuction. I originally assumed it was simply a "low priority" for you. Could it be true that, in fact, this is a "no priority". Will we see you at the rally today in front of City Hall? I would appreciate hearing from your office whether you have a plan to represent the 160,000 San Franciscans who ride their bikes in the city at least once a week. Your efforts to date, if there have been any, have been quite unacceptable (and unsuccessful by the way). Dissapointed, Ted Strawser San Francisco