Re: PA OHV action alert.
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2020 8:58 am
I got involved in a property development project for my kid's school that energized a political dust-up and got to experience what it was like to lobby at the local County and State level. What I learned from that is how effective it is to meet face to face with law makers and show them that you represent even a modestly sized voting block. Often times, these people made it in to office by just hundreds of votes margins. When you show up representing more people than that, they will listen to you and if convinced that you're doing something good they'll pay attention over the "boy who cried wolf" type environmentalist organizations.
I don't live in PA but if for those that do I'd encourage you to show up and lean in to this if the window is still open to change. Make up some buttons that represent two-wheel access to these state lands and get a people to show up at public comment opportunities wearing them. Sounds corny but I can tell you from first hand experience that when the room has more of your buttons on display than anyone else, they'll assume that behind every button is another few hundred voters that aren't there. Same thing with writing to your state and local representatives. When they get a flood of mail they'll multiply that times a few hundred and do the vote calculus and take notice.
It's also important to find out if there's an opposition voice in the fight and make sure you're going around behind them balancing the record face to face with your representatives. Obviously not everyone individually has to meet with them but there must be some organization you have there that can ask for a meeting where that person will be representing the thousands of motorcyclist affected by these laws.
All that takes some effort, usually by people who are out of their comfort zone doing it. But if you don't try then you know what the answer will be.
I don't live in PA but if for those that do I'd encourage you to show up and lean in to this if the window is still open to change. Make up some buttons that represent two-wheel access to these state lands and get a people to show up at public comment opportunities wearing them. Sounds corny but I can tell you from first hand experience that when the room has more of your buttons on display than anyone else, they'll assume that behind every button is another few hundred voters that aren't there. Same thing with writing to your state and local representatives. When they get a flood of mail they'll multiply that times a few hundred and do the vote calculus and take notice.
It's also important to find out if there's an opposition voice in the fight and make sure you're going around behind them balancing the record face to face with your representatives. Obviously not everyone individually has to meet with them but there must be some organization you have there that can ask for a meeting where that person will be representing the thousands of motorcyclist affected by these laws.
All that takes some effort, usually by people who are out of their comfort zone doing it. But if you don't try then you know what the answer will be.
