Help the Save the Davis Bike Church!
Jason Moore
Please distribute this email widely:
As many of you know, UC Davis Student housing has issued an eviction notice to the Davis Bike Church. You can find plenty of information about the situation in the attached press release on our Davis Wiki page, or by contacting the ministry by email. We're writing to ask you to speak out against the eviction and to express your support for the Bike Church by encouraging the UC Davis Administration to recognize the value of Bike Church in our community and to work collaboratively with us to find permanent resolutions to their concerns. Here are a few ways you can help:
· Join the 70+ others in our community who have sent personal emails to UC Davis Student Housing
Use the letter copied below and add your own statements of support
Send your email to: jchu...@ucdavis.edu; bmpe...@ucdavis.edu ; ecga...@ucdavis.edu; few...@ucdavis.edu; bikemi...@gmail.com. These are mostly Student Housing administrators.
· Sign the online petition which we'll deliver to UC Davis Administrators later this week http://www.petitiononline.com/SaveDBC1/petition.html.
·
Join the Facebook group to stay connected and hear the latest news: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=2484976956&ref=ts
· Rally! Meet at the Bike Church Thursday at 2:00pm and stand with us in support as we deliver our response to Student Housing's notice of eviction
· Spread the word and encourage others to speak up as well. Send this call to action out widely. Let the Administration know how important the Bike Church is to our community.
· Personally contact anyone else you think you could voice your concern to.
· Join with the Bike Church and Davis Bicycles! on November 19th at 7:00pm in the Domes Community Center for a community meeting to envision ideas and options for a permanent bicycle cooperative in Davis.
· Keep riding your bike, and visit the Church Wednesday and Saturday 12-6pm for our regular open hours.
Sincerely,
The Ministry
USE THE FOLLOWING TEXT AS A BASE FOR YOUR PERSONAL EMAIL TO UC DAVIS ADMINISTRATORS
SEND YOUR EMAIL TO: jchu...@ucdavis.edu; bmpe...@ucdavis.edu; ecga...@ucdavis.edu; few...@ucdavis.edu; bikemi...@gmail.com
Dear UC Davis Administrators,
The
Davis Bike Church has served us, the Davis and UC Davis community, for four
years as a unique repository for tools, recycled parts, and knowledge about
bicycles. During that time, thousands of us have been empowered through
education received at the Bike Church. It is for this reason that we are
troubled by the sudden eviction of the Bike Church from the University campus.
Though we understand the concerns expressed about the Bike Church, we are thoroughly
disappointed by Student Housing Administration's unwillingness to work
constructively toward viable resolutions. UC Davis as a proud history of
fostering the roots of unique community service organizations; consider the
Experimental College, Craft Center, KDVS, the Bike Barn, Outdoor Adventures,
and Unitrans as examples. It saddens us to see the current UC Davis
Housing Administration snuff the efforts of an emerging group of volunteers
proving a valuable community service. We respectfully request that Student
Housing, and other appropriate departments of the University, spend the time
and effort necessary to allow Bike Church volunteers to comply with University
regulations and thus continue to serve the community for years to come.
In the eviction notice sent to the Bike Church, Student Housing expressed
several concerns which we believe are easy to resolve if the University staff
would only communicate and collaborate with the Bike Church volunteers.
Concerns about liability have already been solved by such organizations as the
Craft Center, and it would be simple to implement a similar waiver system.
Environmental Health and Safety concerns have been addressed since Student
Housing first began to press the issue, and the efforts of Bike Church volunteers
need only the review, additional guidance and approval from University
Environmental Health and Safety experts. Fire Department concerns can be solved
through communication and cooperation in implementing modern fire prevention.
Monetary transactions of other campus organizations have been structured and
regulated, and certainly clear guidance from University officials would allow
the Bike Church to operate according to necessary accounting policy. Student
Housing's concern about the Bike Church serving non-student community members
in a location near student housing seems unfounded since the EC gardens, with
an equally immediate proximity to the Domes, has a long standing history of
serving people from throughout the community. Lastly, the Domes community
approved and supported the Bike Church from its inception and continues to
express clear and strong support for the Bike Church activities.
We implore the UC Davis administration to stay true to their public service,
educational, and environmental promises by taking the time to work
collaboratively with this grass-roots community service project, rather than
pretentiously brushing it aside. The Bike Church volunteers provide education
and a welcoming community for bicyclists, filling a niche that is neglected by
other campus programs. Losing this organization may seem small compared to more
pressing administrative concerns, but it would be a sad blow to the base of the
UC Davis community and would reflect a lack of University support for community
building, public service, and sustainability.
Sincerely,