From: hoco@stroid.timefold.com (Howard Cohen)
Subject: [sfskaters] A Report on the S.F. Board of Supervisor's Meeting
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 1996 10:28:09 -0700

There were about 8 skaters there, including Dave Miles.  We waited while the
board finished regular business.  Eventually it was time for public 
commentary.  Each person gets about 2 minutes to say what they want while
some or all of the board is there.  Only some of the board members were there,
and they looked tired.

About 12 people spoke before the board -- half the speakers were in favor
of the Friday Night Skate.  David Miles spoke first, and handed out a 
folder with excellent information on the Friday Night skate, including the
rules, and articles clipped from many newspapers.

People made these points, and more (paraphrased from memory):

	- please let us survive as an event
	- our event is popular throughout the world
	- it is source of revenue for the city due to more tourism
	- it has been going on for a long time now
	- skaters can and will take care of themselves
	- there is a strong community among skaters
	- skaters come from all walks of life
	- skaters are not extremists
	- the FN skate is about having fun, not protesting or bothering people

One person stood up and spoke *against* the Friday Night Skate.  He said a few
things (as best as I can recall):

	- he has been personally hassled by skaters on numerous occasions
	- he described some of the incidents, mainly Pier 39 and the Marina
	- skaters are not all as nice as the people the board saw today

But, he closed his two minutes with a statement I found encouraging.  Instead
of saying "you should stop this skate from happening" he said "I think these
folks should follow a designated route".  I'm thinking, OK, sounds good to
me!  If skaters are hasseling people on the street, we need to stop that,
but I know most skaters would never do that.  A few rotten apples...

I observed that a few board members were smiling while skaters were 
speaking.  I think they were genuinely pleased to be spoken to without
hostility, without blame and without demands.  Other speakers had
important points of view to relate, but it wasn't pleasant for the
board to hear them.

I learned some interesting things while there.  Jim Wipff (one of our skaters)
described the actual S.F. laws which make it clearly illegal to have
the Friday Night Skate.  According to Jim, we are all subject to a fine of
about $160 each for skating at night anywhere in the city of San Francisco,
because there is a specific city ordinance prohibiting it.  The city has
been choosing not to enforce the law, or at least, the police have been
choosing not to enforce it.  Skating at night is illegal, for any reason.

But recently, there have been enough complaints (apparently) that some police,
perhaps even an individual, have been hinting that the non-enforcement
should change.  We are on very thin ice here -- we have no right to do what
we do on Fridays, without committing civil disobediance.

That's why Dave asked folks to come to the Board of Supervisor's meeting
to try to give them a good flavor for what we're about, and to ask them to
give us a chance to get things back under control.

I am very optimistic about the Friday Night Skate's continued survival as
a skating institution in San Francisco for these reasons:

	- The Mayor loves us
	- The Board got a good impression of us 
	- We did really great last week keeping control of ourselves, and
	  the police saw it, and waved in appreciation (I hope that was
	  appreciation... but they did wave).
	- Skaters can and will take care of themselves -- I believe it.
	- The Mayor loves us

Did I mention that the Mayor loves us?  Well, it seems to be true.  He and
Dave Miles have a rapport, and the Mayor seems to go out of his way to 
shake Dave's hand and ask how it's going.  The Mayor invited the Friday
Night Skaters to participate in the Herb Caen Day parade.  I got to shake
hands with Bill Walsh that day!

This is a good sign, I think. But politics being what they are, this is not
a permanent fix, just a breather while we get ourselves under control.  We
have to do that, really, if we want the skate to continue.  But I believe
we can do that because I know that skaters have the ability to work together
and still have a great time.

Peace,

      ____
     / ^ \\
    /     ``======,       Howard Cohen
    (____________/        hoco@timefold.com
    ---       --
  (-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)	  Suite, black suspenders, and a Jerry Garcia tie.