Westside BikeSIDE!

(Santa Monica PD tickets Santa Claus for not riding to the right, photo by Gary Kavanagh)

I’ve received more than a few queries lately about the status of Santa Monica Critical Mass (SMCM.) For those of you who don’t know, beginning in June ‘07, SMCM has been harassed and disrupted by Santa Monica PD (SMPD.) They’ve violated our right to free assembly and issued numerous citations, many erroneously.

I was shocked to discover that the ancient L.A. CM Yahoo message group still gets traffic when someone forwarded me this message:

Just wondering what has been come of the Santa Monica critical-mass? I know there were lot of people saying they were thinking of moving to Venice (but I haven’t heard anything after that) because SMPD was getting enforcement “happy”

SMCM still exists, and there are no plans to replace it (nevermind the issue of who could even make such plans.) January’s ride saw 20 die hards ride in frigid pouring rain (the assigned police cruiser elected not to get wet and ticket), and in December SMCM fielded about 130 cyclists who rode some 8 miles within Santa Monica before exiting to Venice. While November’s ride saw 32 cyclists cited, ticketing was less aggressive and less effective in December, with only 8 citations.

Yes, there is now a Venice Critical Mass, occurring on the traditional last Friday of the month. This is not meant to replace SMCM. Partly the ride was created to pick up some of the riders who may fear participating in SMCM, but primarily Westsiders created it because we want more rides, and more fun, like C.R.A.N.K. Mob. Most of the people who attended the first Venice CM at the end of November could be found at the start of SMCM a week later.

OK, so SMCM is alive, what else? What’s going on politically? What are the police planning? Will they continue to harass the ride?

The truth is we don’t know. I’ve spoken with one SM City Councilperson in private and they indicated that they would amenable to seeking a solution. As well there is another Councilperson who has expressed willingness through an intermediary to put something on the Council agenda. However, the communication has been herky jerky at best. Other city officials who could help us, such as the city manager, have not responded to communication. In my opinion, despite the police resources devoted to harassing the ride, SMCM doesn’t rate highly on city officials’ agendas.

Unfortunately, on our side, activist efforts to fight the suppression have fizzled. In my assessment activists are exhausted, don’t know what to do next (including me), and have other substantial demands. It’s hard to focus on organizing seemingly hopeless defenses of SMCM when your other options are exciting work at Bikerowave, preparing hijinks for C.R.A.n.K MoB, or participating in the LUCE process.

So, things are sort of at an exhausted cease fire. Look to the 3rd anniversary ride in February for a sense of rider support and police intent, and expect some kind of Council action, or another Storm the Bastille, in mid February.

(SMCM rolls out from the Santa Monica Pier, photo by Gary Kavanagh)

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