The second Biketivist Forum, held on Jan. 20, was a huge success with over 60 participants! Thank you to all our amazing members and supporters for making time in busy mid-week schedules for coming together to advocate for better bike infrastructure and policies. The concept behind Biketivist forums is to bring city advocates together on the same platform, encourage interaction and cross-learning between the members, promote and build new leaders, and make teams more effective at advocating for local improvements and bike-friendly policies.The forums are split into two segments. At the last event, the first hour was about how to understand and influence city budgets. Guest presenter, Sunnyvale Councilmember Russ Melton, talked about how Sunnyvale plans and approves its budget each year and the opportunities for the public to get involved. Participants were encouraged to understand the budget process in their city so they can be effective at advocating for more funding for bicycling improvements and safer streets in their city.There are four key takeaways from “City Budget - Show us the Money!” session

Cities update their budget every year so every year you have a chance to make a difference.
You need to understand your city’s budget process. All of them vary slightly in the important meetings and dates. All cities approve their budget in June for the fiscal year starting 1 July.
You need to do your homework. Be familiar with your city’s capital improvement plan (CIP) and bicycle master plan so you know which projects and policy changes make the most sense to advocate for.
You need to engage with your city council members in Jan. and Feb. when cities start gathering input for the upcoming budget to maximum impact. At a minimum, you can advocate for fully funding implementation of your city’s bike plan whenever it is due to be completed. E.G. fund 100% of the projects by 20xx.

You can download a PDF of the presentation here.

For the second hour, participants split into breakout rooms based on geography where the team members brainstormed to develop campaigns to get more spending in upcoming city budgets starting July 1 2021. It was another successful event supporting grassroots bicycling advocacy in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. A big SHOUT-OUT to all the wonderful leaders, without whom progress wouldn't be possible! Missed Forum II ? Don't worry - it’s not too late! You can join your local team and the team leader/greeter will bring you up to speed on what they are working on. Biketivist Forum III date is Wednesday, March 17 at 5 pm. Click here to register.

Local team leaders