Please extend your support and join https://www.electricmountainbikeassociation.org/ Mr. Spiro, Currently, no decision has been made to rescind or alter District Superindent Order prohibiting E-Bikes on the State Park-Angeles District trails within the Santa Monica Mountains. As I have stated in the past the decision to prohibit all classes of e-bikes was made to maintain consistency with adjacent public lands managed by the National Park Service and the Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority, who prohibit e-bikes on their backcountry trails. The trail system within the Santa Monica Mountains crosses seamlessly through these different jurisdictional boundaries. As a result, State Parks, the National Park Service and the Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority have managed these lands through a cooperative management agreement since the 1990s. The agreement, among other things, encourages the development and implementation of a regional Trail Management Plan to provide uniform standards and guidelines for trails and trail use. That plan is currently under development and is expected to be released for public comment in the spring of 2019. Please let me know if you have any questions or need more information on this issue. Craig Sap District Superintendent Angeles District 1925 Las Virgenes Calabasas, CA. 91302 (818) 880-0396 Office (310) 699-1732 Cell (818) 880-0359 FAX From: Steve Spiro Sent: Sunday, July 15, 2018 1:37:31 PM To: Sap, Craig@Parks Cc: Hoffman, Tony@Parks; Perez, Vicki@Parks; senator.allen@senate.ca.gov; senator.stern@senate.ca.gov; lisa.gardiner@sen.ca.gov; senator.mitchell@senate.ca.gov; assemblymember.dababneh@assembly.ca.gov; sean.macneil@asm.ca.gov; Susanna.Schlendorf@asm.ca.gov; richard.bloom@assembly.ca.gov; assemblymember.irwin@assembly.ca.gov; assemblymember.acosta@assembly.ca.gov; david.creager@asm.ca.gov; Towle, Allison; Stan Ramsey; emtbassociation@gmail.com ... [Message clipped] View entire message Steve Spiro 6:00 PM (2 minutes ago) to Craig.Sap, Steve, Tony.Hoffman, Vicki.Perez, senator.allen, senator.stern, lisa.gardiner, senator.mitche., assemblymember., sean.macneil, Susanna.Schlen., richard.bloom, assemblymember., assemblymember., david.creager, Allison, Stan Hi Craig, Thank you for your fast response. I understand you have posted signs banning E-Bikes now. Our members seem to have conflicting information regarding the enforcement of your order. Maybe you can clear up some of the information for us. Have citations for violating the order been issued? If so about how many? Are there warnings issued first? What is the fine or penalty associated with the citations? Have you had to issue fines? Is there a process for challenging fine and or citation? What is that process. Are exceptions made for disabled persons to have full and equal access to the natural surface bike trails within the Angeles District State Park system for low power assist e-bikes? We do not agree that just because NPS and MRCA bans them by considering low power assist E-Bikes motorized vehicles, that County Employees can cause California State Parks to simply ignore State law AB1096 (or Public Law 107-319) that states clearly that Class 1 or 2 low power assist E-Bikes are not motorized vehicles and are to have the same bike trail and path access as standard bikes do. So although NPS and MRCA have their argument as flawed as it is, State Parks do not have that argument. Your argument is that you are banning this new class of bike because neighboring jurisdictions do. One of our members says you are a county employee and do not have the authority to rewrite state law only to administer existing state law. This includes issuing and enforcing orders that violate or ignore existing state law. You do realize that you are disenfranchising an entire class of people from equal access to have the same enjoyment and use of the natural surface State Park bike Trails. That this class of people represents more than 1/3rd of the population. That you are doing this to make nice to your jurisdictional neighbors and or to honor a joint agreement that predates and conflicts with current State law. As a county employee you need to administer existing law not attempt to make new law that contradicts existing State law. You have to realize that at some point we will start funding class action litigation and or other political action. I am encouraged that you have indicated that the decision to rescind your order 915-17-002 prohibiting the use of E-Bikes in Angeles District Parks undeveloped areas has not been made as it sounds like at least you are considering doing so in the future. The vast majority of low power assist E-bikes (as defined by both state and federal law) mostly helps the older riders and or those suffering from medical conditions and injures. I am not sure why you continue to take a stand against State Park equal access to this segment of the population. I have to believe that since you have put the order into effect that you have received a lot more information on and feed back from the public (including our petition signed by 1833 people on this issue. That you are fully capable of reconsidering the order based on this additional information. I do not hold it against you that you issued the order, however with all of the additional information that you have now received since, I would have an issue if you do not adjust your position to accommodate the 1833 people that have now signed the petition and the tens of thousands of other supporters that they represent just a fraction of. I am not sure why you would want to block State Park bike access to the aging, injured or those with serious medical conditions equal access to bike trails and paths simply because they require or prefer low power pedal assist in order to ride a bike. Do you really want this issue to be your legacy? Regulate if you must but a total ban is not right. Have you ridden a pedal assist bike? If not would you be open to riding one if I can arrange for one to be loaned to you? It's ok if you have not been on a bike in years, this is the allure. These bikes are life changing insomuch as they allow those who have not been on a bike in years to easily ride again and enjoy the health benefits that comes from staying more fit by doing something that is fun. So fun that you don't even realize that you are exercising. Don't take my word for it, you have to try it to appreciate it and understand why 1833 (more than 100 new supporters over night) have signed this petition asking you to rescind your ban. Your neighboring land managers are wrong. They will get it right at some point. But you are enabling them by ignoring new state law and adopting their position as it relates to these low power assist bikes. Do the right thing and let us in or eventually we will be strong enough to knock down the gate.You now have a lot of unhappy citizens on your door step asking for existing bike trail access on the the type of bikes that work for them that are legally considered just bikes. Be the hero here not the villain. History will reflect one or the other. Are you aware of the following? "E-bikes are allowed on trails controlled by the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency, a joint powers authority between the City of Thousand Oaks and the Conejo Recreation and Park District. COSCA maintains more than 150 miles of trails passing through 12,400 acres of open space in and around Thousand Oaks. Matt Kouba, CRPD’s park superintendent, said COSCA is experimentally allowing pedal-assisted bikes on local trails. He said open space officials took the Conejo Valley’s aging population into consideration when weighing whether to allow the power-assisted devices." Here is an article that just came out late last week about your ban and this issue that I pulled the above quote from. I have asked the writer to let her subscribers know about our group and our petition. I have not even started to gain media attention for this yet. That will happen at some point should this impasse continue. Again you have a chance to fix this before it becomes a bigger issue. https://www.toacorn.com/articles/some-want-state-parks-to-lift-ban-on-e-bikes/ Thank you for your time and continued consideration in this matter. ...