Gerardo Mouet, executive director of the City of Santa Ana’s parks, recreation and community services agency, told the OC Register this week that “Santa Ana is the county seat and the most urban section in the county. Biking and walking in an urban setting is of growing interest, and Santa Ana is a great place to illustrate this trend to the entire county.”
Mouet is very proud of the fact that Santa Ana will be hosting Orange County’s first ever Ciclovia – an open streets event where the streets will be closed to cars and opened to bikers, walkers and runners. SOMOS or “Sunday On Main Open Streets” is scheduled for Sunday, October 5, 2014 from 9 am to 4 pm.
But here is the problem – the City of Santa Ana has a mandatory bike registration program in place that is run by the Santa Ana Police Department. If your bike is not registered with the police they can stop you and actually give you a pricey ticket! Hardly any of our residents know about this program. How many people are they going to ticket at the Ciclovia?
There is no good reason for this program to be mandatory! It should be voluntary. This is ridiculous and I am not happy that our City Council and City Manager are OK with this situation. I suggest we all boycott the Ciclovia until such time that the City of Santa Ana changes the mandatory bike registration program to a voluntary program.
There is no way the City of Santa Ana will change this program unless we demand it. Here is their contact information:
- The Santa Ana City Council. Email them here.
- Santa Ana Councilwoman Michele Martinez, Ward 2. She is currently running for re-election. Email her here and here. Call her at (714) 887-9845.
- Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides, Ward 4. He is currently running for re-election. Email him here and here. Call him at (714) 475-1630.
- Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Sal Tinajero, Ward 6. He is currently running for re-election. Email him here and here. Call him at (714) 552-2800.
- Santa Ana Councilman Roman Reyna, Ward 5. He is currently running for Mayor of Santa Ana. Email him here. Call him at 714-647-6900.
- Santa Ana Councilman Vince Sarmiento, Ward 1. Email him here. Call him at 714-647-6900.
- Santa Ana Councilwoman Angie Amezcua, Ward 3. Email her here. Call her at 714-647-6900.
- Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido. Email him here. He is currently running for reelection. Call him at 714-647-6900.
- Santa Ana City Manager David Cavazos. Call him at (714) 647-5200.
Here are the details regarding the SAPD’s mandatory bike registration program:
- You must have a bike license if you own a bicycle in the city of Santa Ana.
- Helmets are required for bike riders under 18 years of age. Helmets are also required if you use a razor scooter, roller skates, roller blades, and skateboard (California Vehicle Code 21212a).
- There is no fee and no appointment is necessary to register your bicycle. If you are an adult, you must bring photo identification.
Bicycle Licenses are issued:
MONDAY – FRIDAY
7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
NO CHARGE
NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY
(714) 245-8200
at: Santa Ana Police Department at 60 Civic Center Plaza, in Santa Ana.
Then it’s a “sting” operation by the SAPD.
That’s what it looks like to me!
The only “Sting” going on here is to the Santa Ana residents who will be inconvienenced and stuck with a HUGE bill for this silly exercise. Just because Martinez likes biking, Ten’s of thousands will be put out on their only day off.
Out of control gang violence, crumbling streets, homelessness, and we want a Ciclovia?
Shows you how out of touch the council is with Santa Ana.
They definitely have screwy priorities and are out of touch with the public.
Well now, since it’s free this is a perfect opportunity to issue licenses. Set up a station. And how about having license month at local parks?
Great ideas.
Photo identification for a bike license? Is ICE going to be there?
I guess it’s settled… I’ll be joining the Los Angeles version… again!
This event is open to everyone, not just Santa Ana residents. If the author of this article thinks the police will stop bike riders to ask them if they live in Santa Ana or not (which might be an illegal police action anyway), and then ask those who live in Santa Ana to show their bike registration, then the current police force management and elected officials should be fired and replaced with smarter people. One benefit to these types of events is that people in the community can connect with organizations and others with similar interests to organize and advocate for political change, including safe streets for bicyclists and pedestrians.
Great day, nice ride, great city. My daughter and I had fun. I hope it gets bigger. SAPD was great as well.
Sure was hot today though…
Great start!
Why they didn’t do this sooner(Open street for bicycles and walkers, not ticketing)?