First, here's a very clever cartoon entitled "The Plan Bay Area Public Outreach Meeting" by Common Sense Studios, which is very amusing. It's worth watching and circulating throughout the entire Bay Area. Please pass it along. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51W2xlIZ95E

A neighbor drops by to learn about the One Bay Area Plan

Next, here's another Save the Date message for you. We have 3 events for you to put on your calendar and 2 event for you to forward to all of your friends who live in/around Lafayette & Pleasant Hill. (*Note: there is an Orinda City Council meeting the night of May 13th & May 21st which conflicts with the Lafayette City Council Meeting & Pleasant Hill Informational meeting.)

Calendar:

May 13th, 7pm: Orinda City Council Special Meeting on Plan Bay Area @ Orinda Library Auditorium (see tonight's message for full details)
May 13th, 7pm: Lafayette City Council Meeting on Plan Bay Area @ Lafayette Library Meeting Room (Please tell all of your Lafayette Friends & Neighbors to attend!) [More details below]
May 21st, 7pm: Orinda City Council Regular Meeting @ Orinda Library Auditorium (no further details at this time)
May 21st, 7pm: Pleasant Hill Citizens for Responsible Growth - Plan Bay Area Informational Meeting (Please tell all of your Pleasant Hill friends & neighbors to attend!) (see below for more details)
May 30th, 6:30pm: "The Great Planning Debate: One Bay Area...is it Good for the Bay Area, is it good for Marin" @ Marin Civic Center, San Rafael (you won't want to miss this!) [2 MTC/ABAG executives vs 2 Nationally-Recognized Land-use & Transportation Experts as Opponents] (full details below)

Additional details on these new events are below:

Event 5: The Great Planning Debate: One Bay Area...is it Good for the Bay Area, is it good for Marin (aka The Thrilla in Marin-illa),
When: Thursday, May 30th, 6:30pm-8:30pm
Where: Marin Board of Supervisors Chamber, Marin Civic Center, San Rafael

The Great Planning Debate:
Plan Bay Area … Is it good for the region?
Is it good for Marin?
Thursday, May 30th, 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Marin Civic Center Board of Supervisors Chamber
MAY 1st 2013, San Rafael, California: Plan Bay Area stands to make significant changes to housing and transit across the Bay Area, encouraging cities and counties to plan high-density housing around transit - sometimes referred to as "smart growth". The Institute for Leadership Studies at Dominican University is sponsoring a meeting of the minds on this subject, bringing together four leading figures on both sides of the plan.
Panelists supporting Plan Bay Area are possibly the top two speakers on this topic: Steve Kinsey, MTC commissioner and Marin County Supervisor; and Mark Luce, Napa County Supervisor and President of the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). Both hold leadership positions in the two agencies that developed Plan Bay Area.
Opposing Plan Bay Area are two of the strongest opponents to the transit-oriented development and smart-growth approaches proposed in Plan Bay Area: Randal O'Toole of the Cato institute, author of "Gridlock"; and Thomas Rubin, an Oakland-based transportation consultant and former Chief Financial Officer of Southern California Rapid Transit District (1989-1994).
Panelists will speak to the issue of the evening and respond to audience questions. The League of Women Voters and community leader Richard Hall will facilitate audience questions submitted that evening by card.
Date/Time: Thursday, May 30th 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Location: Marin Board of Supervisors Chamber, Marin Civic Center, San Rafael
Moderator: Judge Verna Adams
Entry: A $5-$10 donation is requested but not required.
(This is to cover Randal O'Toole's travel expenses, he is flying in from Portland)

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Event 4: Pleasant Hill Citizens for Responsible Growth - Plan Bay Area Informational Meeting
When: May 21st at 7pm
Where: Pleasant Hill Community Meeting Room at 100 Gregory Lane, Pleasant Hill, CA

Details: The Pleasant Hill Citizens for Responsible Growth (PHCRG) was founded in 1985 and is the only grassroots organization that advocates for residents on a full range of issues, including land use, education and quality of life in Pleasant Hill.

PHCRG is holding an informational meeting on May 21st on Plan Bay Area. Pleasant Hill's General Plan will be revised this year, so it's critically important that residents become informed.

PHCRG President, Mike Flake, will be the presenter at the May 21st meeting. "Mike is an engineer who has worked with CalTrans, etc. and is very knowledgeable about One Bay Area. Mike is well-known in the community and has developed an informative presentation tailored to Pleasant Hill's issues, so people can gain an appreciation for the Sustainable Communities Strategy's impacts on Pleasant Hill 'from one of their own.' "

PHCRG leadership are seeking to re-energize the organization and grow their membership, in preparation for the 2014 City Council race. Because the group advocates for residents on a wide range of issues, in addition to land-use, it's important for PHCRG to "have a seat at the table" when city officials make decisions regarding education, street and infrastructure maintenance, finances, recreation and park issues, etc.

PHCRG's eventbrite site for this event offers additional information about the group. Full color flyer is attached and can be freely distributed. Please forward this to anyone you know that wants to understand more of this issue but has yet to attend a townhall, especially anyone you know that lives in or around Pleasant Hill.

Event 3: Lafayette City Council Meeting on Plan Bay Area
When: May 13th at 7pm
Where: Lafayette Library Meeting Room, Lafayette, CA

This message was forwarded by a member of the Lafayette Homeowners' Council. Please pass around to all of your friends and neighbors in Lafayette. We're happy to put you in touch with LHC:

"Lafayette City Council will be meeting Monday, May 13, at 7:00 in the Library meeting room. They will be hearing a report from the Planning Director on the jobs/housing figures for Lafayette that are part of the Plan, A few of us from the Lafayette Homeowners' Council will be there to support the staff report. We will also ask for Council support for an extended review time of the Plan by the general public, that the Plan be put to a public vote, that the Plan be re-written, etc.

Please be there. The Lafayette City Council needs to hear your concerns."