Bay Area Citizens
to support and protect the interests of the citizens of California in matters including land use regulation, property rights, local community control, and the environment
PLF files suit on behalf of Bay Area Citizens to support and
protect the interests of the citizens of California in matters including land
use regulation, property rights, local community control, and the environment
August 6, 2013
Dear Friends,
Pacific Legal Foundation filed suit this morning on behalf of Bay Area Citizens against ABAG and MTC over issues regarding Plan Bay Area. This would not have been possible without the hundreds upon hundreds of average citizens around the Bay Area who have been raising substantive, significant concerns about the Plan and the process. And it would not have been possible without many of you supporting Bay Area Citizens' efforts to provide thoughtful, objective reports on the Plan and its analysis from nationally respected experts in the fields of land use and transportation. Also, many of you submitted thoughtful, carefully researched and documented comment letters of your own
The press release and (four minute) announcement video can be found here, as
can a copy of the petition (the formal court filing):
http://www.pacificlegal.org/Release/Lawsuit-says-Plan-Bay-Areas-drafters-wore-blinders
And the video is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqo0RdlH1Gg
Please let everyone you know about the suit. This suit is really about citizens
from around the Bay Area, taking a stand against unaccountable government agencies
that are acting counter to the interests of the public that they ostensibly
serve.
If you would like to help with the costs of the suit, you can send a check here:
Bay Area Citizens
3527 Mt. Diablo Blvd #358, Lafayette, CA 94549
or donate online here:
https://anedot.com/campaigns/cbc4fd1f521/donations/new
While Bay Area Citizens as an organization are all volunteers, and our attorneys fees will be covered by PLF, Bay Area Citizens will be responsible for the court costs, and especially the administrative record. We estimate we will have to raise about $20,000 for the administrative record, and will need to do so in the next month or two. Donations to Bay Area Citizens are not tax deductible at this time.
Bay Area Citizens is a California nonprofit corporation founded by a group of San Francisco Bay Area residents. Our purpose is to support and protect the interests of the citizens of California in matters including land use regulation, property rights, local community control, and the environment.
Bay Area Citizens does not duplicate the work of the incredible network of citizens groups in the Bay Area--and several of us involved with Bay Area Citizens are independently involved with a number of those local groups. We are focusing our efforts on activities that support the interests of all citizens in the Bay Area, including those citizens involved in these local groups. Everyone involved with Bay Area Citizens is a volunteer.
Our first major activity is to fund respected experts who will provide analytically-supported, empirically-based assessments of the proposed master regional plan, Plan Bay Area, and its draft EIR once the draft EIR is released on March 29, 2013. We have identified an astonishing array of experts, and now we must fund their work. We, the citizens of the Bay Area, are doing the job that the regional agencies developing the Plan should be doing, but aren't.
These reports are essential for an informed public debate and decision making on the Plan. These reports will also provide a vitally important predicate for any plaintiff acting in the public interest, including Bay Area Citizens, who seeks to challenge the Plan or its EIR in court.
Donate to help fund our programs here!
Bay Area Citizens
3527 Mt. Diablo Blvd #358
Lafayette, CA 94549
bayareacitizens@yahoo.com
925-386-6387