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For those of you who know of it, Have gone or imagined going:
BurningMan needs help
5000 signatures needed, less than [2060] for now...
Sign the Petition!!!
BurningMan needs a bit of help,
and it needs it fast, so please read on. As you may or may not have heard, the Washoe County Board of Commissioners have refused Burning Man a permit to use property they own near Gerlach, from which the event is staged. This staging area is the ranch from which all operations are run, and where all the gear is stored. Apparently, if they can't use this land, it will make it nearly impossible to organize
the event.
BM has requested that as many people as possible show up at the county meeting on June 10th in Reno Nevada to voice their opinions, and that those who can't make it write letters to the Reno Gazette voicing their displeasure. I figure that a petition wouldn't hurt either, so
here's the plan:
They need to get at least 5000 signatures by June 10th TODAY!!!. Please go to the petition site at the link below immediately, sign it, and tell this to as many sympathetic people as possible.
Other news:
- We wanted to alert everyone that we were in the unfortunate position
of needing to file a lawsuit against the Washoe County Board of
Supervisors and Washoe County in order to avoid penalties related to
the four Special Use permits we were denied. So, today, June 6, we
did. A press release with our "official" words related to the
lawsuit and our goals can be found at
http://www.burningman.com/pdf/press_releases/press_release_06062003.pdf.
If you're wondering why the heck we're in this predicament in the
first place, the fact is that we're rather surprised ourselves. Our
opinion is that the appeal document is filled with anecdotal
information and conjecture. Unfortunately, the Commissioners voted
to uphold it, which was a bit of a curve ball, in the face of strong public and
expert testimony. (We're working now to get an electronic copy of the
appeal for your perusal. Right now it's supposed to be linked from
the agenda from May 13 in an embedded link, but we've been unable to
get it to work, and the nice folks at the Clerk's office haven't been
able to provide any additional information just yet. You can find the
May 13, 2003 agenda at http://207.228.25.168/mgrsoff/2003Agendas/.
We'll post it as soon as we have information.)
And, if you missed it last time, here again is how you can help:
-- Come Join Us Tuesday, June 10, in Reno, NV at the Washoe County
Board of Commissioners meeting
We're planning a show of strength at the next Washoe County Board of
Commissioners meeting, being held June 10 in Reno at 2:00 PM - try to
be there by 1:30. Each meeting starts with an opportunity for public
comment; each speaker gets three minutes to share with the
Commissioners their opinions on any topic that is NOT on that night's
agenda.
You don't need to be from Washoe County or even Nevada to speak - our
goal is to get as many Burners as possible there to show the
Commissioners the importance of Burning Man to the financial and
cultural sustainability of the area. So, grab your friends from your
theme camp and carpool out to Reno. It will be a blast! If you're
planning to attend, email rae@burningman.com so we can have an idea
of the expected turnout and send out updates if we have them.
Meeting Details:
Tuesday, June 10
2:00 PM - try to show up at 1:30
Washoe County Commissioners Chambers
1001 E. 9th Street
Reno, NV
Map: http://makeashorterlink.com/?E2C625B74
Exit off of 80 in Reno at Wells (Exit #14) and head North. Make a
right on 9th and a left into the Washoe County offices' parking lot.
-- Write a Letter to the Editor of the Reno Gazette-Journal
We're also playing this game in the court of public opinion, and that
includes the media. Again, we're hoping to show Washoe County
residents that Burners are important contributors to their area -
particularly in the financial realm. So, tell the Gazette-Journal
your tales of the amount of money you spend in Nevada on your way to
the event, how many times you've returned to the area because of
being introduced to it by Burning Man, and any other ways that you
have positively contributed to their County.
Letters are limited to 200 words and submissions that are considered
potentially libelous will not be published, so keep to the facts and
keep it short. Please include all of your accurate contact
information (no playa names for this purpose, please!)
Information on submitting letters electronically is available at
http://www.rgj.com/helpdesk/news/letter_to_editor.php or you can
also fax your letter to the editor at 775-788-6458 or send it by USPS
to Reno Gazette-Journal, Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 22000, Reno,
NV 89520.
Even if your letter does not get printed, the Gazette-Journal keeps a
tally of the number of letters received for and against issues, and
publishes that data on a weekly basis.
We appreciate very much everyone's patience and effort on this
important issue! Stay tuned for more information!
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