Lieberman – building bridges

When it comes to open space, saying Warren Lieberman will “build bridges” is about as Orwellian as the catch-phrases in “1984” such as “ignorance is strength” and “freedom is slavery.” Lieberman’s position on open space is best described as “unity through segregation.”

Lieberman consistently sides with the small group of people who live near the open spaces and want to restrict the community’s access to it. (Some of these people are the same ones who unsuccessfully tried to restrict access to the Crystal Springs Cross Country Course last year.) In the pages of this paper, Lieberman has said he believes some trails should be for hikers only https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/belmont-to-discuss-parks-master-plan/article_ef4a6b76-0199-11ed-b960-c338f624b0c3.html and talked about “divid[ing] up the resource.” https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/2-running-for-belmont-mayor/article_a2cb14d8-37bf-11ed-9edf-f7fe8a9aa998.html

If you want to see what the candidates actually said on open space issues, watch the Chamber San Mateo County Candidates Forum at https://youtu.be/HJHWZb7-hrk. This letter completely misrepresents Mates said at the forum:

“I’ve spent a lot of time speaking and communicating with folks . . . who think mountain bikes make the area unsafe . . . there are always things we can do to make the trails safer for everyone and improve the experience for trail users. We could improve wayfinding and signage . . . We can implement some tools that have been proven to reduce the speed of mountain bikes to increase the feeling of security for walkers and hikers . . . We can implement tools such as “Slow and Say Hello” and asking bikers to use bells when they round blind curves . . . I’d like to start a program where the city provides loaner bells at City Hall or at trailheads for hikers and bikers to use, and there are also tools for trail design that the city could implement to reduce the speed of bikes, and the draft PROS plan actually includes that (the draft open space plan)” . . . going into the future I want to make sure we have the safest trails possible, while keeping the wonderful and long-established multi-use aspect of these trails.”

Thus, the statement in the letter “Other than Lieberman, no other councilmembers admits there is a safety concern on narrow trails…” is demonstrably false. Mates spoke with people with safety concerns, and unlike Lieberman, she has a concrete plan of action to increase safety for everyone, which consists of using tools developed by land management experts in the Parks (PROS) draft master plan, as well as her own proposals to supplement those tools with additional measures, including a bell program and use “Slow and Say Hello,” which is an established trail safety education program in use by other jurisdictions. Lieberman has called for delaying the PROS plan, which will delay putting these safety measures into place.

So it it is simply untrue - as this letter claims - that Mates proposes to address safety ONLY with bell policies and “Slow and Say Hello” education program. Those are her own creative proposals IN ADDITION TO the many safety recommendations in the PROS plan which include, among other things, trail calming features, creating respite/passing areas. So if you want a mayor who will build bridges and implement proven, expert-based policies to keep our trails safe for everyone, vote for Mates.