Dear Friends,

The draft Plan Bay Area was released on Friday, March 22. We recommend you read the Plan in its entirety, but please be warned--people who have done so have commented it's a bit disorienting to read the Plan as described in the light of what it objectively represents, and in the light of the manner in which it is being promulgated:

http://onebayarea.org/regional-initiatives/plan-bay-area/draft-plan-bay-area.html

The draft EIR, which was scheduled to be released yesterday, Friday, March 29, appears to be delayed, though no notification of the delay has been posted on the onebayarea.org website (the official Plan Bay Area website). When it is actually released, it will be posted at the site above.

You may want to consider commenting on the Plan Bay Area Town Hall, and offer your thoughts:

http://onebayarea.org/misc/open-town-hall.html#peak_democracy

No one that we've talked to who has submitted a written comment or made a public comment at a "public hearing" on the Plan to date has told us they felt their concerns were listened to by the Plan's proponents or by the ABAG Executive Committee members or MTC Commissioners, nor have they felt that their concerns made any impact on future drafts of the Plan or on decisions being made by the Plan's proponents. The overwhelming majority of the public comment to date appears to have been made by individual citizens opposed to the Plan, a small minority of individual citizens who are in favor of the Plan, and various representatives of "stakeholders"--groups or interests who appear to have something to be gained from the Plan. But the vast, vast majority of individual citizens in the Bay Area appear to simply have no knowledge of this Plan whatsoever, despite how dramatically and irreversibly the Plan, as currently drafted, will likely affect the lives of everyone in the Bay Area, now, and in the future.

With this qualification--please do not surprised if you find yourself deeply disappointed as others have been who've reported to us that, in their opinion, they tried to have their voices heard, but did not feel they were listened to by the Plan's proponents, Bay Area Citizens strongly recommends that you offer your thoughts on the online "Plan Bay Area Town Hall" above--and do so regardless of what your point of view is on the Plan--and also consider attending one of the "public input" sessions on the Plan and on the draft EIR in April and May:

http://onebayarea.org/regional-initiatives/plan-bay-area/meetings-events/Public-Workshops-Public-Hearings.html