I am a member of the BAC, but I am not speaking for the Commission in this comment. The accusations by Ms. Samitz are wildly off the mark. Individual members of the BAC have, for years, had concerns about the bicycle routes to and from the Cannery project, and have expressed those concerns at multiple venues, only to see the project plans unchanged over the years. None of us, in my opinion, have considered advantages to a possible Covell Village project in our conclusions, but have focused entirely on the project at the Cannery that has been presented. And none of this was a “late request.” We have been focusing, publicly, on transportation accessibility for years. I will also point out that we are not happy with the lack of bus routes within the project, but that does not fall under our official purview.

If Ms. Samitz has attended our meetings, and has evidence that we were indeed influenced by some nefarious group pushing Covell Village, I would be happy to see it and address it. I would also like to invite Ms. Samitz to present information at our regular monthly meetings, if that would be valuable for understanding this issue.