Dear Streetsblog readers,
For the past ten years, the tiny team at Streetsblog California has worked to keep you updated on Things Happening in California's transportation policy sphere. For me, that means attending many long boring meetings, trying to discern what is important amidst all the speechifying. Sometimes it means simply reporting on what elected and appointed state leaders say in public, so they can be held accountable for their statements and promises. Sometimes it means chasing down bureaucrats hiding behind public information officers who don't understand the complex topics we're asking questions about.
And sometimes it means just focusing on the joy of riding a bike, or of spending time with people who care about the same things I do: imagining how much better our state could be if we took better care of our environment, our communities, and the people in them.
Being Streetsblog California editor also entails a lot of reading, learning, listening, and writing. When people find out what I do for a living, the first question they usually ask is whether this is a full-time job. It is, and then some. When I mentioned our "tiny" team above I wasn't kidding - it's mostly me, Founding Editor of Streetsblog California, as my boss and colleague Damien Newton insists on calling me (really, I am just the first editor). I couldn't do this work without his help, or that of my colleagues Joe Linton, Sahra Sulaiman, and Chris Greenspon at Streetsblog Los Angeles and Roger Rudick at Streetsblog San Francisco. But that's it. Among our three sites, we are the entire team trying to keep up with sustainable transportation news in this great big state.
And how do we make a living this way? That's what people always ask next. We are a nonprofit that relies entirely on grants, a handful of advertisers, and mostly on contributions from people who value what we do. If that's you, then you know what's next: a request for your support.
Donating to Streetsblog California is important for you - we literally can't do this work without your help. It's important for us too. Any size contribution, large or small, shows grant funders, policy makers, and agency staff alike that we have support, and that when we, say, critique state-level decisions on transportation funding, they should pay attention, because others certainly are.
I'm not exaggerating when I say we operate on a shoestring budget. Donations to Streetsblog cover our salaries, and that's pretty much all. If you value what we do, please show it with a donation today so we can continue reporting on things people need to know about.
Thank you for being a loyal reader, and thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Melanie Curry, Editor, Streetsblog California
