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Thread: Calgary Racing - Long term 'protest' strategy

  1. #1
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    Exclamation Calgary Racing - Long term 'protest' strategy

    Right,

    There are many stages to getting want you want from organizations and the government is no different. A attack plan has to be formed and followed. This is how leftest and extremist groups get their jobs done in Canada. ruinediphone.com was able to change Rogers billing through these methods.

    1) Organize & Protest
    Be professional, polite and mature. Do not get heated. Be approachable to the average joe, your trying to appeal to them! Have fliers and hand them out. Be able to defend your position. Have signs and make sure people KNOW what you stand for.

    For example the protest in the coming Fridays. Although I don't agree with the time its being hosted this CAN be turned into success.
    - Have signs, wear them. Have supplies on hand to make more.
    'Support legal racing Calgary!'
    etc etc etc
    - Write on your car with bingo dotters
    - Have hand outs about what has happened
    'Calgary with a population of 1.3 million is the only City in Alberta without a race way' etc etc etc
    - Invite all media/alderman. Email, call, phone.
    - Prepare a spokesman and have a good speech scheduled. Gathering is fine but have something to look forward too. The media will eat this shit up. Explain the history of Calgary racing, what we want, why we want it and the downsides of not having a legal race way close by.
    - Remain legal and obey the police who will show up

    2) Be persistent & professional
    Aldermen are our figureheads in government. Although mostly useless you will find a good one out of the bunch. Aldermen Ric MicIver has been very outspoken but their are others we have to win over.

    View your alderman *CLICK ME*

    Once you know who your aldermen is click on their picture and you'll be forwarded to their contact page. Click "Contact me!" and fill out your personal information properly. Fill in your message. DO NOT USE A TEMPLATE MESSAGE! Write a message in your own words. Make sure to check off 'Reply Requested'. They will have to get back to you now.

    All the messages are read first by the aldermen's assistant. If your message is ass they will garbage it. Basically don't be a fucking douchebag.

    When I got word of Race City closing I sent a simple email to Ric. Within 5 hours...

    "Hello Toms-SC (Real name removed to prevent e-stalkers),

    Thank you for your e-mail. I will keep it on file for Alderman McIver to review.

    Have a great day!


    Kim Stark
    Administrative Assistant to
    Alderman Ric McIver, Ward 12"

    The City of Calgary "


    Same deal with emailing the mayor. You get my drift. Rinse and repeat this once every month.

    Go to city counsel meetings. They are open to the public! Once the session is out attempt to grab them when they head to their offices. Move quickly and be polite. Don't give up if you are turned down the first time.

    3) Stat pad
    Everybody is aware of the Bullshit spot. Since it was announced that the City was pulling the lease on Race City the CPS have been keeping track of traffic near and around the bullshit. As much as I hate to say it and I'll draw heat for it I'm sure. Show up! Get involved. Head there and grab a coffee, shoot the shit for 15 minutes and head home. This will pad the stats of traffic. Having facts and figures always help in getting your message home.

    4) Spread the word
    Tell your friends. Simple but if each aldermen gets 10,000 emails every month for 12 months about the topic they should address it.

    I'll add more as I find more techniques.

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    Last edited by Toms-SC; 09-10-2008 at 08:17 PM.
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    Latest News

    Article in the Calgary Sun

    "Mon, September 15, 2008
    Owner predicts street mayhem
    UPDATED: 2008-09-15 02:12:13 MST


    By DAVE DORMER, SUN MEDIA

    Illegal racing is sure to increase on city streets after the brakes got slammed on the only legitimate drag strip in Calgary, says Race City Motorsport Park's owner.

    Art MacKenzie says it will only be a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt or killed by racers with nowhere else to go.

    "Absolutely," he said.

    "When you're 18 or 16 you're immortal and you think that (street racing) is fun.

    "When you get older and get a little bit more wisdom, you understand the risks and how much energy is in there and how likely it is that someone is going to be seriously hurt."


    Race City Motorsport Park was originally slated to close in 2010 after the city didn't renew MacKenzie's lease, saying they instead wanted to use the area to build a storm-water retention site for the nearby Shepard landfill.

    "I don't think the politicians in the city have figured out yet they have a facility they can keep at zero cost," said MacKenzie.

    "Ours is about the only sports facility in town that has no government money in it."

    Traffic Const. Mike O'Connor said police are disappointed the venue is being shut down.

    "We're always concerned about street racing -- we hate to see it closed," he said yesterday.

    "We are keeping a special eye on street racing as it is."

    For the last three years, general manager Rome Awde kept the racing alive by renting out the drag strip and offering Friday Night Secret Street Races, but that ended abruptly last week when he announced that due to bad weather and low crowds he could no longer afford to keep going.

    Racing will continue, however, for the next three Fridays, said MacKenzie, but once the season finishes, so will street racing in the city -- at least the legal form.

    And knowing the powerful cars that run on his track now will likely be racing on area roads in the future makes MacKenzie nervous.

    "The modern '57 Chevy is a Honda Civic," he said.

    "There are street legal, licensed cars here that can do a nine-second quarter mile.

    "That is a serious race car if it can do a nine-second quarter mile." "

    September 11, 2008 - Response from e-mail

    Dear 89coupe,

    Thank you for your recent e-mail to Mayor Bronconnier. Mayor Bronconnier
    has had the opportunity to review your e-mail and he has asked me to
    respond on his behalf.


    When The City originally acquired the lands upon which Race City
    Motorsport Park currently resides, its objective was to provide for the
    future growth and expansion of Shepard Landfill. In recent years,
    Calgary's rapidly growing population has translated into higher volumes
    of waste that now requires expansion of that landfill. Given that the
    need to use those lands has now arisen, The City had to terminate the
    lease with Race City Motorsport Park effective March 31, 2010. However,
    should an appropriate alternate site be identified, City Administration
    is certainly willing to work with Race City ownership.

    Thanks for taking the time to share your concerns with Mayor
    Bronconnier.

    Best regards,

    Patricia Proudfoot
    Office of the Mayor, The City of Calgary

    September 10, 2008 - Calgary Herald Article

    Click Me

    Todd Kimberley, Calgary Herald
    Published: Wednesday, September 10, 2008

    Let the eulogies begin.

    Race City Motorsport Park's long, illustrious history began in September 1985 with the Hard Hat Invitational. And in all likelihood, its final big bash was the Border Challenge 150, part of the ARCA West Mac's Series, on the half-mile oval on Saturday night.

    General manager and promoter Rome Awde, citing poor crowds and bad weather, announced Tuesday that all scheduled racing events for the rest of the 2008 season have been cancelled.

    It was a veritable death announcement for a speedway already facing a bleak future, after the city of Calgary announced last year its intention to take back the land at the southeast facility in March 2010 for storm-water retention purposes.

    "Rome put a lot of effort into the track the past few seasons," said Race City owner Art MacKenzie, who began renting the speedway out to Awde during the 2005 season. "It didn't work out. That's too bad."

    Craig Ball, the Canadian director of racing for ARCA West, called it a sad day for a facility once known as a jewel of Canadian motorsport, but noted Tuesday's news was not unexpected.

    "I wouldn't have wanted to be in Rome's shoes, give the uncertainty of what the city was doing with the land," said Ball. "It's just about impossible to try and run a place like that.

    "It's really caused this to be a long, drawn-out death of the facility. No one's going to put any money in the place without some expectation of return on investment."

    MacKenzie said track rentals - such as racing schools and Calgary Motorcycle Roadracing Association race dates - will continue to operate as scheduled until he's forced to give up the lease.

    MacKenzie also said he'll do his best to step in to save Race City's street racing program, Secret Street, for the final two Friday nights of this fall and the 2009 season.

    "It's a fair bit of an effort, but it's something I think is important for the city to have," he said. "It's something I have a personal wish to keep going."

    Hypothetically, there is the possibility that touring series, such as the ARCA West Mac's loop and Calgary-based Legends Cars of Alberta, could promote their own events at Race City in 2009.

    Ball, however, is doubtful.
    "I don't think it's feasible to think about opening it up for one event," he said. "To clean it up, get it ready . . . that'd be a lot of expense for one show."

    It appears Rocky Mountain Raceway Park, a 3/8-mile dirt-track oval in Aldersyde, just south of the city, may step up to fill the void. Owners of the five-year-old facility have reportedly been talking to an investment group to pave the oval - lengthening straightaways, widening the track and making major pit improvements.

    There have apparently been no plans yet to build a dragstrip such as Race City's quarter-mile specimen.

    Meanwhile, the requiems roll in.
    "It's a shame," said Ball. "The track is what brought me to the city. I moved here in '91 because of racing, because we had nothing in Edmonton. I was crew chiefing on a Honda-Michelin (Series) team, and we were down here all the time, anyway."

    MacKenzie, a former rally racer, assumed the lease to the speedway, which also features a two-mile road course, in 1995.

    "There are cities around the world clamouring for a motorsports facility. Shanghai is paying a billion dollars for a facility to go run an international event," said MacKenzie.

    "Here we have something in place - it's private, and the only sports venue in Calgary that has never had a dime in government money put into it - and the city is . . . making its best efforts to have it die.

    "Aside from the many thousands who have been out to the track over time, there are also several thousand people who participate directly in the facility," he added.

    "They wind up losing $10 million of economic impact to the city, because they want a place to put a water-catch tank for their landfill."
    Last edited by Toms-SC; 09-15-2008 at 08:26 AM.
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    Solid ideas, but "don't be a douchebag" should be #1.

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    Good post.

    I will not be attending the Friday "protest", as I believe it's going to get the wrong kind of attention.

    This is definately the right direction!
    Originally posted by SEANBANERJEE
    I have gone above and beyond what I should rightfully have to do to protect my good name

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    Hey Rage could we get a sticky for some time? I want to keep this up top and updated with the latest news. Would prevent a lot of crappy threads and help organize people.
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    done
    Originally posted by SEANBANERJEE
    I have gone above and beyond what I should rightfully have to do to protect my good name

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    While I am not a "racer" I do enjoy going and watching the races down there every so often.

    I also hate watching people go ripping down deerfoot or glenmore or crowchild at over 160kph plus.

    having said that, I can't expect that not to happen without a venue for these people to legally do this, in a controlled situation and without endangering the public.

    If i can lend services in any way, i am more than willing to lend what free time i have to this.
    Boosted life tip #329
    Girlfriends cost money
    Turbos cost money
    Both make whining noises
    Make the smart choice.

    Originally posted by Mibz
    Always a fucking awful experience seeing spikers. Extra awful when he laps me.

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    Originally posted by spikers


    If i can lend services in any way, i am more than willing to lend what free time i have to this.
    Sent a 5 minute email to your aldermen please!
    Was the #1 Forum Warrior

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    I also think that "protesters" need to understand that the City is not going to renew the RCMP lease. It is also not going to give anybody money to build a track - if anyone, it'd be the provincial government handing out grants like they did for Rimby. The City's involvement would be finding and rezoning land for a new, possible racetrack - that's the point that needs to be raised.

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    This is a good approach. I'll go down (no homo) on Friday and discreetly check out the "protest". If it's not a huge collection of douche-nozzles... I'll participate.

    Originally posted by teamPRO


    howbout suck my black kettle...

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    The information flier I wrote up tonight. I'll be giving these out over the next couple events.

    Right-Click Save As

    It is formatted nice with a picture in the download version but here is the text body.

    "ATTENTION RACE FANS:



    Race City Speedway opened its doors to excited race fans in September 1985. Since then Race City Speedway has been serving the Calgary community as a family entertainment centre for motorsports and culture events. Sadly the time of Race City Speedway is drawing to a close with the City of Calgary slated to revoke the lease for the land March 2010. Currently there are no plans in place to build or find another location for a motorsport facility similar to Race City Speedway.

    Calgary is a city of over 1 million residents with a thriving motorsport community. From ¼ drag racing, auto cross, drifting to dirt oval and motocross this was our facility to live our passion. With the closing of Race City Speedway fans and participants will be forced to drive more than 3 hours to the closest legal motorsport facility. This is simply unacceptable. It could be expected that the most frustrated enthusiasts will leave the hobby or worst of all turn to the streets.

    We can change this bleak future for the sport in Calgary but it will require dedication and persistence from all involved. If you feel the same way as I do I encourage you to take action:

    1) Get involved in your community. Forums such as beyond.ca , performance-shop.com and Calgarydragracing.ab.ca are a great way to stay connected.
    2) Contact your elected representative and express how you feel about the situation. A list of the aldermen can be found at Calgary.ca or dial 311.
    3) Spread the word! This can be friends, family or media! More support can only help further our cause for a new motorsport facility!

    Thank you for your support. Together we can make change happen!






    - An anonymous race fan
    "
    Last edited by Toms-SC; 09-11-2008 at 10:38 PM.
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    I am having a website built and will have it hosted by the end of next week. I can also run a limited engagement of PPC ads on Yahoo/MSN/Google, but I won't be able to front that cost forever.

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    I'm going to write my MLA as well; if the City isn't willing to do anything about it, perhaps the province would be fine with putting it just outside of Bronco's tax grab.

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