A bittersweet day for many of us

My husband and I just came back home from attending a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Golden Gate Bridge Authority. Today was all about approving a funding plan for the suicide barrier.
It's been over 6 years of being involved in all this for us, 6 years of talking, writing, signing petitions, visiting politicians' offices, arguing with opponents (more L than I, I don't have a thick enough skin for that), pestering friends and family for help with petitions.
The barrier, a marine grade steel net under the bridge, was approved in September of 2008, but there was no way to fund it. That's been an ongoing struggle.
Today's meeting was very emotional. There was a wonderful speech by California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, who has been in favor of a barrier for a long time, there were emotional speeches by people who have lost loved ones to bridge suicides and speeches by at least two directors. All urging to board to vote in favor of the funding plan.
The vote was a unanimous "yes."
It will be at least 3-4 years before the net is in place. Bids will have to be submitted, the work will have to be done - safely - and, hopefully, then there will not be any more suicides from this bridge.

More about suicide barriers

No need for me to write much, the article I am linking to says it all:

Suicide barriers back in the spotlight

Golden Gate Bridge Suicides

There were 10 suicides from the Golden Gate Bridge in August of this year. John Bateson, author of "The Final Leap" wrote a letter to the editor of the San Francisco Chronicle about it ........... and the Chronicle decided not to publish his letter.
But the L.A. Times L.A. Times did and so did the Contra Costa Times.
He addresses all the points in his letter, the increasing number of deaths from the bridge, the strange allure the bridge has for suicide attempters, and the fact that the Bridge Authority, the source of information on all things relating to the bridge does not even acknowledge these deaths. They did decide just recently to build a barrier in the middle of the bridge to avoid head-on collisions to the tune of $25 million.
All the above and more is in John Bateson's letters and he says it so much better than I can.

Bridge Rail Foundation Conference and Workshop

The Bridge Rail Foundation will hold a conference and workshop in San Francisco on November 6, 2010.
More information to be found here:

http://www.bridgerail.org/

Money for the suicide barrier

Just really quick:

Today, the Board of Directors of the Golden Gate Bridge Authority voted unanimously to accept the money from the MTC to design and engineer the net that was approved as a suicide barrier. A huge step in the right direction. Of course, the money to actually build it still has to be found.

Time magazine article

Continuing on in the same vein and obviously having a one-track mind:

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2008158,00.html

I promise there will be pictures and text about something other than the bridge and the oh-so-necessary barrier. Just have to find the time ................

Suicide barrier - again

This is turning out to be a definitely no fun at all blog, isn't it?
A week ago Sunday, the local paper printed an article about the suicide barrier (I can't find my link and it's very much like the link my friend Marilee posted in her comment, so I'll just use hers).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/13/AR2010021303314.html

I spent my Valentine's morning writing a letter to the editor because the numbers mentioned were too low, as always, and I wanted to add a bit more info to the whole thing. When the letter still hadn't shown up by Wednesday, both DH and I decided it wasn't going to happen. I was very surprised to find it in today's paper, not just as a letter to the editor, but a "my turn" contribution:

http://www.napavalleyregister.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_ba3ed288-1f79-11df-9891-001cc4c002e0.html

The photo collage, BTW, is courtesy of a young facebook friend of mine.

The February newsletter from the Bridge Rail Foundation

I know you've all been waiting for this ..................

This newsletter includes an excellent cartoon from the Berkeley Daily Planet. Since I can't find a link to it on the web, I've copied and pasted. I'm sure I'll be forgiven for that.

December newsletter from the Bridge Rail Foundation

The title says it all and it should be clickable, but just in case, it isn't, here's the link:

http://www.bridgerail.org/pdf/BRF_Newsletter_Dec09.pdf

There's a special note from Kevin Hines who is one of less than 2% to have jumped and survived and an outline of what's going to happen in 2010. Yes, the Bridge Authority has approved a net as a barrier but the money has yet to be found and, if things go the way they always have, it'll just be talk and no action and the issue will fade into the background again. People are still dying at the rate of 30 a year, one every 10 days, 2 or 3 a month. That shouldn't be allowed to continue. Really!

Bridge Rail Foundation Newsletter

The intermission didn't last very long, did it?
Here's the November newsletter from the Bridge Rail Foundation talking about delays and asking for ideas on what to do to speed up the process of getting that barrier built.

http://www.bridgerail.org/pdf/BRF_Newsletter_Nov09.pdf

Petition for a suicide barrier

Clicking on the link in the title should get you to the latest petition (the one with quite a lot of signatures) and the names of the state representatives to be contacted to ask for their support for the amendment to the highway transportation bill.
Please sign and pass along the link and, if you feel like it, write to your representative urging him or her to support this amendment. I've already written to James Oberstar, John Mica and John Duncan and Peter Defazio and, along with a couple of other people from the Bridge Rail Foundation (www.bridgerail.org), visited the offices of three CA representatives. As of last count, 14 representatives, mostly from CA, but also one from Illinois, have cosigned the letter by Rep. Lynn Woolsey.
Slowly, very slowly ........

A new petition

Dayna Whitmer of the Bridge Rail Foundation started another petition to be submitted to legislators soon. So far, not very many signatures but a couple of pretty important ones: one is a man from New Zealand who is a co-designer of the suicide barrier on the Grafton Bridge (which had a barrier that was removed, at which time suicides increased fivefold. A new barrier was constructed very quickly after that.), the other is Richard Seiden whose study we always quote when we explain to people who say, "If you put up a barrier, they'll just go somewhere else to take their lives." just how wrong they are. He identified 515 people who had been prevented from jumping and found that only 6% went on to take their lives and on 2 people went back to the bridge.
So, please add your signature to the petition.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/suicide-barrier-funding-eligiblity-ii

Thank you!

The Biker Babe Wanna-be Necklace

I made this necklace quite a while ago, the weave goes by at least two names: Rhinos Snorting Drano, Stairway to Heaven. Whenever I wear it, I feel I ought to wear black leather and ride a Harley, and that's where the name comes from.
But that's not how I wear it. Here it's paired with one of my little black dresses and lately I've worn it to meet with aides to legislators and for awards ceremonies. They (both the necklace and the dress) will get a few more outings of the same nature.
This morning, we met with another aide for the same purpose as last time and it seems that Lynn Woolsey's efforts are successful: several legislators have signed on to the bill. I'm very new to this effort, the other members of our group have been doing this much longer and know much more about who to talk to and how. I'm reasonably familiar with facts and statistics and pretty good at telling a very short version of our story.
There will be another petition and I hope many, many people will contact their representatives because this isn't just a local issue but a nation-wide one. Sure, many more people jump from the Golden Gate Bridge, but they do so from plenty of other bridges all over the country:
In no particular order ..............
the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia
the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York
the Cold Spring Canyon Bridge in Santa Barbara County, CA
the Piscataqua River Bridge in Maine
the Tappan Zee Bridge in New York
the Aurora Bridge in Washington State
the Coronado Bridge in San Diego, CA
the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Florida

A new petition

A member of the Bridge Rail Foundation has started a new petition, this one will be submitted to legislators. It's all explained in the description and so much better than I could do it. Basically, it's about eventually getting funding for suicide barriers on bridges, not just the Golden Gate Bridge, but any bridge that acts as a suicide magnet.

Here's the link:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/suicide-barrier-funding-eligiblity

Please consider signing very soon and, if you feel comfortable, passing the link on to sympathetic friends. The more signatures, the better.

Thank you!

Time on my hands

Obviously, too much time on my hands if I can take pictures of my feet. Actually, I wanted to show off my new Birkies (yes, Birkies, not Birkenstocks; two slightly different but related companies). I just fell in love with the polka dots and would have bought them in red if they had been available in my size. Today is the first day to wear sandals like that, yesterday was cool and drizzly.
Yesterday also was very busy. We, as part of a small group, met with an aide to a Bay Area legislator - all part of the effort to try and get that suicide barrier built. Yes, I found a way to get back to that yet again. And we had a business dinner that night.
Tomorrow is the second anniversary of Henry's death. We'll be on that bridge again, just like last year. Lamppost 47, 11:38 am. This year, it'll most likely only be Larry and I and possibly his sister and her husband. There'll be a mass said for him early in the morning and we'll be there, too. But I think this'll be the last one (unless, of course, I change my mind).

More Golden Gate Bridge Deaths

This wasn't how I was planning on coming back .............. but somebody or something had a different idea than I did.
Yesterday morning, I received an email from Mary Currie, the spokeswoman for the Golden Gate Bridge Authority informing me of the progress that is being made with regard to a suicide barrier. Yes, the net was approved, yes, there are studies being done and reports being completed but the important thing, the thing that would really make a difference isn't happening yet. Here's a short piece of the email she sent out:

"The Final EIR/FONSI (Environmental Impact Report/Finding of No Significant Impact) is anticipated to be completed and released in May 2009. Upon completion of the document the District Board of Directors (Board) will be asked to vote to certify the document and adopt the project. We will advise you as to when this matter will be scheduled to come before the Board for action. Before Caltrans, acting for the Federal Highway Administration, can adopt the FONSI, the project will need to be included in the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s Transportation Improvement Plan.

The preliminary estimates for the build alternatives is $50 million. The commencement of final design and construction is contingent upon the timing of anticipated project funding. Board policy prohibits the use of toll funds."

Any other day, I would have been quite happy that any kind of progress is being made, but yesterday afternoon I saw a note by a young facebook friend of mine - she sounded upset and when I asked told me that the father of a friend of hers had jumped from the bridge. This is the second bridge death she has to deal with in the last 15 months. I'd already written about a schoolfriend of Henry's visiting the bridge for the first time since his death and having to witness a suicide. The daughter of the journalist we talked to for the article in San Francisco Magazine (Gone | San Francisco online) knew 4 people who had jumped to their deaths, all during her 4 years of high school.

Makes me wonder how many more people will have to die before the money for the net is found and construction finally, finally begins. You'd think that close to 2,000 people are enough.

The latest newsletter from the Bridge Rail Foundation

Rather than copying and pasting - which gets kind of messy looking - I went to look for the link to the latest newsletter:

http://www.bridgerail.org/pdf/BRF_Newsletter_Dec08.pdf

It's not over, there's still more work to be done. Let's hope it'll work, the funds will be found and there'll be an end to the needless deaths in this particular location.

And something I'm quite excited about: I learned to apply a copyright symbol to my photos. Took quite a bit of trial and error and frustration, but I finally figured out how to do it not only once but again and again. I think there's hope for me (on the computer) yet. :-)

More about the barrier

Yes, I know I already posted today and about the same subject, but ................

Here are links to 2 articles:

Golden Gate Bridge Suicide Net Approved - News Story - KTVU San Francisco

cbs5.com - Golden Gate Bridge Officials Approve Suicide Net

Both are from local TV stations. They obviously were present at the meeting. I was supposed to go and make a presentation but got sick :-( So, Larry went instead of me, addressed the board briefly and handed out the papers I had prepared. He was very optimistic when he came back - the majority of board members spoke out in favor of a barrier, but all seemed to favor the net. That isn't the option most of us favor - and with us I mean BRF people and law enforcement. There's maintenance cost involved, and there are other issues that haven't completely been resolved. Still, this is better than nothing. There have been far too many deaths already. And nets have been in use in Switzerland and they work there.

One thing that surprises me is the mention of Mayor Newsom. Typical politician - just a few weeks ago he was against any kind of barrier and now he says, ""I look forward to working with the district and the mental health community to help implement these life saving measures."

Victory

This just came from the Bridge Rail Foundation:

VICTORY—GGB votes to stop suicidesOctober 10, 2008

The directors of the Golden Gate Bridge district today voted 16-1 for a barrier to prevent suicides from the bridge. The vote came after bridge staff summarized the results of last summer's public review of the draft EIR and testimony from many supporters of suicide prevention on the bridge.

Today's vote comes 71 years and two months after the first suicide from the Golden Gate. It is also five years since Tad Friend published a long essay on the problem in the New Yorker magazine. That article inspired the production of Eric Steel's "The Bridge"—a film documenting a full year of GGB suicides. It also: stimulated local psychiatrists and suicide prevention groups to tackle the issue and moved the local press to examine the problem in great depth.

The GGB hearing room was packed with people supporting construction of a barrier, including retired UCSF psychiatrist Jerry Motto MD, who first pushed the district to act in the '60's.

The district action selects the net alternative as the Locally Preferred Option. Next up is completion of the EIR and development of a funding plan. These actions are likely in April of 2009. We will have more information as the issue progresses.

More on the suicide awareness walk

This was in the local media:

KCBS - Rally Draws Support for Suicide Barrier for Bridge