California - use petition/proposition process for change?
I have been reading various topics on San Onofre beach, the Cahill policy, the 2009 NEF California poll etc. and then I saw one of the topics on the whitehouse.gov petitions. This all got me thinking. First the whitehouse.gov petitions are national but not well known that they even exist so get little participation on top of the requirement to create an account turning people off from participating.
Reading the 2009 NEF California Poll atnaturisteducation.org and living in California I know that Californians are more relaxed about nude sunbathing etc than many other areas though that does not mean there aren't those that oppose any form of nudity. Anyway, has there ever been any consideration by AANR, NAC, or others to use the petition system to reverse the move by the parks system to change the parks department's policy that killed the Cahill policy?
For reference, another member of TN posted this information when talking about San Ononfre:
California Administrative CodeTitle 14, Section 4322 No person shall appear nude while in any unit except in authorized areas set aside for that purpose by the Department. The word nude as used herein means unclothed or in such a state of undress as to expose any part of portion of the pubic or anal region or genitalia of any person or any portion of the breast at or below the areola thereof of any female person.NAC NOTE:Those found guilty of this misdemeanor face maximum punishment of 90 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.NAC NOTE:An operating policy known as the "Cahill Policy" formerly guided the enforcement of Section 4322 by rangers of the California Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR). The Cahill Policy said, in part, "it shall be the policy of the Department that enforcement of nude sunbathing regulations within the State Park System shall be made only upon the complaint of a private citizen. Citations or arrests shall be made only after attempts are made to elicit voluntary compliance with the regulations."DPR has terminated the Cahill Policy statewide, beginning with San Onofre State Beach in 2008. The policy is now in effect nowhere in the state.
Note that the California Administrative Code does not say no nudity, it just says not in areas that are not set aside for that purpose.
What I would like to see is a petition/proposition that directs the California Dept ofParks and Recreation to set aside a certain percentage of state parks and beaches for nude use based upon surveys of proposed use and actual use. Obviously this would have to be refined a lot and possibly get into other areasdefiningenforcement ofbehavior, preventing state and local agencies from subverting it, etc. I think the challenges would beputting it together and getting the 504,760 signatures required to get it onthe ballot but with the support of AANR, the Naturist Society, resorts, non-landed clubs etc and looking at the 79% support for nude sunbathing in the NEF poll I would think it is possible.
Thoughts?
Interesting on Bonny Doon, hopefully that means some change is happening. I believe in principal you are correct about AANR. The reason I think they should support something like this would be that it helps bring nude recreation to the forefront and show that it is acceptable and enjoyable. If beaches were opened up and found to beenjoyed by more people it would help marketing for otherforms of nude recreation.
Agreed, but they've become a nudist business now, and only get involved if something threatens their business. Seriously, where were they when Arkansas banned nudism?
Have to agree with you. We are members of TNS and not AANR for that reason. Although, TNS' track record hasn't been that great as of late; loss of San Onofre, loss of Fire Island, Mazo in jeopardy, to name a few. In their defense, they are up against the most repressive Puritan mindset this country has seen in a long time and that may doom acceptance of public social nudism no matter what.
We find ourselves visiting clubs much less lately and hitting the nude beach when we can. But mostly now a days it's nude at home with a select few friends. We visit each others' homes and enjoy social nudity that way. We're a bit more fortunate than some in that our humble home and property is a small nudist haven. I suspect there's a great deal more folks that enjoy nudity at home but have no interest in venturing out into the social nudity world. In fact I have a friend and neighbor that fits that exact description.
Depending on how the petition/proposition process is structured it can range from being inexpensive to extremely expensive. Online petitions at various sites or sources are relatively inexpensive and are mostly ineffectual in reality. The Whitehouse.gov petition earlier this year only garnered a little over 3000 signatures nationwide. Even if you were able to gather the 500,000 signatures required, the work and expense involved in putting a proposition on the ballot in California is way beyond the resources of AANR and NAC combined. When that cost ranges from approx. $500 K to over $2 million, it would take a lot of wealthy supporters outside of the naturist community. Not saying it can't be done, just very unlikely.
In light of the debacle at the California Parks and Rec Dept. last year, the legislature passed AB1478 that called for the creation of an independent Commission of experts from different fields, the Parks Forward Commission (www.parksforward.com), to review the current state of the Parks Dept, and after garnering input from various sources including public meetings throughout the state, offer a plan to improve and ensure the sustainablity of our state parks and beaches, along with restructuring the Parks Dept. itself.
Over the past year, members of our club, the SCNA, as well as members of other local non-landed clubs, beach activists, NAC reps, and yes, AANR-West reps, have all attended these meetings throughout northern and southern California and publicly testified that naturists deserve as much right to state parks and beaches as any other special interest group currently recognized, off-road enthusiasts, equestrians, hunters and fisherman, etc.
The Executive Director of the Commission, and various commissioners, have told us the three most vocal groups throughout all the meetings have been dog owners, bicyclists, and naturists.
They invited us to submit a proposal on what naturists would like to see happen in the state parks and beaches, and how it should be implemented and enforced. After review from various naturists in our community, we submitted our proposal for inclusion in their final recommendations a few weeks ago. Whether it ends up in their final report is the question at this point.
Interestingly enough, the most support we've received has come from AANR, and the B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation. NAC refused to endorse it for various reasons, including that they feel the commission will largely be ineffectual, and is just political grandstanding. They may be right, but we have been given an opportunity to submit a proposal, and whether it makes it into their final recommendations and then implemented is a long shot, but we felt it was time to act, and not let the ring pass us by. NAC also felt that the timing was not right, and that we should be asking for naturists to be allowed in all parks and beaches, not just the ones where clothing-optional recreation has been traditional. Philosophically, we agree, but if the time is not right, then when, and realistically and politically, just like the other special interest groups in California who are not allowed into every park or beach statewide, but have designated areas set aside for their recreational choice, would naturists ever be allowed that right in the entire park system?
Wherever you are on this issue, we still feel that we need to have every naturist who can, attend the remainder of the Parks Forward meetings and if we are not recognized in the final report, ask why not. Next meeting will be Aug. 6th in San Diego.
Wherever you are on this issue, we still feel that we need to have every naturist who can, attend the remainder of the Parks Forward meetings and if we are not recognized in the final report, ask why not. Next meeting will be Aug. 6th in San Diego.
Thank you for a very well informed response.
jaybirds, thank you so much. Your response is awesome. I hope the efforts do pay off. This is the type of thing I thought was not happening but needed to be, Apparently my ignorance is showing :) I agree the cost of a petition etc would be prohibitive, I did not realize it would be that much but thinking about it you are probably right. Any billionaire nudists out there that want to take something like this on ? :)
Actions
Back to TopicsReply to TopicShare this topic
Get paid just by sending us users/traffic.
Signup takes seconds, start now!
Signup as an affiliate!