Bridge
barrier pitched on the Web
Advocate hopes online Voters will join his campaign
By Janet Korublum
Five
days a week, eight hours a day, Robert Guernsey is out
there pounding the pavement, walking the malls, trying
to sell people on his idea: a Retractable Barrier on the
Golden Gate Bridge, or just a traffic barrier of other
designs to the bridge. Guernsey, a San Anselmo resident
and inventor, basically will go anywhere he can to get
people to listen to him.
So
it was only natural that Guernsey, with the help of a local
businessman, took his idea to the potentially biggest soapbox
on the planet; the World Wide Web. The Web site allows users
to download a one-page petition, which calls for the Board
of Supervisors to conduct a feasibility study on the barrier
system that Guernsey invented. Guernsey is convinced that
his retractable barrier will stop all head-on collisions.
The general manager of the Golden Gate Bridge District Carney
Campion has a different idea, how about no barrier at all.
Carney Campion says the idea of a barrier is great, but
the one Guernsey’s proposing simply won’t work and “the
public is being duped” by Guernsey’s “hype.” No matter,
Guernsey is determined. In fact, he’s downright passionate.
That’s what prompted George Rothbart, CEO of Software Science
Inc., to build a Web page promoting Guernsey’s idea. (Guernsey
was hoping to find someone to help on the web idea for his
petition drive).
“He’s got a wild gleam in his eye,” said Rothbart, a San
Rafael resident who met Guernsey while he was shopping at
The Mall at Northgate. “He has a tremendous issue in making
the bridge safe.” Rothbart said he was impressed by Guernsey’s
determination and stopped to look at the model Guernsey
has built and to talk to him about his ideas. “I looked
at the model,” Rothbart said. “I looked at the man. I looked
at the petition. I said, you know, this is a perfect application
for a Web site where we’re trying to make large documents
available. It will be the first time it has been done
“I know it’s lofty to say we’re bringing democracy
right to your desktop, but that’s just about it”
George Rothbart, CEO of Software Science Inc.
If enough people actually download the initiative, sign
it and send it into the given address, Rothbart and Guernsey
are determined to expand their idea. They want to create
a Web site to list all voter initiatives. I realized people
shouldn’t have to go to shopping malls to do this,” Rothbart
said. “If they’re interested in participating, they should
be able to download petitions and sign them from their homes
or offices.”
“This is a very busy world,” Guernsey added. "People
haven’t got time to do a lot of research.” The Web allows
people to access information in a hurry. “To me, it’s a
good media. It’s a working tool,” Guernsey said. Unfortunately,
technology can only go so far.
The Registrar of Voters only accepts original signatures
so voters must print out the petition, sign it and send
it to an address provided. And despite the fact that the
medium is the World Wide Web, signatories must live in Main.
So far, Guernsey and others have collected more than 5,500
signatures, he said. They need 10,824 by May 28, 1996. Rothbart
says he doesn’t know if it will work, but it never hurts
to try. ‘Personally, I think we’re overlooking one
of the benefits of the Web if we don’t try this experiment,”
he said.
|
