Sorta Cutting Edge News - No. 15

But this is just where the story gets interesting. Fifty-seven of the jailed cyclists are suing the city, county and local law enforcement officials on the grounds that they were unlawfully arrested and searched. Before you scoff (one could say, after all, that getting arrested is the risk you run when you protest), keep in mind that the ride was a sanctioned event and that 23 of the female plaintiffs are alleging that they were subjected to strip searches and body cavity searches in the county jail corridor. The lawsuit also alleges the riders were denied telephone calls and medication and were imprisoned for 12 hours after charges were dismissed.

On March 28, 2003, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors postponed a vote that will eventually decide whether or not they’ll give $2.75 million to the bicyclists. The board initially voted 4–1 to approve the deal, which would have provided $70,000 apiece to 23 women who were illegally strip-searched, but County Supervisor Gloria Molina subsequently asked for the matter to be reconsidered, saying she wants a lengthier discussion of the case and the Sheriff’s Department’s mounting legal costs.

“I want to be supportive of the sheriff, but I cannot continue to pay for errors that are constantly repeated,” said Molina, who asked the Sheriff’s Department to report back on its policies.

For its part, the Sheriff’s Department says it stopped the practice of routinely conducting strip searches and body cavity searches of women detained following arrest. Good idea. L.A. County recently settled separate case for $150,000, in which a woman (who happened to be six months pregnant) was subjected to strip and body cavity searches.

An insider’s perspective on changes at Cannondale

It’s old news—Cannondale filed for bankruptcy in late January and was purchased by Pegasus Partners (it’s largest secured creditor) just last Thursday, March 20.

A number of questions, however, still remain: Will Cannondale continue to build bikes here in the USA? Will the company’s management structure change as a result of the sale? Will the new owners stifle the innovative designs that Cannondale has banked its name on for so long?

In the following interview with Cannondale Communications Director, Tom Armstrong, we get a surprisingly candid assessment of both what drove the company to bankruptcy, and why Armstrong is confident that his company will emerge stronger than ever from its 75 days in bankruptcy.

Bike: Will Cannondale bicycle production remain in the United States?

Armstrong: Yes, production of Cannondale bicycles will remain in the existing Pennsylvania factory. The theme that you’re likely to note throughout this conversation is consistency and continuation—which we obviously view as a very good thing.

Bike: Most people who watched the Cannondale bankruptcy from afar concluded that any new owner of the company would move production overseas—to Taiwan, for instance—in order to cut costs. Why didn’t that happen with Pegasus’ purchase of the company?

Armstrong: I think one of the reasons people were anticipating a lot of wholesale changes is because there were a lot of drastic changes that occurred when Schwinn was purchased a while back. There are, however, a lot of differences between the sale of Schwinn and the sale of Cannondale…chief of which is that Schwinn’s bicycle business was not doing well, whereas our financial problems stemmed from Cannondale’s motorsports division. Despite all the problems caused by motorsports, the bike side of our business always remained profitable. As a result, Pegasus understands that the nature of Cannondale’s bike business really doesn’t need to be altered for the company to be profitable.