Share the roads ... er, paths
Lost in all of the La Puerta del Sol shuffle was the defeat - by a close 5-4 vote - of Commissioner Alice Kinman's proposal for a multi-use pathway to be constructed along Old Hull Road. I had corresponded with Kinman prior to the vote to express my support for such a project, figuring it was just the type of innovative idea we needed to not only find a compromise between the bike folks and non-bike folks, but also as a way of offering alternative transportation options for low-income residents of a fairly isolated section (geographically) of our community.
It's a shame this was shot down. It's even more of a shame that the district's two representatives on the commission were opposed to the idea as both Tom Chasteen and Harry Sims felt it was a bad idea, but for wholly different reasons. Chasteen felt it was too expensive, while Sims offered some bizarre explanation that amounted to 'those folks don't want that.'
Now Sims has been accused by many of being indifferent to the needs of his constituents and, as a result, doing a poor job of representing them. I've never been one to wholly subscribe to that theory, primarily because he appears to be a very personable and generous man. But, after watching him during this latest episode, I can now understand why so many people - including his own constituents - have that perception of him.
It wasn't as if Sims was saying 'my constituents are telling me they see no use for this type of project.' In fact, it was quite the contrary. Sims offered no community support or opposition, instead saying that he didn't feel that parents would want their children playing that close to a road which has large trucks roll across quite frequently. That's quite an assumption to make without any consultation with his district. And, of course, it's a gross misrepresentation of what the project would actually be.
This pathway would have been located off of the road and resembled something along the lines of a wider sidewalk that could accommodate both cyclists and pedestrians. This is a safe, smart and responsible idea for alternative transportation, and one I have advocated for quite a while. Sims' dismissal of it was very shortsighted and a tad arrogant. It gave the impression that he knew what was best for those people without talking with them, and he hid behind a mythical safety argument to justify his decision.
And of course States McCarter deferred to Sims, saying that the latter knew his district the best ... a bold political move designed to give him both cover and leverage on LPDS. As a result, despite strong, convincing arguments from Carl Jordan, Elton Dodson and Kinman, the whole thing got shot down. Instead, we'll get a regular old sidewalk and expose the cyclists to the truck traffic (that's OK for Sims for some reason).
At the same time, we sadly failed on one of our first opportunities to push a creative plan for alternative transportation through in this town. So kudos to David Lynn, Dodson and Jordan for their support. And many kudos to Kinman for her leadership on this project. I hope the commissioner keeps such innovative ideas coming our way.
It's a shame this was shot down. It's even more of a shame that the district's two representatives on the commission were opposed to the idea as both Tom Chasteen and Harry Sims felt it was a bad idea, but for wholly different reasons. Chasteen felt it was too expensive, while Sims offered some bizarre explanation that amounted to 'those folks don't want that.'
Now Sims has been accused by many of being indifferent to the needs of his constituents and, as a result, doing a poor job of representing them. I've never been one to wholly subscribe to that theory, primarily because he appears to be a very personable and generous man. But, after watching him during this latest episode, I can now understand why so many people - including his own constituents - have that perception of him.
It wasn't as if Sims was saying 'my constituents are telling me they see no use for this type of project.' In fact, it was quite the contrary. Sims offered no community support or opposition, instead saying that he didn't feel that parents would want their children playing that close to a road which has large trucks roll across quite frequently. That's quite an assumption to make without any consultation with his district. And, of course, it's a gross misrepresentation of what the project would actually be.
This pathway would have been located off of the road and resembled something along the lines of a wider sidewalk that could accommodate both cyclists and pedestrians. This is a safe, smart and responsible idea for alternative transportation, and one I have advocated for quite a while. Sims' dismissal of it was very shortsighted and a tad arrogant. It gave the impression that he knew what was best for those people without talking with them, and he hid behind a mythical safety argument to justify his decision.
And of course States McCarter deferred to Sims, saying that the latter knew his district the best ... a bold political move designed to give him both cover and leverage on LPDS. As a result, despite strong, convincing arguments from Carl Jordan, Elton Dodson and Kinman, the whole thing got shot down. Instead, we'll get a regular old sidewalk and expose the cyclists to the truck traffic (that's OK for Sims for some reason).
At the same time, we sadly failed on one of our first opportunities to push a creative plan for alternative transportation through in this town. So kudos to David Lynn, Dodson and Jordan for their support. And many kudos to Kinman for her leadership on this project. I hope the commissioner keeps such innovative ideas coming our way.
posted by Jmac at 3:08 PM
2 Comments:
Great piece! I'd only take exception with one small thing. I don't think States deferring to Harry was in any way "bold" per se, it was just a little political back scratching.
Kinman, Lynn, Jordan, and Dodson should be commended on this one.
Hopefully I can say the same again on November 2nd.
the odd thing about the vote and this post is that kathy hoard, elected by neighborhood/activist types, voted the wrong way (and in a 5-4 vote) very dissappointing what gives kathy?
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