One way the Cascade Bicycle Club advocates for cyclists in the Seattle area is to issue endorsements in the local elections.
After receiving an email from the CBC, I checked the Cascade website to see the endorsements for the candidates in my own burg.
Of the three seats up for grabs on the Bellevue City Council, the bike club endorsed just one candidate, Vicki Orrico. Why just one? The candidates' responses aren't available on the website, although Cascade explains its selection procedure:
“Questions spanned a range of issues impacting bicycling, including: child safety, bicycle lanes and trails, transportation funding, land-use and sprawl.
“However, good answers can't tell the whole story. We also evaluate candidate's past votes, talk to local activists and, when necessary, interview them face to face. In addition, we ask ourselves, 'Can they win? And, if elected, will they work with us to improve conditions for bicycling?'”
Past votes? Orrico is running against incumbent Conrad Lee. Lee is of the Bellevue councilmembers who made the bad choice of voting for the dangerous “mixed use” bicycle/pedestrian path plan — instead of separate walkways and bike lanes — for West Lake Sammamish Parkway improvements in April.
Another incumbent up for election who also voted in favor of the “mixed-use” path plan — Mayor Connie Marshall — was not endorsed. Neither was Councilmember Don Davidson, who was absent the night of the vote.
Of the 20 or so elections in which Cascade is making endorsements, the most important is probably that of King County Executive. Cascade is endorsing incumbent Ron Sims over challenger David Irons.
While Sims has worked to support the East Lake Sammamish Trail, where an interim bike trail is expected to open next month, Cascade says that Irons has supported state legislation that would block funding. Sims also has put forth a plan to acquire the 47-mile BNSF right-of-way route between Renton and Snohomish.
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