Former King County Executive Ron Sims may have left the Seattle area to work for the Obama Administration, but he's still keeping his bicycling chops in shape.
A Seattle Times profile of Sims in his new job as the No. 2 person in the US Department of Housing and Urban Development pictures Sims with his bicycle heading off to work.
Here's a file photo (via WSDOT) of Sims at the kick-off of the Green Bike Project in Seattle last summer. It was just one of a number of bicycle projects that Sims advocated during this tenure in King County.
In the past I've written that the best way to promote bicycling in an area is to get elected officials on bikes (“… put pols on bikes.”) Sims is a good example, as are mayors Richard Daley of Chicago and Darwin Hindman of Columbia, Missouri.
Maybe Sims will ride along with Washington DC mayor Adrian Fenty one day. Fenty bicycles as part of his training for triathlons and is supportive of bicycle issues in the Nation's Capitol.
More likely, however, Sims will run into Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer on a commute to work. In profiling Blumenauer's work for bicycle legislation, the New York Times says Blumenauer keeps three bikes in DC and regularly bicycles to work.
Part of Sims' new job in HUD is to encourage cities to embrace smarter growth practices. That includes transportation issues, and we all know that bicycles can play a big role in reducing traffic congestion.
Here's hoping Sims has success in his new job.
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