Mayoral Candidates - Who Is Bike Savvy? Thoughts?

When asking around, I heard these three candidates are some potential good bike-friendly options:

Mendoza

Lightfoot

Eniya

Let's use this thread to discuss, bring in articles, quotations, and proof of bike-savviness. Cool?

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy on February 27, 2019 at 4:15am
I doubt either candidate is going to take a stance on bike issues. From abc7chicago.com:

"Chicago election officials said voters aged 55 to 64 are the largest group of voters. But voters ages 25 to 44 ... happen to be the largest voting block, and numbers showed they did not turn out well."

Bike issues are not a concern for people over 55, and politicians don't care about the concerns of people that don't vote. If anything, both candidates will be anti-bike to distance themselves from Rahm Emanuel.
Permalink Reply by curt(is) locke on February 27, 2019 at 6:26am

Jeremy, your broad underlying assumption that "bike issues are not a concern for people over 55" demonstrates a lack of sophistication in your analysis. I rather doubt that either Lori or Toni will come out as "anti-bike" as a way of differentiating themselves from the outgoing mayor. I will add that the low turnout of voters under the age of 44 was some kind of lame sauce. 

Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on February 27, 2019 at 7:18am

I also have to disagree with Jeremy's logic of being anti-bike because of the need for both candidates to distance themselves from Rahm's transportation policies. I'm confident that Lori will recognize what is effective. 

I did find it very disheartening yesterday of the poor turnout of the 25 - 44 year old voting block. Local political issues are just as important as national issues. I urge all in this group to take advantage in the upcoming election of the convenience of early voting or vote by mail.

Permalink Reply by curt(is) locke on February 27, 2019 at 7:39am

Although no mention is being made of the 18-24 year-old voting block, it too was weak, certainly not enough to push Amara into serious contention. 

Permalink Reply by Jeremy on February 27, 2019 at 1:22pm

I was at a ward 43 Aldermanic forum (an almost perfect definition of "people over the age of 55") when the moderator asked if police should write more tickets against cyclists.  All 6 candidates emphatically said "yes".

Drivers outnumber cyclists by a huge margin.  Nobody is going to win an election championing bike issues.  People will lose elections if drivers feel they are being victimized by a "war on cars".

As people have pointed out in this thread, neither candidate takes vehicle safety seriously in their personal habits.  They talked about bike lanes in an Active Transportation Alliance survey?  They were probably just trying to appeal to the target audience.  Let's see what they say in one of the upcoming debates.

Permalink Reply by David Barish on February 27, 2019 at 6:25am

I  do  not live in the city but  find the turnout  depressing. This  is not  a comment  on  who won and  who lost. The two  winners would have  been  very  high  on my list if I had a vote.  However, there were  more  people at  my bar-mitzvah than who voted for any of these candidates. The voters had an historic chance  to  reshape the city with a new  mayor and  a  plethora  of candidates and nobody seemed to  care.

Permalink Reply by curt(is) locke on February 27, 2019 at 6:52am

Agreed. It's lazy and not taking any responsibility.

Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on February 27, 2019 at 8:09am

If that's true, that's not good. One thing that bums me out about this post on CWB is talking down to her by saying "Girl, what's the emergency?"

Not only is that sexist, it could be perceived as racist all in a lame attempt at humor. If they were talking to a man, just replace "girl" with "boy" and see how that feels. Not good.

Permalink Reply by curt(is) locke on February 27, 2019 at 8:31am

CWB is a consistent source of dog-whistles.

Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on February 27, 2019 at 8:57am

Thanks, much appreciate the (more) credible news source. That's pretty disturbing. 

Permalink Reply by curt(is) locke on February 27, 2019 at 9:32am

Yasmeen, which part of it do you find particularly disturbing? The repeated violations, the failure of the city to send notices, or the unpaid tickets? What I don't understand is the city's position that not receiving the violation notices is not a reason for non-payment?!? I actually find Preckwinkle's explanation understandable.

By the way, Lori (and her partner) have racked up a substantial amount of vehicle tix. From the Sun-Time, 5/30/2018 --

"Lightfoot and her domestic partner Amy Eshleman own two vehicles — a 2014 Toyota Highlander and a 2006 Mini Cooper — and have paid up for 32 tickets. Nearly half of those were for parking violations.

Since the start of 2013, city cameras captured the couple’s Toyota speeding 11 or more miles an hour over the posted limit six times, and the Mini Cooper was cited for one speed-camera violations. The couple also paid fines for eight red-light-camera tickets on their two cars in five years."

Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on February 27, 2019 at 9:44am

Ok, so both candidates speed and run through red lights. And so did the mayor. What do I find disturbing? All of it. The reason these are laws is for safety. Running through red lights and speeding can result in the death of a pedestrian or cyclist. That's my problem with it. Just because they all do it, doesn't mean I'm good with any of them doing it. I don't really buy "security" as a reason for running a red light. It seems a bit of a stretch to me. Can everyone use that as an excuse?

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