The Chainlink

Aldermanic runoff elections of impact to cyclists

A fair number of runoffs in our immediate future; these are the ones I'm most familiar with. Feel free to comment or add others.

Source is

Trib election center.

 

50th: Stone blocked a completion of an off street bike route with an underpass (roughly Lincoln/Kedzie) that was completely planned and funded, basically just because he felt like it

 

25th: Morfin participated in a community effort that got most of Pilsen downzoned to RS3-- anyone in favor of downzoning for any reason just doesn't understand how we need density in order to keep our communities compact enough to be easily scalable without a motor vehicle, and especially is clueless as to the single quality that most gives Pilsen and Chinatown their character.  Pilsen is in kind of a formative stage in terms of bike infrastructure and is on its way to becoming the new Wicker Park in terms of cyclist density.

 

24th: Also kind of a bike infrastructure frontier-- includes parts of Lawndale and Garfield (and a little piece of the Boulevard I traverse most days)-- ripe for new infrastructure and especially youth programs.

50th Ward Alderman

93% of precincts reporting
Updated 9:28 p.m.
Source: Associated Press
Candidate Votes Pct.
Stone 3,962 37.0%  
Silverstein 3,603 33.6%  
Brewer 2,080 19.4%  
Khan 625 5.8%  
Moses 451 4.2%  

25th Ward Alderman

100% of precincts reporting
Updated 9:28 p.m.
Source: Associated Press
Candidate Votes Pct.
Solis 4,291 48.9%  
Morfin 2,451 28.0%  
Medrano 2,025 23.1%  

24th Ward Alderman

100% of precincts reporting
Updated 9:28 p.m.
Source: Associated Press
Candidate Votes Pct.
Dixon 1,783 19.5%  
Chandler 1,197 13.1%  
Boyce 841 9.2%  
Leonard 697 7.6%  
Fields 606 6.6%  
Stroud 605 6.6%  
Anderson 482 5.3%  
Johnson 477 5.2%  
Cook 459 5.0%  
Spellman 435 4.8%  
Williams 369 4.0%  
Bass 346 3.8%  
Lewis 309 3.4%  
Turner 203 2.2%  
Lawson 137 1.5%  
Nelson 113 1.2%  
Carter 44 0.5%  
Lard 37 0.4%  

Views: 97

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on February 28, 2011 at 1:03pm
We can only hope that Silverstein isn't as much of an ostrich as Stone.  It sounded like Brewer had the potential to be a big improvement on bike and ped issues.  Too bad he ended up in 3rd place.

J.P. said:
I live in the 50th, and have suffered under Stone for quite a while now. I know about the whole cycling overpass Stone blocked (presumably because he wasn't properly included in the decision process). The current setup is a mess, because if you come from the north down the North Canal trail you have cross the bridge by Lincoln Ave, either on the sidewalk, on the street against traffic, or cross the 4 lane street, cross the bridge (with traffic) and cross the same 4 lanes again. Very unfortunate however that the runner up now is same type of crony, Silverstein's wife, whose only qualification is that she sleeps with the state senator.
Permalink Reply by jennifer james on February 28, 2011 at 1:39pm
ALderman Solis has absolutely stepped up to growing cycling in the 25th ward. At coffees I attended last month he talked about cycletrack through the 25th possibly along Blue Island from his new Arts district to the UIC-even in a room that could care less about bikes. He seems very excited since he held his first ward ride this fall to see that cyclists are a real part of his ward and that  businesses would benefit greatly from growing infrastructure in the ward. I think that this is a surprising opportunity. I've lived in the ward for ten years and find that I care about the election for the first time in a while. I think this is a good time for anyone that cares about bikes in the 25th to seek out an opportunity to ask Solis where he sees the role of cycling in his ward and consider which candidate might be committed to growing cycling now not only in the ward but in greater Chicago as well.
Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on February 28, 2011 at 7:47pm
Let's make a transportation-focused public forum happen in the 25th.  I have a good relationship with both Danny and Temoc.  If I can get a group of at least 3 or 4 folks who want to work on this together I'll move ahead.
Permalink Reply by Duppie on February 28, 2011 at 8:35pm
Not trying to get off-topic, but the situation you describe can be easily avoided by going east on Devon, and then south on Kedzie. No need to twice cross 4-lanes of traffic

J.P. said:
I live in the 50th, and have suffered under Stone for quite a while now. I know about the whole cycling overpass Stone blocked (presumably because he wasn't properly included in the decision process). The current setup is a mess, because if you come from the north down the North Canal trail you have cross the bridge by Lincoln Ave, either on the sidewalk, on the street against traffic, or cross the 4 lane street, cross the bridge (with traffic) and cross the same 4 lanes again. Very unfortunate however that the runner up now is same type of crony, Silverstein's wife, whose only qualification is that she sleeps with the state senator.
Permalink Reply by jennifer james on February 28, 2011 at 9:00pm

Hi H3-

Don't know how I could help in the 25th but let me know if I can! Is Temoc Morfin interested in transit? J.

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on February 28, 2011 at 10:51pm

I just dropped him a line to find out.

Here's what I can find on his website (peripherally related):

Hasn't heard that the Blue Bag program is defunct:

http://morfinfor25thward.com/213

Transit didn't rank under "Infrastructure" but he mentions sidewalks twice:

http://morfinfor25thward.com/issues/infrastructure

Diet but not exercise as a solution for obesity:

http://morfinfor25thward.com/issues/health

Compulsory mention under "environment."

http://morfinfor25thward.com/issues/environment

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on February 28, 2011 at 10:53pm
Do you have any specifics on further plans? There have been virtually no reports and many dropped communications.

Anne Alt said:
Walk Bike Transit's work is ongoing.

H3N3 said:

Well, I live a few feet outside of the 25th so I don't really have a need to choose a candidate (would be perfectly happy to support an opponent of Solis if that opponent promised to be better in any way) but we do have an opportunity to make sure they're thinking about and talking about issues that matter to us.

Anyone had any contact with Walk Bike Transit? Anyone know of any further plans, or does that effort go on hold now?

Permalink Reply by Mark Kenseth on March 1, 2011 at 11:07am

H,

I'm currently interning at ISEC, and I'm working on a bicycling campaign this spring where Illinois students gather signatures (at Critical Mass and college campuses) about a bicycling issue that we then take to Rahm or Pat's office (or other). Last year we gathered about 4,000 signatures on postcards regarding Climate Change advocacy which we then hand-delivered to Senator Durbin's office.  Durbin wasn't at his office at the time, but the time before that, Senator Burris actually stopped by and spoke with students about the signatures delievered.

 

Is this something you (or anyone else) would consider as a project to help out on?  I'll be posting a casual survey on Chainlink soon about which issue to campaign for.  If you have any ideas, let me know.  Email me at mkenseth at greenstudents dot org.

 

H3N3 said:

Do you have any specifics on further plans? There have been virtually no reports and many dropped communications.
Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on March 1, 2011 at 12:44pm
Done.

Mark Kenseth said:

H,

I'm currently interning at ISEC, and I'm working on a bicycling campaign this spring where Illinois students gather signatures (at Critical Mass and college campuses) about a bicycling issue that we then take to Rahm or Pat's office (or other). Last year we gathered about 4,000 signatures on postcards regarding Climate Change advocacy which we then hand-delivered to Senator Durbin's office.  Durbin wasn't at his office at the time, but the time before that, Senator Burris actually stopped by and spoke with students about the signatures delievered.

 

Is this something you (or anyone else) would consider as a project to help out on?  I'll be posting a casual survey on Chainlink soon about which issue to campaign for.  If you have any ideas, let me know.  Email me at mkenseth at greenstudents dot org.

 

H3N3 said:

Do you have any specifics on further plans? There have been virtually no reports and many dropped communications.
Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on March 1, 2011 at 2:34pm

I had a lengthy conversation with John Lankford at the Cycle Swap about post-election plans. We didn't talk specifically about run-offs in the wards, but we did talk about the idea of working to establish ward citizen advisory committees to work on walk-bike-transit issues.

 

I dropped him a note suggesting that he weigh in on this discussion thread.

H3N3 said:

Do you have any specifics on further plans? There have been virtually no reports and many dropped communications.

Anne Alt said:
Walk Bike Transit's work is ongoing.

H3N3 said:

Well, I live a few feet outside of the 25th so I don't really have a need to choose a candidate (would be perfectly happy to support an opponent of Solis if that opponent promised to be better in any way) but we do have an opportunity to make sure they're thinking about and talking about issues that matter to us.

Anyone had any contact with Walk Bike Transit? Anyone know of any further plans, or does that effort go on hold now?

Permalink Reply by Jessica Boston on March 12, 2011 at 3:19pm
From my conversations with Morfin he seemed knowledgeable on the topic and enthusiastic about the issue. No complaints here.

I like that Morfin's website outlines his positions on all the issues. Solis' website is completely useless if you want to find out his plans for the community or any of his stances on the issues. It serves to be a nice billboard and that's about it. www.dannysolis.org

At least Morfin takes a stand. Looking at Solis' website, it's clear: he doesn't feel the need to show any accountability or leadership.


H3N3 said:

I just dropped him a line to find out.

Here's what I can find on his website (peripherally related):

Hasn't heard that the Blue Bag program is defunct:

http://morfinfor25thward.com/213

Transit didn't rank under "Infrastructure" but he mentions sidewalks twice:

http://morfinfor25thward.com/issues/infrastructure

Diet but not exercise as a solution for obesity:

http://morfinfor25thward.com/issues/health

Compulsory mention under "environment."

http://morfinfor25thward.com/issues/environment

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on March 12, 2011 at 4:40pm
Thank you for bumping this. I and a few others spoke to Temoc kind of at length at the Bike Winter Art Show last night. He has done his homework and seemed to listen to what people were saying-I'm willing to upgrade my opinion.

Jessica Boston said:
From my conversations with Morfin he seemed knowledgeable on the topic and enthusiastic about the issue. No complaints here.

I like that Morfin's website outlines his positions on all the issues. Solis' website is completely useless if you want to find out his plans for the community or any of his stances on the issues. It serves to be a nice billboard and that's about it. www.dannysolis.org

At least Morfin takes a stand. Looking at Solis' website, it's clear: he doesn't feel the need to show any accountability or leadership.


H3N3 said:

I just dropped him a line to find out.

Here's what I can find on his website (peripherally related):

Hasn't heard that the Blue Bag program is defunct:

http://morfinfor25thward.com/213

Transit didn't rank under "Infrastructure" but he mentions sidewalks twice:

http://morfinfor25thward.com/issues/infrastructure

Diet but not exercise as a solution for obesity:

http://morfinfor25thward.com/issues/health

Compulsory mention under "environment."

http://morfinfor25thward.com/issues/environment

RSS

Groups

© 2008-2016   The Chainlink Community, L.L.C.   Powered by

Disclaimer  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service