Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Greg Borzo on June 21, 2011 at 10:25am

My Alderman, Bob Fioretti in the 2nd Ward, has a couple afternoons a month reserved for anyone who wants to speak with him for 15 minutes. It's first come first served. Is this rare or common?

 

In any event, I'm looking for some advice from this panel on what bike-related topics to bring up ... and how to explore them ... in such a meeting.

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Permalink Reply by Michelle S on June 21, 2011 at 12:19pm

Hi Greg -- I love your book! You're lucky that Fioretti has those open meeting times. My prior alderman in 43rd ward, Vi Daley, did not, and Michele Smith is just getting up and running, so we'll see. Fioretti seems very cyclist-friendly already, so you're also fortunate in that regard. i noticed recently Fioretti is inviting his constituents on a bike ride with him in July. That's impressive. Wouldn't it be fantastic if all our alderman did that!?!  But your question is about what bike-related topics to bring up. I would say the most important thing is just to communicate your support for Rahm Emanuel's plan for improving bike infrastructure in the city, including placing 100 miles of protected bike lanes. This is all very new to Chicago, and there will be MANY citizens speaking out against bike lanes, and we need to make sure that our aldermen know there are just as many of us PRO bike lanes. Active Trans Alliance is trying to organize bike (and pedestrian) advocates by aldermanic ward for this very purpose through their Neighborhood Bikeways campaign, so you could reach out to them to connect with others in your ward, to continue the dialogue with Fioretti, and show group support. I'm getting involved for the 43rd ward.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on June 23, 2011 at 12:41pm

Michelle - Good for you!  It's great to hear about cyclists speaking up on bike-related topics around the city.

So far we've got the 19th, 2nd and 43rd wards represented in this discussion.  I know that Gin Kilgore is very active in the 26th ward.  Which other wards have some good bike activism happening?

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Permalink Reply by Greg Borzo on June 25, 2011 at 7:19am

Yes, it's great to see you involved. Perhaps the best time to hit an alderman is when they are still new. That gets biking on their radar right from the start.

I hope you'll be able to attend the CCC event on July 12 to get some more ideas about working with aldermen. 

Michelle said:

Hi Greg -- I love your book! You're lucky that Fioretti has those open meeting times. My prior alderman in 43rd ward, Vi Daley, did not, and Michele Smith is just getting up and running, so we'll see. Fioretti seems very cyclist-friendly already, so you're also fortunate in that regard. i noticed recently Fioretti is inviting his constituents on a bike ride with him in July. That's impressive. Wouldn't it be fantastic if all our alderman did that!?!  But your question is about what bike-related topics to bring up. I would say the most important thing is just to communicate your support for Rahm Emanuel's plan for improving bike infrastructure in the city, including placing 100 miles of protected bike lanes. This is all very new to Chicago, and there will be MANY citizens speaking out against bike lanes, and we need to make sure that our aldermen know there are just as many of us PRO bike lanes. Active Trans Alliance is trying to organize bike (and pedestrian) advocates by aldermanic ward for this very purpose through their Neighborhood Bikeways campaign, so you could reach out to them to connect with others in your ward, to continue the dialogue with Fioretti, and show group support. I'm getting involved for the 43rd ward.

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Permalink Reply by Greg Borzo on July 5, 2011 at 11:25am

I don't know if everyone saw the opinion piece in the Sun-Times about the protected lane on Kinzie St. that ran July 1 (http://www.suntimes.com/6267233-417/drivers-are-the-new-smokers-in-...). I found it biased, close-minded, even churlish. The author seemed to exaggerate the lanes shortcomings and the inconveniences it might impose on some drivers.

 

In any event, the piece indicates that it will take a lot of work to KEEP protected lanes as well as to get them built in the first place. Perhaps this panel discussion will shed some light on ways to protect protected lanes!

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Permalink Reply by Michelle S on July 5, 2011 at 2:10pm

H3N3, you can sign up to get Fioretti’s weekly newsletters on his website, but in the meantime, here’s some info:

 

NEXT WARD NIGHT

(No Ward Night 7/4)

 

Monday July 18th, 3pm

2nd Ward Commiteeman's Office

721 S. Western

 

This weekly event gives residents an opportunity to speak with the Alderman one-on-one. We have a "first come first serve" system, therefore we ask each arriving party to sign in, so that we can keep track of the order in which all parties will meet with the Alderman. Sign-in begins promptly at 3pm and continues on a rolling basis. We ask that all parties fill out a service request form specifying exactly why they would like to speak with the Alderman. The allowed time is 15 minutes per party. We try hard to keep this time limit so that we can fit in all parties in the time span. Please feel free to stop by and voice your opinions and concerns about ward events. FYI - the office is not air conditioned. 

 

Second Ward Town Hall Meetings 

 

These meeting are an annual opportunity to learn about improvements in your area, to hear about upcoming projects in the ward and to connect with City services. Please note that residents are welcome to attend any or all of the Town Hall Meetings. However, each Town Hall's content is based primarily on the projects and issues of the areas closest to the meeting site.  

 

Near West/West Haven Region

6:30 p.m. Thurs, July 7, 2011

Phoenix/Marine Military Academy

145 S. Campbell

  

Near South / Bronzeville/ The "Gap" Region

6:30 p.m. Thurs, July 14, 2011

Pershing West School

3200 S. Calumet

  

South Loop and Printer's Row Region

6:30 p.m. Thurs, July 28, 2011

South Loop Community Church

1347 S. State Street

  

East Garfield Park Region

6:30 p.m. Weds, Aug 3, 2011

Revival Fellowship Church

2810 W. Washington Blvd.

H3N3 said:

Greg,

Do you happen to know the schedule? I'd like to see if there's a way we can get some help for bombed-out Oakley Blvd.

My impression is that "ward nights" are pretty common.  My alderman (Cardenas) and my neighboring alderman (Solis) hold them.

 

Greg Borzo said:

My Alderman, Bob Fioretti in the 2nd Ward, has a couple afternoons a month reserved for anyone who wants to speak with him for 15 minutes. It's first come first served. Is this rare or common?

 

In any event, I'm looking for some advice from this panel on what bike-related topics to bring up ... and how to explore them ... in such a meeting.

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Permalink Reply by Michelle S on July 5, 2011 at 2:24pm

Thanks for posting that link. It does foretell of huge backlashes we may see, unfortunately, against protected bike lanes. People simply don't like change. There are so many outrageous statements in this Sun-Times piece, I won't even get started. I hope bicyclists will step up, get involved, show support and get other neighbors and friends to show their support as well as all this evolves.

 

Here's a disheartening piece on this very issue in Toronto. The bike-unfriendly mayor has spoken out about how bikes don't belong in the streets, and they're voting whether to remove a bike lane on Jarvis street (not a protected lane, just a line on the street), even though it has helped triple the number of bike trips.

 

http://momentumplanet.com/blogs/opinions/jarvis-street-bike-lanes-u...

Greg Borzo said:

I don't know if everyone saw the opinion piece in the Sun-Times about the protected lane on Kinzie St. that ran July 1 (http://www.suntimes.com/6267233-417/drivers-are-the-new-smokers-in-...). I found it biased, close-minded, even churlish. The author seemed to exaggerate the lanes shortcomings and the inconveniences it might impose on some drivers.

 

In any event, the piece indicates that it will take a lot of work to KEEP protected lanes as well as to get them built in the first place. Perhaps this panel discussion will shed some light on ways to protect protected lanes!

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on July 6, 2011 at 12:28am

Articles like the Sun-Times and Toronto items emphasize how critical it is that we keep speaking up.  In my neighborhood, I'm speaking up to save two routes that are threatened, one by a proposed giant strip mall, another by neighborhood residents who want to turn a critical 2-block connector into a one-way street to reduce through traffic.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on July 8, 2011 at 10:14am

Greg - Do you have any updates for us?

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