What comes next ?
Cheney V.and Amanda B.
Despite the fact that both candidates came late, the forum which pitted Mayoral candidates Anthony Foxx (Democrat) and John Lassiter (Republican) in benign but mortal combat went smoothly.
Attendance was impressive and included among others, Spencer Lueders, founder of the 24 Hours of Booty, Neal Boyd of Charlotte Sports Cycling, former CABA Board member Bart Stetler of South Park Cycles, Ken Tippette, City of Charlotte bicycle planner, Councilman Andy Dulin (R)) and his rival candidate, Jane Bott Childrey (D), and Susan Burgess (D) Mayor Protem.
Topics like bike budgets, voting records on the Citywide Bike Plan and the Urban Street Design Guidelines, an ordinance change for bike showers and lockers, etc. etc. were discussed including audience participation. Much thanks to Helen Faris, Daniel Bennett, John Autry, Weldon Weaver, Pamela and Julie Murray and others for making the evening unfold without a hitch.
To read what we asked the candidates, CLICK: Questions .
We welcome comments from attendees. Click the “comment” bubble below.
Left to right - Candidate John Lassiter, Martin Zimmerman and Dan Faris of CABA, Anthony Foxx candidate
As someone who cares about environmental justice,
I found Mr. Lassiter out of touch with the concerns
of cyclists. Even though he was former triath.
and a rider on the beach.
A vote for Lassiter to me is a vote for someone
who has a narrow view of roads and support
for multi-modal use. I am not completely anti-car
after all I am a driver. But the car/urban sprawl paradigm is quickly becoming outmoded. The facts
are there. If you need some studies on the
affects of suburban sprawl on the American landscape
I will glad forward you some materials.
I am willing to be open minded but a vote fo Lassiter
is not the direction Charlotte needs to go in.
He stated that when people look at a place to live
they look at the overall tax rate, cost of living as
the single biggest determinant as to whether a large
company is willling to move to Charlotte.
Here are my thoughts on this statement:
1. With companies like Wachovia now long from the landscape, Charlotte can’t count on corporate largesse
to solve the city’s problems. The bank that is
now Wachovia is based in California and will probably
no longer play the role it once had.
I believe many of the companies, not all
are not interested in creating synergies which
foster sound win-win situations for the local
community. We need to diversify the kind of
companies which are attracted to Mecklenburg
County. Green Collar jobs are just one
of the many new sectors which are sky rocketing.
2.Companies in the technical-creative fields
choose western cities because they support
multi-modal transportation and have progressive land use policies.
Persons as myself who are seeking bicycle friendly
neighborhoods are growing in number. I work at
Bank of America and in the technology field.
I would like to stay here since my children go to school here. However the trajectory our local
leaders take could make decide to look elsewhere
if the land use policies remain at a status Quo.
The sustainability of our economy, public health
and environmental justice issues need to rise on the
priortiy list.
Andrew
You are an eloquent and impassioned writer ! Later today I will be sending out an email to all attendees asking them to evaluate the Face-Off by entering their opinions, as you have done below, onto our weekly blog. martin z / CABA Exec. Dir.
Martin and all,
The forum was well-attended and the candidates gave me a good idea of their views. I think the format was well-recieved and worked quite well. The questions were thoughtful and diverse. In my opinion Anthony Foxx has the vision to lead Charlotte towards a more bike friendly atmosphere. I was chagrined to hear John Lassiter lament the traffic without seeing that he could part of the solution by providing more bike facilities and by trying to ride more often. You do not have to travel to Europe to ride a bike.
I could live with Lassiter as Mayor but I definitely favor Fox, based on their comments at the CABA event. John said he rides his bike at the beach 7 miles to go to the store, but not in Charlotte. He doesn’t seem concerned that his island retreat has figured out how to make itself bike friendly while the city he oversees has not.
He also said he doesn’t think we should make developers create multi-use shaded streets in “affordable housing” neighborhoods (too expensive) nor did he suggest that our community might want to provide help in such cases. If we follow that thinking (or should I say, if we continue that current way of thinking) we end up with just our affluent residents getting planting strips, shade trees and bike lanes in their neighborhoods and the people who most need alternatives to expensive autos do not.
Thanks, Rich
- mz / CABA