Councilmembers Support 10% for Bikes and Peds

April 28, 2010 at 4:49 pm | Posted in Bike News | 4 Comments

From Left, Mike Russell, Dorothy Le, Greg Tedesco, Rye Baerg, Aurisha Smolarski. Dennis Hindman in the back.

Today’s Full City Council Meeting (sans Councilmember Wesson), was a dramatic rollercoaster, in which bicyclists and pedestrians emerged victorious with at 11-3 yes vote on a FULL 10% from Measure R Local Return Funds for bicycle and pedestrian projects.  Councilmembers Parks, Perry and Smith voted NO on the full 10%, preferring a “up-to” 10% language.  Councilmembers Alarcón, Koretz, Rosendahl, Krekorian, Reyes, Huizar, Garcetti, LaBonge, Cardenas, Hahn, and Zine all voted yes.

The item was unexpectedly moved up in the agenda, with earlier items being pulled as special for later in the day. So just after 10am, Dorothy Le from LACBC and David Gatzen, member of LACBC spoke about the support for the full 10% for Bicycle and Pedestrians.  Greg Tedesco, Mike Russell from Wilshire Center BID, Aurisha Smolarski from LACBC, Rye Baerg, and Dennis Hindman, members of LACBC arrived too late to speak but were a major component in rallying applause throughout the discussion for various Councilmembers’ statements, and increasing momentum at pivotal moments for the bicycle and pedestrian issues.

Many advocates have also been following this issue and contributing to the success of this issue, including Damien Newton, Roadblock, Midnight Ridazz , Stephen Box, Green LA Transportation Working Group, and LA Critical Mass and all of the other supporters who have come out to speak at the various meetings.

Parks, at last week’s committee meeting introduced a motion to have the set-aside for bikes and peds be “up-to” 10%, and even though it did not pass at last week’s meeting, he was holding fast to that concept. His argument was that it was not proper budget process to allocate funds to something that would potentially not be fully used. Parks re-stated this motion at which point Perry immediately seconded the motion, with Cardenas also seconding.

At this point, Koretz voiced strong affirmation that it was “about time that we allocated real dollars for bicycle and pedestrian projects.”  He reiterated that in the 35 years he’s been following the city’s bicycle issues nothing has happened.

Smith spoke next, where he warned of the expressing apprehension of not having any programming for the bicycle and pedestrian projects, and that the City was setting aside money that didn’t have actual programmatic needs to areas where there was minimal need.  He also talked about the lack of scientific data for the 10% number.

Alarcón started to level the field by speaking about the policy implications for this money, highlighting that this will be the first time that we the city has allocated money for something that always gets forgotten in budget allocations.  He spoke about how he did not need statistics to know that a doctor almost killed a cyclist in Mandeville Canyon and that we need to reduce our carbon footprint and that it’s “just the right thing to do.”

Huizar then talked about the needs for funding for projects, like bike corrals, now.

Then came the questions of DOT.  Damien Newton at Streetsblog has a better run-down of DOT’s responses and lack of responses, but basically anytime a Councilmember asked DOT a question, DOT would respond that either they weren’t sure, didn’t know or were not strong on their answer.  Damien’s article is here.

Reyes then spoke about the need for funding projects, like bridges and connections to the LA River, which runs through the entire city.  Krekorian stressed the need for pedestrian safety, highlighting his Safe Streets Bill, which he unsuccessfully championed while he was a State Assemblyman.

Just as momentum was picking up for the FULL 10% set-aside, Hahn spoke and sided with Parks, when spoke about the need for flexibility in funding, supporting the “up-to” 10% language.  She spoke about Item 9, which outlined cuts in the Dash, especially the Dash in Wilmington. Hahn wanted to make sure that other parts of transportation were taken into account.

Then it was Council President Garcetti’s chance to speak.  He continued to show his dedication to bikes and knowledge of the benefits of cycling when he spoke about the economic development opportunities with bicycle and pedestrian projects and how the two year wait for getting Sharrows painted on the ground is “unacceptable”.  Rosendahl followed this up with a national perspective, referencing Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood’s commitment to livability and the end of the “car winning over the bicycle.”  The energy turned south when Rosendahl asked LADOT if there are specific ready-to-go projects in LA. Mike Uyeno speaking responded by saying how difficult bicycle projects were.

Rosendahl then followed up with a rousing speech about how the time has come for the “bicycle to be equal to the car and public transit.”

Parks reemphasized the need to keep the funding flexible and that Measure R Local Return funds are dwindling because of the economy and reduction in sales taxes.

Koretz chimed in and asked DOT another question, which was if there was enough staff to do projects if there was the 10% set-aside.  Again, LADOT responded with a naysaying response, stating that with the budget crunch, they “were not sure” if they could do it.

At this point, it was still up in the air as to how the vote was going to go.  With Parks, Perry, Smith, Cardenas, and Hahn stating they preferred “up-to” language and Koretz, Rosendahl,  Alarcon, Krekorian, Reyes, Garcetti, and Huizar stongly in support for the FULL 10%, the vote still seemed very close.  It seemed like it was left up to LaBonge and Zine.

The momentum shifted completely when Koretz proposed a new motion that set the level the City funded to be  “at least” 10% for bikes/peds.  This effectively created a “floor,” or minimum of bike/ped funding from Measure R Local Return.

Alarcón quickly seconded and Krekorian also seconded the motion. Krekorian talked about and clarified with LADOT that with Parks’ motion, it effectively created a “ceiling,” for bike/ped funding.  What he wanted was a “floor.”  Then Alarcón proceeded to ask the LADOT another question, of which whose “answer” was extremely frustrating.  He asked if in the Measure R overall policy for Local Return there was flexibility in the other 90% of funding- if the City spent more than the 10% in Measure R, would it be okay?  LADOT had to be asked the question more than once before they meekly, “yes.”  It must be such a hard word for them to say.  This is one of the very examples why there needs to be a major Culture Change at LADOT

As there was now a third option -the “middle” option-the original 10% did not seem so unattainable.  Alarcón spoke of leveraging federal funds with Measure R local return.  Reyes then asked LADOT to prepare a report with City Planning about the Planning efforts that need to be done for projects using Measure R Local Return funds.  The final speaker was Rosendahl, who highlighted an e-mail that Bicycle Advisory Committee Chair Glenn Bailey just wrote to him on his Blackberry fully supporting for the FULL 10%.

….Then the votes were tallied.

First was Koretz’s motion, of “at-least” 10%- The votes were 7 yays, 7 nays, it did not pass.

Then came Parks’ motion, of “up-to” 10%- The votes were 5 yays, 9 nays.  Motion failed

Lastly, the final vote, for the full 10% – 11 yays, 3 nays.  Councilmembers who voted no were Parks, Perry and Smith.

After a dramatic meeting with twists and turns, the Los Angeles bicycling and walking community can emerge with a solid decision from LA City Council for a full 10% set-aside for bikes/peds from Measure R local return.  This is truly a historical step in the right direction.

The fight is not over yet.  Next up is for DOT to return with a work plan, and reconcilliation with the Mayor’s budget to take place in Budget committee probably on Friday, May 7th.  Stay tuned for details. Since now Zine and Perry are on Budget Committee (they just got place on Committee), it is important that we continue the fight to ensure 10% for bike and peds!

We want to truly thank the Councilmembers who demonstrated a commitment to  integrating bicycling and walking in our city’s transportation vision by voting YES on this issue:

Council President Garcetti

Councilmember Alarcon

Councilmember Koretz

Councilmember Rosendahl

Councilmember Krekorian

Concilmember Zine

Councilmember Reyes

Councilmember Huizar

Councilmember LaBonge

Councilmember Cardenas

Councilmember Hahn