Omaha's Loss

In her recent budget proposal, Mayor Stothert has eliminated the position of Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator. During an interview with the World Herald, she made a few statements I'd like to discuss.

She commented that the position was funded with seed money from grants. Now that the funding has expired, it's time for the position to disappear. To me, this is akin to uprooting the plant while the fruit is unripe. My understanding is the position was to be funded by the city at this point, not tossed in the compost heap. Her comment that his work is complete would have made me laugh, if it wasn't so blatantly incorrect. Just look at the streets in Omaha: how many folks do you see walking or cycling on them?

While she assures us that there will be someone dedicated to bike/ped needs in the planning department, that will only be part of that individual's duties. I suspect a small part given the car-centric nature of most of what comes from the administration. This in no way a substitute for a dedicated employee. Furthermore, I doubt that this individual will be as accessible to the public as Carlos has been.

Her feeling that the Active Living Advisory Committee will better serve to allow input from the citizens of Omaha also bears scrutiny. If her statement is to ring true, I'd ask why the Bike Pedestrian Advisory Committee was allowed to die, despite the efforts of numerous individuals. Efforts to contact the mayor to discuss the possibility were unanswered. From her description in the interview, the mayor views this committee as one that will advise on recreation, not cycling or walking as transportation. Furthermore, how accessible will the members of this committee be to the general public? Will their names and phone numbers be published somewhere?

Finally, I about fell out of my chair when she said that the Planning and Public Works departments already look at each project to assure that multi-modal transportation is included. If that's the case, then we should be renaming the city's Master Plan to the Highly Suggested Idea.

I know that there are good people in Planning who support cycling and walking. I've even heard rumors of a couple in Public Works. But as long as the mayor has a laser focus on driving cars, we will be climbing uphill.

Please read  OmahaBikes blog for more information on this topic. and join us on August 10 in Stinson Park to show support for multi-modal transportation in Omaha.