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MichaelBluejay

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From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

Posts: 1,466

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City Council candidate forum with Morrison + Galindo

Here's Kedron Touvell's awesome report of the TBC-hosted candidate forum with City Council candidates Laura Morrison and Cid Galindo.

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Friday night we held a marathon Council run-off forum from 5:30pm to about 9:30pm.  Attending were representatives from just about every bicycle group in town, from the YBP to the Circle C Cycling club and everything in between.  Robin Stallings of the TBC hosted and moderated the forum at their headquarters at 6th and Chicon.  They provided sandwiches and beer which was much appreciated.  There were probably 4-5 people there who were LOBV members in addition to whatever other hats they wore to the event.  Hopefully, they'll add their impressions to this message, as well as anything I missed.

Before getting to the candidates, the most interesting news of the night to me was that the TBC might do an endorsement in this race as a "test run" for future endorsements in City Council races.  That could affect our "endorsement power" if there is a case where they endorse a different candidate.  My impression is that they would have endorsed Lee over Allen but would have concurred with the Kim/Cravey endorsement.  Something to think about, and Robin mentioned working together on endorsements to enhance their power.

The format of the event was that each candidate came in separately for an hour to talk with us.  Each candidate gave a 5-10 minute monologue, then Robin asked some set questions, then we had a free-for-all of from the audience.

Laura was first.  She mentioned her belief in the public health impact of bicycles vs. cars and the resulting impact for keeping kids in schools, etc. which she will consider when making decisions on investing in bicycle programs and infrastructure. She talked about her bike that she rides occasionally to Barton Springs and the bicycling habits of her sons who live in Portland and SF.  She says she and her husband put a combined 3,000 miles per year on their two cars.  She also used the veloway frequently when she was learning how to rollerblade.

Speaking of her general city political experience, she used her work on the McMansion task force and the Design Standards VMU project as examples of her ability to build bridges and work with folks on opposing sides of the issue to get positive change enacted.  Her experience as an engineer will help her maximize the amount of public good that can be wrung out of the political system.  She believes transportation is the #1 issue we need to be dealing with today.  She spoke on the need for a new comprehensive plan which looks to begin this fall.  The comprehensive plan has to look at everything -- land use/transportation/HHS/parks/public safety/etc. including light-rail, bicycles and roads.  The community needs to understand the benefits of each piece of the comprehensive whole in order to get each piece successfully through the political process.

On bike items, Laura said we should definitely get going on the low-cost measures that will help improve bicycling: Making sure the bike and ped dept. has approval over site plans, making the BAC an official city commission, and improving public outreach and education
(no details on that that I recall).  Items that cost $100k-$500k are
more difficult given the budget shortfalls this year and she can't make a commitment on them.  On long term infrastructure projects, she believes that the low cost of bicycling infrastructure as opposed to roads is something we need to impress on CAMPO and make sure they "get" the importance of funding these improvements.  She said the coming non-attainment of air quality standards as well as the high price of gas will help us reach CAMPO as well as other jurisdictions -- Federal/State/County/AISD/ACC.  Laura also mentioned the importance of monitoring the city bonds to make sure the money was spent on what it was supposed to.

Robin mentioned a Federal program that will give $50 million each to 40 cities and asked her whether she'd be willing to have our lobbyists make that a priority.  Laura said she didn't know the details, but it sounded like a good idea.

Hill asked about Chicago's new legislation that would penalize a driver for endangering a driver (3 foot passing, dooring, right hooking, turning left into an oncoming biker) and whether she would support that in Austin. She didn't commit to it, but said that the biggest impediment to cycling is safety and it sounds like a way to improve safety.

Pete mentioned the issue of APD not ticketing at-fault drivers for injuring bicyclists and pedestrians.  Laura mentioned her long frustration in making sure staff implements the policy of the Council.

We talked a little about the development and political process.  Laura mentioned the fact that we had Chris Riley on the VMU task force and said we need to make sure we have bicycle advocates at all levels of the political process to ensure that our interests are included in new ordinances, etc.

Lane asked if she would take a Cycling safety class.  She thought it was a good idea.  He also asked about the whole Shoal Creek fiasco and she mentioned that parking on streets is a symptom of infill densification.  But, she feels that since she has good "cred" with the neighborhoods she can help on bike lane parking issues as well as with light rail.  Lane framed this issue as one of "convenience vs. safety" and asked how we can win when we're outnumbered by the neighborhood. Laura brought up a Nelson Linder quote about "living with the majority but respecting the minority.

On another note, Laura came out definitely against an adult helmet law.

With some trepidation, I awaited Cid's testimony.  He didn't do very well on our questionnaire or at our candidate forum so I didn't know what to expect.  He began by telling us about his general approach. As an economist and MBA holder, he generally analyzes with a quantitative approach.  Over the last 8 years, he's put a lot of thought into urban planning on the Planning Commission as well as Envision Central Texas.  For the last 2 years he was chair of the Comprehensive Plan Committee so he definitely wants to launch a new comprehensive plan process.  He believes that lack of such a plan is one of the reasons our politics are so adversarial.  He also worked on the Sustainable City Initiative which the PC completed last year and forms the basis of his Galindo Plan.

Robin asked a question about how the "15-mph" grid fits into Cid's Vision.  Cid doesn't have a specific answer, but thinks we have to contextualize the urban environment based on location -- what our solution is downtown will be different than in the suburbs or rural areas.  Robin asked if there was an existing city that Cid thinks is a model for Austin.  Cid hadn't thought of the question before, but responded with Denver and Boulder.  He imagines his city centers to be like a bunch of Boulders orbiting Austin and connected with multimodal transportation.  These transportation links would be road, rail, and bike in the same ROW in a hub and spoke configuration. Robin mentioned Portland's success with their bicycling facilities adjacent to rail. They are getting as much bike traffic as they are rail traffic for many times less investment.

Robin asked for Cid's analysis of the Street Smarts Task Force.  Cid said he didn't see anything in the plan that looked unreasonable to him.  He mentioned his mother is from Copenhagen and he grew up in Bolivia and Copenhagen where most can't afford cars so they rode bikes.  He said he needs to be educated about our concerns so he understands them when making policy.

Lane asked him if he would take a road safety course.  Cid said yes he'll do it win or lose and he'll also recommend the other city council members to do it with him.

Robin mentioned the need to build more facilities for 'C' cyclists in order to get more cyclists on the road and mentioned the differences between 'A', 'B', and 'C' cyclists.

Fernando asked how Cid would get more people on the road.  Cid said you have to start with the way you build the city.  Dense, compact, and mixed use cities like Copenhagen are by their nature more bicycle friendly.  The question is how do we build cities with the infrastructure there, so we don't have to retrofit it.

Fernando also talked about the Cyclopia in Mexico City, El Paso, and Amarillo.  Cid didn't give a commitment, but seemed interested in the idea.  He did suggest a once a month bike ride.

On the helmet law, he was hesitant to commit either way, which is an improvement from his earlier position.  He said he would rather focus on issues with more consensus like infrastructure and adding staff. Robin mentioned that the experience of other cities is that you get a lot more helmets on heads by education and advocacy (D.C.) than by helmet laws.

He was asked how to increase funding for multi-use and mountain biking trails.  Cid talked about his vision for a Grand Central Park based on the current Lady Bird Lake park.  One way to raise money for such facilities is through TIFs, but also CTRMA and CAMPO can be sources of funding.  Cid does support continuing spending 15% of CAMPO STP funds on bike and ped projects.

Robin brought up the Chicago safety law.  Cid answered, "why not?"  It definitely sends a message to drivers, and he can't think of a reason not to support it.  He did say that to help get it passed politically, we'd need to do something about violations of traffic laws by cyclists.

Cid seemed surprised at the question of APD not ticketing "at-fault" drivers.  He said it seems so common-sense to ticket them that he must be missing something.

When asked, "how can we help you?" Cid said that we shouldn't underestimate the power of our input.  We should take the time to build relationships with Council and educate them on our issues.

Cid seemed very receptive to making the BAC an official commission, as long as they're isn't a significant price tag attached.

Pete asked about the logistics of controlling land-use in Cid's nodal developments.  Cid said the city would have to do "surgical annexation" of areas based on a few criteria: 1. Is the area environmentally sensitive? 2. What transportation infrastructure exists or can be built?  3. What existing city assets are in the area, such as city-owned land or parks.  But in order for the nodal developments to work, the city has to partner with major employers, developers, etc. in order to create demand a la Mueller.

After Cid left, we had a short chat about how it went.  Everyone enjoyed the process and thought both candidates did well.  Cid greatly improved his performance since the forum two months ago, and Laura seemed to understand many of our issues.  In a straw pool, about 40% thought Laura was the best candidate for our issues and the rest thought they were equal.  When asked who we should endorse, about 60% thought we should endorse Laura and the rest thought we shouldn't endorse because the candidates were both good.

m1ek

Member

Registered: 2008-06-02

Posts: 153

Re: City Council candidate forum with Morrison + Galindo

Morrison talks a good game on land-use, but you should be aware that her past policy is indirectly bicycle-hostile - i.e. she's opposed any and all density everywhere except in cases where a pre-existing neighborhood plan limited her options (the OWANA plan).

The best way to get better conditions for cycling in this city is to get a ton more people living downtown and close to downtown. She's actually worse than most of the old-school ANC people in that she's not only opposed density in the central neighborhoods, but has also opposed density even downtown - i.e. 7Rio, Spring, Green redevelopment.

I can't think of anybody who would be worse on transportation than Morrison in general either - she's received large donations from Jim Skaggs, whose vision for Austin is to stop rail; take 1/2 of Capital Metro's money; and spend it on more suburban freeways.

- MD

damicoaustin

Member

From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-27

Posts: 143

Website

Re: City Council candidate forum with Morrison + Galindo

Of course Laura is going to be a bit hostile to density...she's the neighborhood sweetheart.  But I disagree with your assessment about downtown density being the best thing for bicyclist. We're getting plenty of infill around downtown, without squat for bicyclists. That's the problem I see with Cid. He's all about developments like the Domain and Mueller without realizing that they aren't coming anywhere near their new urbanist claims.

From the "Galindo plan"
"Each would involve public-private partnerships between the city and at least one major employer and one major mixed-use developer. The scale of these town centers would be in the order of 2,500 acres, 20,000 jobs, and 50,000 residents. Models for this concept are already being implemented in the Mueller Airport Redevelopment Master Plan (700 acres) and the North Burnett Gateway 2035 Master Plan (2,300 acres)."

It's clear that Galindo is all about handing over money to developers for trendy mixed-use projects.

I actually think Lane's comments on Shoal Creek Blvd. are more relevant for any possible problems with Morrison. I just don't see her siding with bicyclists in bike lane/parking disputes. But on another note, I find it encouraging to hear her even mention the bike/ped program and site plans.

But for me, it also comes down to Galindo's floppiness on the helmet law.
"On the helmet law, he was hesitant to commit either way, which is an improvement from his earlier position.  He said he would rather focus on issues with more consensus like infrastructure and adding staff. Robin mentioned that the experience of other cities is that you get a lot more helmets on heads by education and advocacy (D.C.) than by helmet laws."

Along with Jason Meeker (who later flipped to opposing a helmet law), Galindo is the only person running for council to indicate he might support a law.

This part makes me even more nervous:
"Robin asked for Cid's analysis of the Street Smarts Task Force.  Cid said he didn't see anything in the plan that looked unreasonable to him.  He mentioned his mother is from Copenhagen and he grew up in Bolivia and Copenhagen where most can't afford cars so they rode bikes.  He said he needs to be educated about our concerns so he understands them when making policy."

For someone who group up in Copenhagen and professes to have bicycled much of his adult life, he certainly does seem a bit blase about bikes.

m1ek

Member

Registered: 2008-06-02

Posts: 153

Re: City Council candidate forum with Morrison + Galindo

I'm basing my statement on the theory (held by many) that the best way to improve conditions for cyclists is to get a lot more regular people riding their bikes - and people living downtown are very likely to ride their bikes around (compared to the same type of people living farther out) - just compared to the pain in the butt of getting the car out of the parking garage, for instance, cycling becomes very attractive without having to do anything special.