City Council on Bicycling Issues

Last update: December 24, 2025

This page is about the City Council specifically.  See also our pages on City Government (including committees), and the History of Bike Planning in Austin.

Surveys of Candidates and our Endorsements

Notable bike & transpo actions of former councilmembers

Lee Leffingwell • Jennifer Kim • Betty Dunkerly • Brewster McCracken

• All voted to allow cars to keep parking in the bike lanes on Shoal Creek Blvd. (2006)

Mayor Will Wynn (elected 2003; re-elected outright in May 2006)

• One of the only two dissenters (along with Raul Alvarez) to allowing cars to park in the bike lanes on Shoal Creek Blvd.

Raul Alvarez (elected 2000; re-elected outright in May 2003; term-limited out in June 2006)

• Did not own a car until he decided he needed one for his City Council campaign.
• Pledged to ride his bicycle to work at City Hall during his campaign.
• One of only two councilmembers (along with Mayor Wynn) to vote for car-free bike lanes on Shoal Creek Blvd. in March 2006.
• In 2006, asked the City to reveal how the $150 million in voter-approved bonds from the 2000 election had been spent (Proposition 1), and discovered that none of spending to date had gone to bike projects, although the ballot language promised it would be.  As a result of Alvarez' request, the City allocated some of the remaining money to bike lanes and sidewalks.
  

Danny Thomas (elected 2000; re-elected outright in May 2003; term-limited out in May 2006)

• Stipulated that inclusion of pedestrian and cyclist facilities on road reconstruction projects won't apply to any projects funded by the current bond package, meaning we have to wait five or so years for this to take effect. (2002)
• Sponsored the resolution to include pedestrian and cyclist facilities on road reconstruction projects in the first place. (2002)

Daryl Slusher (elected 1996, re-elected 1999, successfully filed petition in 2002 to overcome term limit which would have removed him in June, re-elected in 2002)

• Sponsored the 1998 City Council goals for bike and pedestrian improvements.
• Appointed hardcore bike activist Mike Dahmus to the Urban Transportation Commission.
• An inquiry from Slusher's office to the police chief resulted in the police finally investigating the case of the driver who hit-and-run'd Jay Williams.
• Talked citizens into giving up their speaking time at a council hearing about the bicycle helmet law, by falsely promising them that a repeal was imminent, when in fact the council intended only to amend the helmet law (keeping it intact for kids).

Jackie Goodman (elected 1993, before term limits; re-elected in 1996 & 1999, successfully filed petition in 2002 to overcome term limit which would have removed her in June, re-elected in 2002)

• Voted to enact the bicycle helmet law in 1996.
• Appointed bicycling advocate Mike Librik to the Parks & Recreation board.

Mayor Watson (elected 1997, re-elected 2000)

• Voted for the sprawl-inducing CAMPO 2025 plan.
• Cast the swing vote to build S.H. 130.
• Personally appealed to the Texas Transportation Commission to approve funding for the Crosstown Bikeway.
• Supported bicyclists and environmentalists in their unsuccessful attempt to be included in the "peer review" process of CAMPO.

Bill Spelman

• One of only two councilmembers (along with Griffith) to vote for the cantilevered bike/ped bridge to be hung off the existing Lamar Bridge. This was the plan preferred by cyclists, but the majority of the council voted to build a separate bridge, which will not serve cyclists nearly as well. (more)
• Sponsored a successful resolution in June 2000 allowing electric-asist bicycles to ride in bike lanes. (Under state law, anything with a motor is considered a motor vehicle, and motor vehicles are otherwise prohibited from "driving" in bike lanes.)

Beverly Griffith (elected 1996 and re-elected 1999; successfully filed petition in 2002 to overcome term limit which would have removed her in June; won position in runoff election vs. Betty Dunkerly, but withdrew from the race because she didn't think she could beat Dunkerly, so Dunkerly won the position by default)

• One of only two councilmembers (along with Spelman) to vote for the cantilevered bike/ped bridge to be hung off the existing Lamar Bridge. This was the plan preferred by cyclists, but the majority of the council voted to build a separate bridge, which will not serve cyclists nearly as well. (more)
• Promised me personally that she would vote to ban cars from bike lanes if the bike community could rally the three other votes needed on the council for a majority. (2002)