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Advocacy Meeting Notes - 2/20/08

Attendees: Jerome Hughes, Sharon and George Hermach, Joanne DeZur, Rebecca Clancy, Pamela Brookstein (CBF), Bob Hoel

Sending regrets: Ray Delgado, Sam Gunda and Steve Sinderson.

The meeting was fairly unstructured as we continue to talk about what we want to do and what we should be involved in.

It was agreed that we should approach Elmhurst alderman to assess how they feel about bicycles in the city. Our objective is to ask the city to form a bike task force made up of the many stakeholders, including but not limited to the Public Works Department, the city council Safety Committee, the city council Public Works Committee, the Elmhurst Police Department, the Elmhurst Park District, Educational District 205, the Elmhurst College, and Elmhurst citizens. (I may have missed some but you get the idea.) When approaching the alderman with our request we must anticipate their reaction of why such an ad hoc committee is needed. To that end we put together the follow points that illustrate why a bike task force would have value for the city.

• Since bikes are entitled to be on the roadway, the committee would work to educate the public about the presence of bikes and their rights to the roadways through publications like the Elmhurst “Front Porch,” the quarterly newsletter distributed to all residents. This awareness should reduce bike/auto accidents.
• Encouraging biking would provide an active alternative that can address physical fitness for both adults and children, especially in view of the alarming incidence of obesity in younger children nationwide. Biking to school is not only healthy but will address pollution and auto congestion issues.
• The committee would help improve bike safety and reduce bike/auto conflict.
• Being bike friendly is a proven way to increase property values by making the community more “green.”
• Many people currently bike to the Elmhurst train station as demonstrated by the heavy use of the bike racks at the train station. This can help reduce the demand for parking and reduce downtown auto congestion.
• It has been shown nationally that increased bike traffic on organized trails brings more commerce into a community. Such an increase in traffic on the Prairie Path will bring more commerce to the Spring Road shopping area.
• The communities of Naperville, Hinsdale, Lisle, Schaumburg, Oak Park and Wheaton all have a bike task force in motion or in formation to enhance the values of their communities. Not having a task force would place Elmhurst at a disadvantage to our neighbors. Elmhurst has so many awards. Adding “bike-friendly” to the list would be a significant draw.
• The Illinois Prairie Path is the oldest rail-to-trail conversion in the United States and Elmhurst is the first community riders encounter coming from the East. We have an opportunity to set the pace on trail development and usage for the communities to the West of Elmhurst.
• Finally, the Elmhurst Bicycle Club has over 200 members, one of the larger organized groups in the city.

(I talked about the development of an assessment questionnaire as an entrée to talking with Elmhurst alderman based on a similar approach used by Ed Barsotti (LIB) in Naperville. After reviewing the above bullet points I am not so sure this is still needed.)

In our discussion it became apparent that we need to learn more about how the City Council and its Committees work. Here are the charters of the two Committees we are most likely to have contact with:

Public Works and Buildings Committee
This committee shall consist of four Aldermen and shall be responsible for …….vehicular safety, with the exception of traffic control signs. Public works shall include, but not be limited to, streets, sidewalks, forestry, lighting, parking, traffic signal installations and improvements, sanitation, garbage collection, water, sewers, and municipal buildings.
Public Affairs and Safety Committee
This committee shall consist of three Aldermen and shall be responsible for all matters of municipal licensing and regulation thereof, public transportation, cultural activities, and matters that relate to safety, including traffic control signs but excluding traffic signal installations and improvements.

Pamela Brookstein discussed the idea of using a “through city” bike ride, an approach that has been successful in other communities, leading to the formation of a bike task force. She has a draft letter that she will provide us which has been used before that asks a City to sponsor a bike ride through town for the purpose of assessing the bike-friendly status of the city. This letter is usually sent to the Mayor and/or City Manager asking them to schedule the ride, inviting other city officials to join. The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation would provide a Senior Planner (a specialist in bike planning) to join the ride. Such rides are usually short with designated stops to discuss bike issues. In Hinsdale this approach attracted the attention of one Village trustee who quickly championed the cause with the formation of a bike task force and the development of a Hinsdale Bike Plan within one year. Usually the bike advocacy committee (that’s us!) joins the ride as well. It is my thought to target such a ride for the May/June timeframe but we will need to get moving to make that happen.

Sharon presented some changes she and Cindi are making to the website to better cover our Advocacy efforts. We will put a note out to the listserv when the new pages are active. Part of our success in advocacy will be its communication to our members and guests at our website. What Sharon and Cindi are doing will be critical to our success.

It was suggested that EBC ask Deborah Fagan, Chief Planner and County Trail System Coordinator, to speak again to the club about recent trail developments and progress in DuPage County. This will be taken to Ray D.

We need to get an update on the state of the Salt Creek Greenway and share that with the Club. (I received a call from Joanne DeZur today, Feb. 21, informing me that the just released Elmhurst Park District Spring 2008 Catalog has our update on page 4. It is also posted on their website at http://www.epd.org/.) We handled that one real well.

Another area covered was outreach. As part of our asking for consideration of bike issues in our community we need to be more visible in the community through outreach programs. Two ideas have been presented. The first is involvement with the Cool Cities Green Fest which is still in formulation. I will follow up with Cathy Haibach on what took place at the last organizational meeting. The second is Safety Town’s Annual Family Bike-A-Thon (Saturday, May 17), an event sponsored by the Elmhurst Park District. The brochure says it will be staffed and supported by several groups, including the Park District, CBF, Chamber of Commerce and volunteers. We need to take this to the Club leadership to have the Club also be one of the sponsoring groups primarily for providing volunteers. Such involvement will not only provide exposure for bringing in new members but it will also put us in a good light with the city officials that we will be working with.

As a side note, Deborah Fagan asked if the EBC was interested in helping again to staff the table at the train station during Bike-to-Work Week. I told her she could count on the EBC. Just let us know what she need and when it is scheduled.

Bob Hoel
(bob.hoel_at_comcast.net)

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