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to return to the EBC site. Advocacy Meeting Notes - 3/19/08 Attendees: Ray Dal Lago, Sharon Hermach, Joanne DeZur, Steve Sinderson, Bob Hoel, new Club member Rebecca Clancy, guest Ken Glicka (who is so excited about what we are doing that he has committed to joining the Club) and guest Bill Chalberg. Bill is the new advocacy chair of the Downers Grove Bike Club and wanted to learn about what we are doing. We hope to have more exchange with other Clubs as we go forward so we can support each other's efforts.) For our newer members/attendees Ray Dal Lago clarified why the committee is presently focused on Elmhurst-based advocacy even though the Club has members from all around the area, but predominantly the western suburbs. This past month we began contacting Elmhurst officials to assess their attitudes toward bikes and the safety of those biking on city streets. We have spoken to Aldermen Mike Regan and Susan Rose and received very supportive responses to our talking points which will be posted on the Club's Advocacy page. The Elmhurst Park District has contacted Bob Hoel after reading the March Club newsletter indicating interest in being involved in what we are doing. They provided an update on the construction of the Elmhurst section of the Salt Creek Greenway Trail. An initial meeting was held with the principal of Lincoln Elementary School (District 205 - Elmhurst) to learn about their efforts to encourage students to walk or bike to school. As others we have talked to, the school and parents are concerned about the safety of the children who are walking or biking to school. These concerns have lead to the nationwide problem of congestion and air pollution around our schools as parents drop off and pick up their children. We reviewed the talking points which were developed at the February meeting. We need to make sure that we have compelling arguments for the formation of an Elmhurst Bike Task Force. The next round of alderman for contact have been identified with the assistance of those we have already spoken to. These include Steve Morley (6th Ward), Steve Hipskind (4th Ward), Norm Leader ( 2nd Ward) and a post-meeting addition of Mark Mulliner (7th Ward). We are making good progress. We are moving quickly to the organization of a bike tour of Elmhurst with city officials. Bob will work with the aldermen to identify a date and route. Based on CBF experience with these events, the length of the ride will be 2 - 3 miles, lasting no more than an hour. June will be our targeted timeframe. CBF will be asked to provide professional support (Senior Transportation Engineer) for this assessment effort. The bike ride will be the lead up to asking the City Council to form an ad hoc Bike Task Force charged with the development of a Bike Plan. These Bike Plans provide an in-depth analysis of the "bike-friendliness" of a community and a 5 - 10 year plan to address goals to become more bike safe and accessible. Bob passed out the pamplet "Guide to Municipal Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning," produced by LIB. These pamphlets are being distributed to Illinois cities in April and will be provided to the Elmhurst alderman and Bike Task Force. LIB has done a great job pulling this together. Cross-city Bike Routes. The committee will initiate a project to develop a map of safe routes across Elmhurst with a focus of access to the parks and business areas. A request will be put out to the listserv for volunteer assistance. We may even want to put together a list of guidelines as to how to identify a safe route, such as cross major streets at a traffic light or 4-way stop and use residential streets as much as possible. We did not identify a committee or Club member to lead this effort. That will be part of the listserv effort. Much of what our committee is doing involves some level, often minimal, of outreach. These events are not only an opportunity to help the biking community but to advance the Club in name and membership by recruiting new members. We will be soliciting volunteers for the following events:
Details on each of these events will be released about 1 month before the event. In the case of the Prairie Path clean up and the Family Bike-a-Thon, only 4 - 6 volunteers will probably be needed for a 2 hour period. Currently the Club rewards people for participating in Club rides. Nothing is done for those who volunteer at events like those above. It was suggested that the Club come up with a way to recognize those who volunteer their time for the benefit of the Club or events that the Club participates in. Communications. Bike safety is as much about communications as it is meeting alderman. We have several channels available to us to communicate to the public that there are "bikes up." These include our website, newspaper articles, and community newsletters, like Elmhurst's "Front Porch." The Club needs a public relations person to compose and distribute articles to these groups. Alderman Rose has committed to help us get bike-related safety information into the "Front Porch." Special note needs to be made of the excellent support which Sharon H. and Cindy R. are providing for the website. The following assignments were made/accepted:
This will give us contact with 5 of the 14 Elmhurst alderman. We have also established that future committee meetings will take place on the Wednesday following the regular Club meeting. We have been experimenting with the time of the meeting and the next meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. on April 16. We are making a lot of progress. Thanks to the committee for their participation. Bob Hoel to return to the EBC site. |