Although counts are still underway, it seems certain that advocates for safe and livable streets are poised to secure some key seats around the Bay Area.
Bike and transit advocate Danny Sauter poised to take supervisor's seat in District 3, San Francisco
As of this writing, the election for the Supervisor's seat in District 3 isn't declared. But with 56.07 percent of the counted votes so far it seems very likely Danny Sauter will be the winner.
"We are awaiting today's 4 p.m. vote count update until we make anything too official," wrote Sauter in an email to Streetsblog.
If readers aren't familiar with Sauter, one only has to look to this publication—he's a Streetsblog contributor. And he's long advocated for things such as bus lanes and concrete-protected bike lanes in his district.
"For now I will say: We are in a commanding lead which I believe is a testament to the district's appetite for new leadership to move our city forward. I am grateful for the time and dedication of my entire team including countless volunteers who believe in our campaign," he continued. "We have lots of work ahead of us but I could not be more proud and excited."
Parking protected bike lanes popped up South of Market in District 6 thanks to the work of Supervisors Matt Haney and Jane Kim before him. Go north of Market Street, however, and in District 3 one finds a bunch of sharrows and paint-and-plastic garbage, the result of years of neglect by Supervisor Aaron Peskin. Assuming Sauter's lead holds, expect to finally see some real improvements on both sides of Market Street.
The quiet East Bay city of El Cerrito to add Rebecca Saltzman to its city council
Rebecca Saltzman was honored at the Streetsblog anniversary event in September for the work she did during her tenure as a BART director. Now, barring any mathematical surprises, she's going to be working hard to keep bringing better bike lanes and transit to El Cerrito.
"Though votes are still being counted, it is clear by the current vote count that I will be elected and serve," she wrote in an email blast to supporters. "In my conversations with voters throughout El Cerrito, I was continually inspired by the people of this town. We are a city full of dreamers and doers who believe in inclusivity and care about our community."
At the Streetsblog event, Saltzman received a "Movin' on Up" award in part because she succeeded in getting bikes allowed on escalators on the BART system. She also worked on increasing BART service frequencies, getting Bay Area agencies to align fare media, and opening up the bathrooms in BART stations, which had been locked for years.
John Bauters, Emeryville's 'Bicycle Mayor,' will (maybe?) move on to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors
Update: Nov. 25... in the count that never seems to be finished, as of this writing Bas is now slightly ahead of Bauters! Check out the Alameda County Election Page for the latest updates.
Last but definitely not least, John Bauters is a familiar name to Streetsblog readers because of his work in getting traffic calming, parks, bus benches, and bike lanes in his city of Emeryville. And now it seems almost certain he's going to win the District 5 seat on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. Bauters finished his exhausting campaign by taking off for a week-long hiking trip in the desert. Nevertheless, he called Streetsblog from a trail someplace to say "ballots are still being counted but we're optimistic about the future of Alameda County." Other than that, he said, "no comment" until the counting is done.
However, with his 53.42 percent of the vote—versus 46.58 percent of the vote going to his only opponent, Oakland City Councilperson Nikki Fortunato Bas—a congratulations will (almost certainly) be in order.
As of November 20, the latest vote release at the time of this writing, the count was 50.15% for Nikki Fortunato Bas and 49.85% for Bauters.
And there's more...
Of course there are others. State Senator Scott Wiener, a tireless friend of transit and safe streets, regained his District 11 San Francisco seat handily with nearly 78 percent of the vote. So did Assemblymember Matt Haney, who helped bring protected bike lanes to the South of Market neighborhood, retaining his District 17 seat with 84 percent of the vote.
And then there's the San Francisco mayor's race. More on that in future posts.
For information on the various measures, including K, click here. Look to Streetsblog California for state measures and StreetsblogUSA for coverage of the full implications of Trump's pending return to the White House for safe and livable streets. For readers who want information on the Republican plan for transportation nationally, check out the 'War on Cars' podcast.
