In the immediate wake of last week's election, Streetsblog ran a piece about prominent safe-and-livable streets advocates making inroads into the Bay Area's county and city legislatures. Long-time advocate Robert Prinz emailed Streetsblog with a few more familiar names to the safe-and-livable streets community who will be (or likely will be, depending on the last few votes to be counted) serving their cities. Here's the list below:
Steven Dunbar, Livermore City Council
Dunbar is a Bike East Bay board member and longtime active transportation advocate in Eastern Alameda County. He's also frequently quoted in Streetsblog. It's a close race but things are looking good for him. Livermore doesn't have ranked-choice and with 41 percent of the vote, Dunbar is 10 percentage points above his nearest competition. "I'm confident that I will be elected at this point," Dunbar wrote in an email to Streetsblog.
Zac Unger, Oakland City Council
With nearly 77 percent of the votes, Unger will be replacing longtime North Oakland Councilmember Dan Kalb, who, according to Prinz, was a consistent supporter of active transportation improvements and sustainability initiatives. Unger is poised to continue this legacy, with "Building safer streets to reduce vehicle speeds, advance Vision Zero, and protect pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers from street trauma" listed as one of his campaign priorities. As an Oakland firefighter, he could be instrumental in helping to navigate conflicts between fire safety and street safety needs that have previously resulted in delays or downgrades of several protected bikeway projects around town.
Matthew Solomon, Emeryville City Council
Solomon was a member of Emeryville's bike/walk committee prior to his city council run and he works for an environmental sustainability non-profit.
In addition to the re-election of Emeryville's two bike-friendly incumbents, Solomon will help keep the city moving forward.
Preston Jordan, Albany City Council
Preston is a co-founder of Albany Strollers & Rollers and one of the primary advocates who helped win the addition of the bike/walk freeway overpass a part of the Berkeley Gilman interchange project. Under Albany's ranked-choice voting, Preston leads in the race for three council seats.
Angela Andrews, Hayward City Council
Andrews is the top vote-getter for Hayward's four-person city council selection and lists "Improving our streets and sidewalks to create a more walkable and bikeable city safe for seniors and children" among her campaign priorities.
Michele Pryor defeats Trish Spencer, Alameda City Council
Spencer, says Prinz, has been the most consistent opposition vote in Alameda against bike/walk improvements, among other things. This is another close one, but it looks as if Spencer has lost her seat given the current count. In contrast, the top vote-getter Michele Pryor listed "continue to support walkable and bikeable streets" as one of her priority issues. So there's the promise of a more bike-and-pedestrian friendly city council in Alameda.
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This post is based on an email from Robert Prinz, providing the information on his own time and "not as a representative of Bike East Bay."
