Jeff Mapes
(File photo © Jonathan Maus)
The Oregonian recently rolled out a new political blog written by Jeff Mapes. You might have met Mapes at any number of bike events and meetings in the past year or so: he recently concluded a sabbatical to research a book on how bicycles are shaping the urban bicycle movement in America (that’s my description, not his).
Now he’s back at the desk for the Oregonian and working hard on his Mapes on politics blog.
This morning he got to blend his two areas of expertise on an an article titled “Sam Adams and his bicycling base”.
I’m kind of new to all this political stuff, so it’s interesting to read what a veteran Oregonian political reporter thinks about how bicycling figures into Portland politics.
Here are some notable excerpts from the article:
“There’s an interesting side note to Portland Commissioner Sam Adams’ non-surprising announcement that he is running for mayor: his intriguing pursuit of Portland’s bicycling lobby.
…cyclists are growing in number and they have their channels of communication. Adams learned that when he narrowly won his seat on the City Council in 2004 after promising cyclists that he would work to make Portland a “platinum city,”…
Cyclists, of course, didn’t put Adams over the top by themselves. But they are one of the important “micro constituencies” that politicians in Portland can court for volunteer and financial help…”
Read the full article here.
The way the political and social landscape is changing (and will continue to change) in Portland in the coming years, I wonder when/if they day will come when people that ride bicycles are no longer considered a constituency at all.