(Photo courtesy Watzig.com)
Meet Gerhard Watzig, a 50-year Portland resident, local flower shop owner, and son of a Washington turkey farmer.
Yesterday Mr. Watzig threw his hat in the ring to go up against City Commissioner Sam Adams in a bid to be Portland’s next mayor.
His announcement and his take on the issues has already caught the eye of the Portland Mercury and the Portland Business Journal.
On his website and at least one past comment left on Adams’ blog, Watzig makes it clear that he has a very different vision for Portland’s future than Adams, who remains the front runner.
Of particular significance is Watzig’s position on the role of bikes in our city’s transportation system. Here’s what he wrote in a comment on a post about the bike-sharing plans on Adams’ blog back in March:
“…you pander to the bicycle constituency as if they were a significant portion of the transportation system in this city. As much as the city exaggerates the bicycle commute numbers – it really doesn’t make it a fact. I am sick and tired of paying so much attention to so few.”
On his official campaign website, Watzig says he is “an advocate of bicycle commuting” and that he “supports bicycle boulevards and traffic mechanisms to improve safety”. But then, he calls for a “trade-off”:
“There are some major thoroughfares in the city that currently are just not conducive to bicycling safely. Bicycles need to be excluded from those streets.”
“My opponent proposed that an extra 24 million dollars be earmarked for bicycle path improvements. I propose the funds be instead funneled into a comprehensive program to facilitate the eradication of homelessness.”
–from Watzig.com
He even weighs in on a bicycle-related law, saying that the “passing on the right law” that was passed at the “behest of the bicycle community” is similar to “exiting a freeway from the center lane”. He says passing on the right has “led to some fatalities recently”, and that, “At intersections both vehicles and bicycles need to share lanes equally for right turns.”
He goes on to say that “bicycle advocates are over represented in city hall” and questions the accuracy of the bicycle trip counts done by the city.
Based on that, he writes that “Bicyclists need to share more responsibility for revenues toward their infrastructure. I propose bicycle licensing for all riders 18 years and above.”
It will be interesting to see what the media and Portlanders think about Watzig’s candidacy and ideas. Will the local media decide to focus on his not-so-bike-friendly (and somewhat misinformed) positions? Will he gain traction with a large number of Portlanders who don’t agree with the direction for bikes that Adams and PDOT have been pushing towards?
The Portland Mercury’s news editor Amy Ruiz wrote that Watzig, “…could present an interesting challenge” and that his positions “should make for some very interesting debates with Adams.”
If/when Adams and Watzig have a debate, I’ll be in the front row.
Thanks for reading.
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Simply put, Watzig is anti-bike, whether he knows it or not. His assertion that the recent cyclist fatalities were caused by \”passing on the right\” demonstrates his ignorance of the law as it applies to cyclists. He\’s out of touch with the values and priorities of Portlanders and would make a terrible major.
Sam for Mayor!!
An old man, with old ideas.
Oh, yeah, I\’m totally voting for this guy! NOT!
The recent changes to passing on the right apply only at intersections where there is no bicycle lane. I can not think of any deaths since the laws passage in the state of oregon that occured at an intersection with no bike lane where the cyclist was passing on the right.
bjorn
He goes on to say that “bicycle advocates are over represented in city hall” and questions the accuracy of the bicycle trip counts done by the city.
Re-read the first half of that. The guy\’s basically saying, \”I disagree with the choices Portland residents made in electing officials and will oppose these people.\” Fine way to kick off a campaign, wouldn\’t you say?
Not that that \”I\’m for all for bikes as transport as long as they know their place\” rhetoric is particularly savory sentiment, either…
What? Someone is running against Sam Adams? Umm, good luck with that.
I\’m not exactly a Sam Adams superfan, but this dude\’s a punk. He is correct in stating that cyclists are a relatively small segment of the population. What he\’s missing though is that Portland is gaining a reputation as one of the most livable cities in the nation and our cycling agenda lies front and center in that cause.
Oh boy, oh boy! THIS should be a WHOLE lotta FUN! Make sure you guys give us the front row seat treatment at the debates too. V-cast, p-cast, and the like!
Sam should simply show this guy where it says in both OR statutes and PDX ordinances that bicycles ARE traffic. The City has a LEGAL obligation to safely accommodate motorists and bicyclists on ALL public right o\’ways.
Sadly, his misconceptions about bicycling are shared by many. Whether or not he\’s electable, I\’m worried that people will seize on his solutions as a way out of our current traffic problems. We need to provide better options to these arguments and fast…
Every single one of us as cyclists should email Watzig right now and let him know just how \”few\” of us there really are, and just how \”few\” votes he won\’t be receiving from us.
The link to his website is already in the story above (right under Watzig\’s photo), just go to the \”contact\” section of his website and let him know he has already lost your vote.
I did.
Good observations A.O.! The vast majority of Portlanders will scoff at the notion of diverting $24 million from the mighty bike constituency (what now, 3% of the populace?) to do things like feed and house homeless people, provide services to poor non-cycling citizens, etc. Progressive voters are all about bikes – screw kids, the elderly, and poor people. The mayor\’s race is strictly a one issue affair – bikes.
N.I.K. – isn\’t disagreement with the status quo why people run for office?
Like horses wearing blinders…
Im glad this guy is running – it will make voting for Sam that much more enjoyable.
boooooo hoooo
\”Based on that, he writes that “Bicyclists need to share more responsibility for revenues toward their infrastructure. I propose bicycle licensing for all riders 18 years and above.”
I like Watzig\’s take on banning bikes on some major thoroughfares. So, why stop at banning bikes? Let\’s ban ALL traffic, and reserve the said thoroughfares for pedestrians. But, only after CHURCH!
What a ****. And a **** right out of the gate. Why would anyone want to take a step backwards with this curmudgeon?
Our traffic problems are not the result of bikes on our streets. They\’re matters related to cramming more cars through the system.
And seriously, how could someone be anti-bike and pro-homeless, or pro-poor for that matter? If he wants to exclude bikes from some streets, maybe he\’ll exclude the homeless or poor next. (Oh wait– Potter beat him to it…)
***Folks, please keep comments above the belt. Thanks — Editor
I too have filed for mayor.
To hell with debates! Talk is cheap! I challenge all my opponents to the \”Mayor\’s Mile\” at Alpenrose during the campaign next spring.
Six full laps from a standing start. I choose Candi for my holder.
Pick your gear carefully. Ain\’t no \”Kiddie Kilometer!\”
I agree with Elly, this goes to show how much work we have to do in order to protect and advocate for bicycle rights.
I hope his arcane message motivates people to work more on educating the public about cycling in Portland, and the important steps we need to take as a community to ensure safety on the streets for EVERYONE.
\”because Portland needs practical and sensible leadership…Our current city hall’s leadership and economic strategy is dangerously turning Portland into an ephemeral city\”
No, what Portland needs is leaders with vision and guts to do what is required for the future. To keep Portland at the forefront of renewable energy, alternative transportation, and keeping the environment clean & safe. He is definitely not what Portland needs. And does even know what \’ephemeral\’ means? It almost sounds like he believes our city cannot survive for a day without his help. Sheesh.
Watzig seems like a bit of a dinosaur/Lars Larson type.
I won\’t vote for him.
Encourage others to do the same.
If enough of us do this, he will lose.
His Dad raised one big turkey! He needs to take the shoe stretchers out of his loafers and walk around and interact with the neighborhoods alittle bit.
Interesting tactic used by this candidate. Sounds like the bike community is a lot larger that he wants to admit considering he has devoted an entire page on his site about it.
Good job Jonathan and others. It may be a backhanded compliment though.
Sounds like a segregationist claiming to be pro-civil rights
YOU BACK OF THE BUS, THERE ARE MORE OF US THAN YOU…
Watzig sounds like he is passionate about making Portland better. More power to him. However, I don\’t see any previous governmental experience on his Résumé.
The Alpenrose-mayoral-race proverbial gauntlet has been thrown!
I want watzig to ride with me on my first day back on a bike.
\”Folks, please keep comments above the belt. Thanks — Editor\”
Ok, I get how what bugs bunny once said was apparently a racial slur. I didn\’t know that. Whatever.
But why can\’t I call him a loser? This is a political race, and I can\’t see him winning– so in my eyes he\’s already lost and might as well not run. That\’s all I meant. Let\’s not get over-sensitive.
And why the false dichotomy between bikes and the homeless/poor/children? If anything, moving away from subsidizing the car culture will make it more possible to do those other things we as a society should be doing. Bikes are sustainable, and sustainable infrastructure is in the long run cheaper, thus allowing more resources to be devoted to other social issues.
You know, I\’m looking at the photo of this guy, and it adheres to every standard there is for the \”photo of a former/deceased head of . . . \”
Suit and tie? check
Sitting at a desk? check
Head tilted just so with the look of benevolent patriarchy? check
Pen in hand, preparing to write something? check
A dinosaur. Does anyone really think we would get ANY forward thinking notions out of this guy?
Nelson #11,
Nice try at setting up a false choice. Most of the funding that we\’re talking about is already slated for transportation. It\’s not an either/or proposition set against the homeless or kids. What it is is \”more of the same\” vs. \”setting out to create a new model.\”
And you\’re saying that we\’re just 3%? Shoot, there\’s a 10% rate of bikes just crossing the bridges. Factor in the number of people who don\’t get counted because they bike to work without crossing one of the bridges and you\’re talking a large chunk of the population.
Politicians ignore us or attempt to marginalize us at their peril. Gerhard admits as much by saying that we\’re \”over-represented.\”
We\’ve earned that representation. We work, we pay taxes, we ride, we advocate for what we want. That\’s the way it works.
I\’m fascinated to see how this unfolds. If someone was able to convince him that that campaign logo was the way to go, I\’m awfully skeptical that he has any sense of what today\’s electorate is actually about. Sometimes the little details are very telling.
From Watzig\’s \’bicycle safety\’ page on his website: \”When the city related bicycle commute numbers several years ago, a local newspaper hired students to count actual trips over several bridges. The actual counts were one quarter of what the city said. Bicyclists need to share more responsibility for revenues toward their infrastructure. I propose bicycle licensing for all riders 18 years and above.\” Gerhard Watzig, candidate for Portland Mayor.
The actual counts were one quarter of what the city said? I wonder if he\’ll be able to back that claim up with a more professional, accurately conducted survey, if one should actually happen to exist.
Mr Watzig owns Dorcas Flowers on Broadway. It\’s always interesting that someone supporting the creation of something so beautiful as flower arrangements can simultaneously be ugly in tone and demeanor. It would be very odd if such a contradiction became a reality for Portland with him as mayor: The city, under aggressively contrarian, arrogant Mayor Gerhard Watzig, becomes a beautiful, but virtually dead paradise for inert cars stuck on bike eradicated city streets.
Re; his position on the plight of the homeless: he might be better advised to not waste the money he\’s spending on his misguided bid for mayor, and instead use it to help feed and shelter some of those homeless people.
I\’d really like to know which arterials Mr. Watzig would like to ban cyclists from.
Interestingly enough, PDOT\’s renewed focus on bicycle boulevards and redefinition of bicyclists as rolling pedestrians has made PDOT – and cyclists – quite vulnerable to proposals such as banning bicyclists from arterial streets.
What we really need is an integrated system of bike boulevards and better designed bike infrastructure on arterials to meet the needs of all cyclists. One or the other alone is not going to cut it. Complete streets – where bicyclists are safe regardless of the streets they choose to ride on – is the only way the system will truly work for everyone.
Nelson Muntz apparently has as many misconceptions about the cycling community in Portland as Watzig does. You\’re ignorant of the facts – ha, ha! (That was an attempt at imitating Nelson.) And that sure is a nice straw man you built Nelson, but unfortunately I and everyone else here can see right through it.
The \”Mayor\’s Mile\” at Alpenrose! Yes, men of courage shall compete in games of old! Only a true leader shall reveal himself as he bests his competitors in the Mayor\’s Mile!
…oh, and one more thing – If there was ever a time to NOT get on the bad side of cyclists in Oregon…I\’m thinkin\’ nows that time.
When I was a kid I rode my bike to school. I\’ve never been homeless, but I see a lot of homeless on bikes. Spending money on bike infrastructure is spending money that benefits kids and homeless.
I just finished reading this guys webpage and I cannot believe he is for real. This seems way to much like \”the kid that had no friends\” running for high school student government, accept he might have a more professional looking website.
He needs to get in touch with what Portland is all about because he is way off.
I would have a very hard time voting for somebody I\’ve never heard of, and who has no previous political experience, bicycycle-advocate, or not.
What I love about Sam Adams, is that he is very active, knowledgeable, and well-known in the Portland community-at-large. He\’s an incredibly hard worker, and he gets things done. That\’s what I\’d like in a Mayor.
NEWS FLASH: There will be more minor candidates that try to run against what makes Portland cool. DON\”T FEED THE TROLLS!
Of course it is a straw man argument and about as ridiculous as assuming that bikes are the only issue that Portland voters care about thus, the election will hinge on it.
If cyclists account for 10% of the commuter population in Portland (per tonyt), then why do I never see 20-25,000 bikes on Portland\’s streets every rush hour? Heck, the Bridge Pedal doesn\’t approach that number and a good 1/4 or more of those riders are suburbanites if registration info is accurate.
I don\’t happen to agree with the proposals of Mr. Watzig but I also think that the bike community is still only very vocal minority with some clout but not nearly the political juice it thinks it has. I believe that the vast majority of Portlanders are more concerned with public safety, school quality, aging infrastructure, social services, and economic development issues than about bikes.
If we were so large, visible, and mainstream as to control city politics, wouldn\’t there be a lot more bike infrastructure, friendlier cops, and less two-wheeled tragedy on Portland\’s streets?
Bikes: not only in your way, they\’re also starving the homeless!
Sadly I can actually see that getting some traction.
\”They still can use the sidewalks.\” Awesome! I feel super safe now. Good thing he doesn\’t have a chance but it would be nice if we could help other realize his ideas about bikes are off base.
I sort of agree with his notion of licensing for rider age 18 and older. I see far too many apparently clueless– and thus dangerous– riders out there. Riding on the wrong side; riding on the sidewalk (yes, I KNOW); riding an unsafe bike (I can\’t believe how many I\’ve seen with disconnected v-brakes!); no lights; and so on and so on…
On the other hand– the man is so backwards in every other perspective on bike that I just want to ask him if he\’s from the past or something.
Nelson # 36,
The 2007 Bridge Pedal DID approach those numbers you mentioned. Surpassed 20,000 mark actually. Darn those pesky facts!
And who said anything about us having \”control\” over city politics? Again with the bad debate tactics. Straw man, straw man.
Extrapolate the numbers anyway you like Nelson. In 2006, the four main bridges had an AVERAGE daily count of over 12,000. That\’s 6,000 people both ways. And again, that\’s only those who take those 4 bridges. I don\’t think it\’s a stretch to think that city-wide approaches 18-20,000.
They\’re tough facts to come by, and I can\’t convince you of anything you don\’t want to be convinced of. But we ARE getting close to those numbers.
DON\”T FEED THE TROLLS!
LOL.. thats funny..
And true! Politics 101 says that you shouldn\’t try to raise the profile of your opponents or trolls like this guy.
I live in Clark County but reading about this **** has me ready to send Sam Adams a check.
This all sounds like some free publicity for a flower shop.
Yeah, good luck getting all the homeless, poor and students in this City to sign up for that bike license. That\’s a non starter.
On the other hand I\’d gladly give up my right to ride my bike on Powell Blvd if the City would ban autos from SE Salmon.
@ 45 Boom, there it is…
i was debating whether or not to comment on the one tiny tidbit of this guy\’s platform that I agree with, but since k. has done it, I will second it:
Ban bikes from some streets=great idea
but it comes with a quid pro quo:
Ban cars from some streets as well.
We all win!
I think Sam should jump on this idea along with
\’Waaaaaaahh\’tizig and take wind right out of him.
I\’ve written a letter to the \”Contact\” from his website. I was very nice about it, but stated that he should not underestimate the voting power of cyclists and that our community is growing. If we can get the hundreds of poeple who commment on here everyday to write to his \”Contact\”, it might show him there are more cyclists in Portland than he thinks!
Hilarious. I just busted a gut reading his \”bicycle safety\” page. Grammar lessons will be first on Mr. Watzig\’s agenda…
Seems like we should have one of these…y\’know..someone to frame the debate from the other side…omigod…lookit…
LustyForMayor.Blogspot.com !!!!!!
Other well-know quotes attributable to old-man watzig:
\”You kids stay off the lawn!\”
\”Back in my day sonny we…(fill in the blank here)… and we liked it!\”
\”Feh, fiddle faddle!\”
I like local politics bacause even the lunatics sound so hopeful!