your big bike idea.
(Photo © J. Maus)
Yesterday, I shared the news that the Portland Mercury has included a fun item in their annual Auction Issue: A ride with me (on a new bike!) followed by lunch with future Mayor Sam Adams.
Since bidding began at $1.99 yesterday, the item has shot up to $632 (as of this morning).
I thought it would be fun to sweeten the pot a bit, so here’s what else you’ll get if you’re the winning bidder…
If you intend to chat with Mayor-elect Adams about a specific biking issue or idea, I’ll promise to detail your idea (and Adams’ response to it) in a Front Page story on BikePortland.org. Think of it as a way to get some serious attention for whatever your biggest biking dream might be.
- Want your street to become the city’s next bike boulevard?
Do you think Adams should spearhead an effort for more sharrows downtown?
Would you like to propose that the outside lane of the Hawthorne Bridge is for the exclusive use of bicycles?
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Whatever your idea is (crazy or do-able) to make biking in Portland safer, more efficient, or whatever, this would be a neat opportunity to share it with our future Mayor and with the thousands of people who read this site everyday.
Check out the auction item and place your bid at PortlandMercury.com.
[Oh, and by the way, I’ve gotten permission from Adams’ office to do this. Also, don’t feel like you have to have to bring a big idea to the table. If you just want to chat that’s O.K., and if you don’t want the lunch covered on the Front Page, that’s cool too.]
Thanks for reading.
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“Check out the auction item and place your bike at PortlandMercury.com.”
I think you should place your bid. Although there is a classified section, so you could place your bike there too:
http://classifieds.portlandmercury.com/portland/Results?subsection=oid%3A178
very funny Matthew. thanks for catching that mis-type. by the way, I appreciate proofreading but would rather have you just email them privately to me at jonathan at bikeportland dot org.
cheers.
Damn, you people are driving me out of the market here…
Cool project, Jonathan. I’m excited to see what the winning bidder has to bring to the table.
Jonathan: Will do.
Just pointing it out in case someone needs to sell some stuff in order to bid higher. 🙂
I think if you added another rider to the mix (a nice cafe table seats four), the conversation would be much more diverse and would inspire all to be totally engaged. Adding also, that it would be less intimidating for someone who could use a little Q&A anxiety support. The bidding should double, therefore taking care of the price of another bike. Or add three – four more…
Now I know what I want Santa to bring me…
I should bid on this one, since I’ve been somewhat vocal in this forum about my disappointment in CRC Sam. However, it’s already out of my budget. I sure hope some anti-bike person doesn’t try to snipe this auction, just to goad Sam into backtracking even further about his so-called bike agenda.
So, I’ll ask my question here, if the auction winner is out of ideas:
Sam, you have said much about your commitment to a sustainable future for Portland. What role does political compromise (with people who are not committed to that same vision) have in your policy-making decisions?
Peejay,
I would certainly ask him basically the same question.
I certainly am already disappointed by him also.
I have only run into him at parties, which I do not feel is the time to ask such questions, so I have not had my chance, yet.
Peejay, we should combine on a bid…
I like Moo’s (#6) idea of a 2nd person at the table. This bidder might get the time but not a new bike. I would have no use for another bike but might be interested in bidding for a seat at the table.
I know that this is the Mercury’s event, and I’m super excited that this is going to raise a ton of money for their charity and that biking superstars such as you and our mayor-elect can command so much money, but perhaps the next time this happens, it cold rest as more of a raffle and less of an auction. As a broke, ramen-eating college student, I definitely have no cash moneys on hand to get anywhere near the top auction price, but I definitely would throw in a more meager couple bucks if it meant i had a 2% chance at winning. Don’t know if auctions or raffles traditionally bring in more money to the charity, and again it’s super awesome this event is happening (only in Portland, right?), but just a suggestion to get a broader cross-section of bikeportland’s readers and portland’s bikers in general in the running.
Icarus, a.O., ambrown, (and others):
Perhaps we could pool together on a bid, and then hold a raffle to see who gets to go on the ride. Before the winner goes, we hold a meeting to discuss the agenda of the Sam conversation. Sounds like a convoluted way to reach our elected representative (i.e.: our employee), but, hey, whatever works.
peejay, I’m in for that. I can’t really justify $750, but I want to bug Sam about the CRC too.
Everybody in for $50? I bet we can get a winning bid with that. Or, whatever you want, and your chances for the “lottery” when we win are proportional to the money you put up. What say?
Of course, somebody has to put up the money until we all pay in. Yikes! How to organize this!?!
I like the idea. You’d have to do something about the anonymity of the site so that everyone who participated had some level of accountability. You may know each other but I, for one, don’t.
Personally my issues with him have nothing to do with the CRC.
We need a new bridge…
Fact is fact.
Another thing to keep in mind if you are thinking of bidding on your own – because the auction is for the benefit of a non-profit charity, whatever is bid/paid over the market value of the package is tax-deductible (assuming that you pay taxes and itemize your deductions) – but that only works if one person ponies up the entire amount. Individual donations of less than the market value would not be deductible.
Icarus:
It’s debatable that we need a new bridge, not fact. The I-5 bridge is nowhere close to the top of the list for replacement if structural integrity is considered, not even in the city of Portland (that would be the Sellwood Bridge). And we certainly don’t need one that expands the number of lanes for auto traffic, regardless of the other facilities it would add. Now, if the Obama administration is embarking of the kind of massive infrastructure projects necessary to revive the economy, maybe a new bridge might be part of a bigger picture, but if it comes to a choice between this project and worthier, more sustainability-oriented projects, I stand firmly in opposition.
The only way this auction item could get any cooler would be to invite Bud Clark along for the ride as well.
I would bid to ride with Jonathan and Bud Clark however………..
Can I get a Reuben?
You could keep the bike even…
Bud Clark is my Mayor…..
To democratize the info flow without hampering its great fundraising quality, my 2 cents are to encourage best ideas from all who wish to give it, summarize this input before the meeting with Sam. These broader community results could spark additional interesting conversation.