(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
East Portland is where it’s at these days. We all know how the future looks in the Central City because the changes are happening right before our eyes. But the story of east Portland is still being written. And if the first few chapters are any indication it’ll be a bestseller.
From a bicycling standpoint the possibilities are endless: Activists (like Jim Chasse) and the City of Portland have laid a strong foundation, there’s plenty of right-of-way to work with, and there’s strong demand for a more affordable and healthy way to get around.
If you want to have a powerful voice in this future, the City of Portland Bicycle Advisory Committee wants to hear from you. They have an opening and need to fill it with a person who lives and/or works east of 82nd Avenue.
The committee (BAC) meets monthly and its official role is to, “review and make recommendations on transportation projects as well as planning and policy issues that affect bicyclists in the City of Portland.” The BAC is where staffers from city, county, regional, and even statewide offices bring their projects seeking endorsement and input. Its members also help prioritize PBOT funding. Think of it as the Jedi Council of biking in Portland.
I’ve been sitting in on the BAC for many years now (it’s the one monthly committee meeting I have set as a rigid date on my calendar) and the folks around that table are both smart and pretty nice to hang out with. The meetings are on the second Tuesdays of the month from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.
If you’re interested, check out the official committee description (PDF) then fill out this application (PDF). Then send in your completed application to BAC Vice-Chair Rithy Khut, khut.rithy [at] gmail.com.
For more on the state of bicycling east of 82nd, check out our East Portland Week coverage.
— Jonathan Maus, (503) 706-8804 – jonathan@bikeportland.org
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Adam H this is your chance!!!
I don’t live or work east of 82nd.
I see how hard these advocates work to make biking better and I wonder who is it that does all of the hard work of advocating for drivers, because driving sure is easy.
Bon chance!
Apparently, the BAC has already rejected Jim Chasse because he is a “white male” from East Portland, even though he was nominated by EPAP, so other white males from East Portland need not apply.
Jim Chasse hasn’t filled out his application yet.
This would be a fabulous opportunity for someone to help shape the future of active transportation in East Portland. I would encourage all of you east Portland activists (I know you’re out there), to consider applying for one of these positions. j
David, I’m not sure where you got that information from but that is entirely inaccurate. When I sent out the notice to EPAP and the neighborhood associations, I sent a notice directly to Jim. As of today, I haven’t received Jim’s application yet. And I told Lore that she should encourage more than one person from EPAP to apply since we might try to fill more than one vacancy with individuals from East Portland since the city is planning quite a bit from Halsey, Glisan and 3 M’s.
Given the ongoing need for a rep from East Portland, and the BAC’s (and PBOT’s) chronic problems on actually recruiting anyone, I suggest that the BAC “authorize” EPNO to annually “appoint” a BAC representative for East Portland. On most years, that is how the PBOT Bureau Advisory Committee (TBAC) does it. Every August, PBOT sends a letter to each of the 7 District Coalitions (EPNO, NECN, NWNW, SWNI, SEUL, CNN, & NPNS) asking that each forward to them a representative for that body. Most do, including EPNO.
As to numbers of representatives, given that there are usually 20 positions (including official alternates) on the BAC, the numbers ought to be divided by a rough proportion based upon residential population. Since East Portland has 28% of Portland’s residents, it should have at least 5 of those seats. Similarly, Southeast Uplift (inner SE west of 82nd) has 26% of the city population, so it should also have 5 seats, not just Doug, and about 2 for each of the other 5 districts (or maybe one for NW & 3 for SW.)
In addition, the meetings need to be either rotated around the city, 1 or 2 in each district per year, or else shifted to the population and geographic center of the city, Hollywood, and not in its current location in inner SW Portland (i.e., downtown), so that each BAC member is equally inconvenienced an equal number of times riding their bikes to the meetings.