Welcome to the week! These are the best stories we came across in the past seven days…
Sad-tire: This Onion article is hits close to home when it quotes a make-believe NHTSA official as saying, “If every cyclist purchased and operated a car like you’re supposed to as an adult, bike fatalities would drop an estimated 40 percent within six months alone.”
Stereo-cycles: Teens in Palermo Sicily are into a hot new trend: Putting as many speakers as possible onto their bicycles.
Another year has past, @uber and @lyft drivers park in and block bike lane. Do something about this @trailblazers @PBOTinfo pic.twitter.com/4yGerdQ52G
— Steve ⛱ (@Intersection911) October 31, 2017
Ride-hailing giant Uber has responded to complaints of their persistent, dangerous, and annoying bike lane blockage behaviors outside of the Moda Center.
Sorry, this job has been filled. Browse more great jobs here.
Job Title *
BIKE SHOP OPERATIONS MANAGER
Company/Organization *
Bike Clark County
Job Description *
Bike Clark County (BCC) is a nonprofit bicycle cooperative that creates opportunities for empowerment, education, and social change through bicycles and bicycle repair. As a nonprofit, we repair bicycles donated from the community and redistribute them through our charitable programs and affordable bike sales. As a cooperative, we teach the community how to repair their own bicycles in our shareduse shop space. Our charitable programs seek to make bicycles and bicycle repair/safety education available to the entire community, regardless of income.
BCC’s many charitable programs are made possible, in part, by its communityoriented shop operations. The shop operations manager’s job is to keep BCC’s dynamic shop operations running smoothly while generating income to fund BCC’s charitable programs.
THE JOB
We’re looking for someone who can do more than checkoff a list; we’re looking for someone motivated by purpose and fueled by impact. Commitment to the mission of BCC is essential.
JOB DUTIES
BCC has very diverse employees and volunteers. All of them choose to invest in the lives of others and have experienced the opportunities and connection a bicycle can create. The Shop Manager will organize, direct, and inspire these folks, while giving them an opportunity to create impact every day. Duties will include performance appraisals, scheduling and managing staff hours.
BCC’s Community Hub is becoming a busy bike shop. Our goal is to make sure everyone leaves the shop empowered, able to connect to the next leg of their journey, and excited to ride back to “The Hub” when the time comes.
BCC refurbishes and distributes a wide variety of used bicycles. We hold their functionality and sustainability to the same standard (maybe higher) as a $2000 Trek. These bikes will be used to connect individuals to lifeenhancing opportunities in the community, and the Shop Manager’s job is to ensure each bike has that capability.
The Community Hub also sells new and used equipment as well as new bicycles. The shop manager is responsible for managing the sale and restocking of this merchandise, including invoicing and ordering.
QUALIFICATIONS
● Believe in mission and the transformative power of the bicycle. Read BCC’s mission. If it strongly resonates with you, then you’ve got the most important qualification.
● Kindness. The second most important quality (almost tied with the first) is to be tenaciously patient and persistently kind.
● Great communication skills, highly organized, and inwardly driven to be better at both. By nature BCC is a dynamic place. Aspects evolve as needs in the community evolve, and aspects stay the same as the core values remain timeless. To communicate and remain organized, a
qualified candidate will need to be selfdriven in evaluating and building
these skills continually.
● Bicycle repair skills a major plus, but not required.
● Teaching skills absolutely required. Must like kids.
● Experience in a bike shop or retail environment is a plus.
COMPENSATION
BCC offers a competitive compensation package based on experience.
WORK HOURS
Tuesday Saturday 10:30 am 6:30 pm
How to Apply *
Email your resume, cover letter (in your cover letter, please address how you identify with BCC’s mission statement), and three workrelated references with contact info to info@bikeclarkcounty.org. Position open until filled; applications received by December 1st will receive priority consideration.
I can’t stop thinking that we’ve failed Tamar Monhait.
Monhait is the woman who was killed while bicycling northbound on SE Water Avenue back in August. On that fateful night, a professional driver named Paul Thompson was operating a commercial garbage truck in the opposite direction. As Monhait crossed Taylor Street, Thompson made a sudden left turn in front of her. She died from the impact and took her last breath in the middle of that intersection.
The intersection isn’t as well-lit as it should be and Monhait did not appear to have a legally required front light. Thompson claimed he never saw her. The police say Monhait’s impairment from alcohol was a factor in the collision; but there’s no evidence she could have done anything differently to avoid the truck — especially since Thompson, according to the police, admitted he was trying to outrun an approaching train and gave no warning before making his turn.
From The Street Trust:
Families and Loved Ones Honor Memories of Road Traffic Victims
PORTLAND, OR — Dozens of community members will gather at the Rosewood Initiative in Southeast Portland on Sunday to commemorate the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims and honor the memories of friends and loved ones who died as a result of road crashes.
Participants will gather at 12:00 p.m. and take a silent walk of solidarity with road traffic victims’ loved ones and families. Community members who have lost family members to road traffic will give brief remarks and the Rosewood Initiative will feature an art exhibit to raise awareness of the human toll of road crashes. This event is organized by a coalition of organizations including The Street Trust, Families For Safe Streets, and the Rosewood Initiative.
“Nearly 500 people died last year on Oregon roads,” said The Street Trust’s deputy director LeeAnne Fergason, “and it’s critical for those lives to be remembered. We believe that zero deaths and injuries on our streets is possible through initiatives like Vision Zero education and policies, reduced speed postings, and street safety projects. We will have to advocate to make sure Vision Zero becomes a reality.”
Vision Zero is the concept that one death on our streets is too many. According to the City of Portland, Portland families deserve safe streets on which to walk, bike, operate mobility devices, access transit, and drive. The Portland Bureau of Transportation aims to make our transportation system the safest possible and to move toward zero traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries in the next ten years.
“My son was killed on a crosswalk by light rail,” explains Darla Sturdy, ” I joined Families for Safe Streets to push for safe streets so that mothers will not have to go through what I have, and yet another person was killed this month. Join us on Sunday to remember our loved ones and fight for Vision Zero.”
Every member of Families for Safe Streets has a story like Darla’s. They are a group of mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and siblings marching to end traffic violence and take another step towards achieving Vision Zero in Oregon and SW Washington during this year’s World Day of Remembrance event on November 19th.
LeeAnne Fergason is the new Safe Routes to School program manager for the Oregon Department of Transportation.
ODOT announced the hire in a statement today, saying Fergason will join the agency in mid-December.
Reached today via email, Fergason told us she’s excited for her new role but, “Deeply saddened to say goodbye to The Street Trust.” “The Street Trust’s staff (old and new), partners (so many amazing partners), and supporters (our members and friends),” she continued, “have helped me so much, and I’m eternally grateful for all the smart, passionate, and kind people that have taken the time to teach me.”
Fergason is the longest tenured employee at The Street Trust. According to her official bio she began work there as a bike safety education instructor in 2007. Fergason became The Street Trust’s main advocate for Safe Routes to School (a program they implement with a combination of state, federal, and regional funding) and spearheaded their “For Every Kid” campaign. She moved into the deputy director role back in July when The Street Trust’s former deputy director Stephanie Noll left the organization.
There’s a lot of Safe Routes work to do at ODOT these days. The former manager of the program, Julie Yip, recently retired, and the statewide transportation package includes $125 million over the next 10 years for a new Safe Routes to School grant program. As ODOT announced today, one of Fergason’s first tasks will be to staff a new Rules Advisory Committee that will create the policy framework for how these new funds will be allocated.
It’s been about 15 months since high school freshman Bradley Fortner was nearly killed while trying to walk across North Columbia Blvd on his way to his first day of school. He was hit by a pickup truck driver and spent a week in the ICU with swelling in his brain.
Fortner lives in a part of north Portland that is effectively walled off from George Middle School and Roosevelt High because of how dangerously people drive on Columbia Blvd. Prior to the collision, his family and neighbors said the road was so wide and so full of trucks and speeding drivers that they knew a tragedy like that was “inevitable”.
There’s a pedestrian overpass at this location, but it’s so unkempt and out of the way that most people opt not to use it.
Remember that opposition to the City’s plans for traffic diversion as part of the Lincoln-Harrison Neighborhood Greenway project we we warned you about earlier this month? It hasn’t gone away. In fact, it appears to be getting stronger.
At the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s open house for the project just one day after our post was published, we heard that people against the diverters “swamped” people who support them. “By a lot,” our source said.
Then, at their monthly meeting last night, the Mt. Tabor Neighborhood Association (MTNA) voted 45-5 against one specific part of the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s proposal: a semi-diverter on both sides of Lincoln at SE 50th. According to a BikePortland reader who was at the meeting, the vote was a motion to oppose the proposed diverter at 50th and Lincoln as currently designed and to request more information and a meeting with PBOT to ask questions and share concerns.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler is recovering after he fell while riding his bike on Sunday morning.
After a reader noticed a reference to the crash in an article posted by The Oregonian this morning, we followed up with his office to find out more.
Time to map your plan of attack for the weekend. Check out our selections below and keep an eye on the BP Calendar for updates and even more ideas.
Portland Bus Lane Project Planning Meeting – 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm at Red Robe Tea House & Cafe (310 NW Davis St.)
Want better bus service in Portland? Get involved with the activism that is making it happen. More info here.
After presenting a slew of options for improving safety and traffic flow on North Vancouver at Cook back in June, the Portland Bureau of Transportation has settled on an option they like.
After a decade at the helm, Kenji Sugahara has announced plans to move on from his role as executive director of the Oregon Bicycle Racing Association (OBRA).
OBRA is the statewide sanctioning body of competitive cycling and currently has around 3,700 members who compete in a variety of disciplines including cyclocross, track, road, and mountain bike racing.
Sugahara, 44, was chosen to lead OBRA in 2008. He plans to stay on for another six to nine months to help with a transition to a new executive director. Sugahara tells us his sights are set on the¶ leadership job at the new Office of Outdoor Recreation that was created by the legislature last session. It would be a natural fit for Sugahara, who currently sits on the Oregon Tourism Commission after being appointed by Governor Kate Brown in 2014.
In a letter emailed to OBRA members last night, Sugahara wrote: “I have had some amazing opportunities arise that I cannot pass up so I have decided that this is an opportune time to pass on the torch. Though we have faced headwinds that have been mirrored on the national level, we have a solid foundation with a great plan to move forward.”