Welcome to the Comment of the Week, where we highlight good comments in order to inspire more of them. You can help us choose our next one by replying with “comment of the week” to any comment you think deserves recognition.Please note: These selections are not endorsements.
This year’s Pedalpalooza kickoff was one of the event’s biggest crowds Jonathan has seen. A whole lot of people needed to grab some fun.
One of them was stalwart BikePortland commenter “John.” He left his impassioned social commentary at the side of the road for a while and went out and had a good time. His comment captures what just might happen when you step out of your routine.
Here’s what John had to say:
I was there with my family, it was a great time! I haven’t done many group rides but I’m always surprised just how easy going it is. When I ride solo I have a tendency to ride fast so going anywhere, you know, feels like exercise. While this kind of ride just feels like a super relaxing stroll and yet we still went from Alberta park to the waterfront. My kid was pretty into all the fun costumes and things like bubbles and bells and all of it.
It really is great seeing just how many people in the photos are smiling as they ride. Not because they see the camera, it’s just that the ride puts a smile on your face.
And thank you corkers!
Thank you for the inspiration John! Read his comment under the post here. And don’t miss BikePortland’s photo gallery and video from the event.
Welcome to the week. Here are the most notable stories our writers and readers have come across in the past seven days…
This week’s Roundup is brought to you by Cyclepath Bike Shop (NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd and Brazee), who welcomes you into their space with excellent service, group rides and clinics, bikes and parts, and a warm and friendly vibe.
And now, let the Roundup begin…
How to do carfree: Montreal walks-the-walk when it comes to being a city that puts people first. A new initiative will ban cars on major sections of 10 downtown streets in an effort to boost businesses and livability. (Montreal Gazette)
Science knows: New research using biometrics and machine learning proves what many of us have understood forever: That humans hate being around cars in cities and are much happier when streets do not have cars on or near them. (Scientific American)
What Earl thinks: In a new interview, Portland Congressman Earl Blumenauer opines on e-bike rebates, Portland’s cycling decline, and why the bike lanes on Pennsylvania Ave are his favorite piece of infrastructure. (Slate)
Ticket timing: Seattle PD failed to process automated cameras quick enough and their expiration means the city will lose crucial revenue for safety projects. (The Urbanist)
Dangerous driving epidemic: In Washington D.C., a council member held a six-hour roundtable discussion about dangerous drivers and found there’s, “a lack of coordination among enforcement agencies, a lack of strategy, and a lack of urgency.” (DCist)
Environmentally irresponsible: A provision tucked into the debt ceiling deal worked out by Biden and Congress includes language some fear could gut the power to hold massive freeway projects accountable for environmental impacts. (Streetsblog)
Bicycling prizes: Bloomberg Philanthropies announced that a city in Brazil has won $1 million and nine others won $400,000 in a contest that awarded the best bicycling infrastructure project ideas. (The Guardian)
Video of the Week: This new film, The Engine Inside, partially funded by Shimano and bike advocacy group People for Bikes, looks fantastic! (Notable that Portland is not (yet!) on the screening tour.)
You’ve seen the photos and maybe you were even on the ride… But you need to watch this video if you want to get hyped for Bike Summer.
See fun footage of last night’s ride and hear from folks what rides they are looking forward to. You’ll also hear from a few ride leaders (including actors with Bike Play!) who share what they’ve got planned.
How should we split it up? See the latest district maps below.
We hope you did your homework and read our latest charter reform story yesterday, because today Portland’s Independent Districting Commission (IDC) released its Draft District Plan Report. The document shows the three official draft districting maps that will aid the city in deciding geographic boundaries for the new City Council districts. It is with these districts that Portlanders will vote for 12 new commissioners in the November 2024 election and the new districts will go into effect January 1, 2025.
The maps are named Alder, Cedar and Maple. Below are the official maps and a brief explanation of each one:
The Alder map is built around preserving established neighborhood boundaries. This map divides the central city among three districts, using the Willamette River and I-84 as boundaries, to promote broad engagement with central city issues and economic opportunities and distribute significant assets and institutions among multiple districts. Neighborhoods in lower southeast share a district with demographically and socioeconomically similar communities on the west side of the river and are connected by the Sellwood and Ross Island bridges.
The Cedar map is built around prioritizing transit corridors.This map uses transit corridors such as NE Sandy, SE 12th Ave, 82nd, and MAX lines to prioritize the role of these arterial roadways in influencing the use of public space and notions of neighborhood on the eastern side of the city. Neighborhoods in the central eastside and inner southeast that are bordered by the Willamette to the west and major transit lines to the east (bus and MAX) share a district with neighborhoods on the west side of the river.
The Maple map is built around keeping much of the central city together, as defined by the city’s Central City 2035 Plan, while preserving historic Albina and adding several inner eastside neighborhoods. The central ci ty includes the city’s most densely populated and urbanized neighborhoods, where residential and commercial uses are tightly interwoven. Eastside neighborhoods with high percentages of renters (Central Eastside, Buckman, Kerns) share a district with westside renter-heavy neighborhoods (Goose Hollow, Old Town, University, South Waterfront) as well as other westside neighborhoods.
The document also includes summary statistics for each map as well as a list of key differences between them:
Crossing the Willamette River The Alder map crosses in lower southeast only. The Cedar map crosses in the central eastside and southeast. The Maple map crosses in the central eastside only
Boundary between N/NE and SE/central districts The Alder map uses neighborhood organization boundaries. The Cedar map uses Sandy Blvd The Maple map uses both (Rose City Park is in one district, while Roseway is divided by Sandy Blvd)
Based on extensive community input so far, all of the maps share certain features:
All communities east of I-205 are in a single district
The Parkrose, David Douglas, Reynolds, and Centennial school districts (the four non-PPS school districts) are in a single district
Neighborhoods along the northern part of Portland are in a single district, with the exception of neighborhoods in the Parkrose school district
The north and south sides of Columbia Boulevard are in a single district
Historic Albina in N/NE Portland is preserved in a single district
All communities west of the Willamette River are in a single district
The western border of the easternmost district runs along I-205 and 82nd to accommodate the Jade District and Lents neighborhood
The committee seeks and responds to community input. The report lists eight upcoming public meetings, as well as an email address where you can submit comments. Learn more at the District Commission’s website.
A few of the thousands (?) or riders on NE Alberta Street. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Y’all really turned out tonight.
What an amazing way to kickoff three months of free bike fun. One of the biggest crowds I’ve seen in all these 18 or so years. Overheard so many people saying it was their first Pedalpalooza ride — and even a few folks said it was their first group ride ever.
We rolled from Alberta Park, south to Going and then down 7th, eventually making our way over to 15th to cross through Lloyd and then onto the Blumenauer Bridge and over to the Burnside Bridge via Couch. The end at Salmon Springs to connect with Thursday Night Ride was definitely the biggest group of bikes I’ve ever seen on the Waterfront. The crowd was thick from the Hawthorne Bridge all the way to the fountain. I mean thick! So fun. So many smiles and friends.
Huge kudos to the organizers and volunteers and corkers and all the beautiful Portland people who rolled out! You are all so inspiring and wonderful. Enjoy the photos and check back tomorrow for some fun videos.
Three draft district map proposals based on Independent Districting Commission deliberations. (Maps via Maja Harris/Rose City Reform).
Portland’s Independent Districting Commission (IDC) has selected three draft maps of potential City Council voting districts to present to the public. These are the maps that will set new geographic boundaries for the four city council districts under the new form of government and will be in effect for the November, 2024 election.
At a three-hour work session Wednesday night, each plan was presented by a sponsoring commissioner who then fielded questions from the other commissioners. The group could choose to present one or more maps to the public in a series of meetings to be held in July, and ended up deciding to put forward all three.
Last night’s meeting was far from perfunctory. The usual Portland political tensions, such as how or whether to honor established neighborhood boundaries, were given voice by several committee members. The group was ably guided by the facilitator and the decision to forward all three maps came in a close 8-5 vote.
The 13-member, volunteer commission was appointed by Mayor Wheeler from a pool of 282 applicants and approved by the City Council at the end of January. They have spent the past four months immersed in the nuances of drawing districts, and face a deadline of September 1st to present a final, publicly-vetted draft map to City Council. If a super-majority of nine of the 13 commissioners approve the final draft map, it will go into effect. Otherwise, it goes to City Council for a vote.
Before the September deadline, the committee will hold at least two public hearings in each proposed district, for a total of eight public meetings.
The committee intends to publish the draft maps on Friday (6/2), and the plan is to annotate them with notes explaining the reasoning behind their boundaries, and to include some discussion from last night’s meeting. Several committee members expressed concern that without background and explanatory text the public might not be aware of the criteria required for drawing districts or the issues the various boundaries address.
The Commission
Screenshot from Independent Districting Commission meeting Wednesday night.
The commission itself is an impressive and highly qualified group of people. I felt like I was watching the Tour de France of Zoom meetings. The IDC is one of three committees described by last fall’s charter reform amendment to transition Portland from its current century-old commission form of government to a system of geographic district representation.
Portlanders can be confident that this group has taken seriously their historic responsibility to draw the boundaries of the city’s first geographic districts.
The vote on which maps to present to the public came at the end of an arduous meeting in which commissioners made clear that they had grappled with the intricacies of ensuring fair representation in Portland. Here are some of the issues that the commission has considered.
What makes districting in Portland unique
There is no perfect map.
– Members of the Independent Districting Commission
Several commission members had attended an information session about districting presented jointly by the North Star Civic Foundation and Common Cause earlier this month, in which two districting experts shared their experiences from Los Angeles and the Bay area. The idea of city assets figured largely in that conversation, and it was an aspect of drawing districts that I, and perhaps some commissioners, hadn’t considered before: distribution of assets.
Distribution of assets
What is a city asset? It can be an institution, like museums, universities, zoos, sports venues, parks. But it can also be a location. One fun example from LA was the route of the Rose Bowl parade, which offered city councilors representing those districts a high-profile opportunity to appear before the public, waving from a float.
The gist was that having city assets in one’s district brings visibility, power and connections to a representative. Designing districts so that assets are distributed somewhat evenly between representatives fosters cooperation and collaboration.
The North Star/Common Cause information session made a lot of sense, but there were limits to its relevance to Portland. A reality of our city is that most assets are concentrated west of the Willamette River: the largest universities, the art museum, the big concert and theater venues, biggest park, biggest employer, zoo, civic stadium, central library. The distribution of assets in our city is lopsided.
This becomes particularly relevant when deciding which section east of the Willamette should be joined to a west side district to reach required population parity between districts (the west side does not have a large enough population to comprise a single district without an area from the east side joining it). The concern is that “asset-packing” in a single district might bring advantages to the representatives of a particular district.
The difficulty is that the close-in, east-side-of-the-river areas are also asset-rich. Moreover, some neighborhoods, like St. Johns apparently, really don’t want to join the west side.
A largely white city
Distribution of Hispanic population.Distribution of Asian population.Distribution of Black population.Distributions of Hispanic, Asian and Black populations in Portland using the the DistrctR tool showing data from the 2020 census.
Portland is one of the whitest cities in the United States and, with the exception of the Asian population, the city’s people of color (POC) are distributed somewhat evenly throughout the city. We don’t have highly ethnic enclaves.
The ranked choice voting in multi-member districts method itself is an attempt to bring fair, proportional representation to people and views which cannot be corralled into a particular geographic location. It is not possible in Portland to create a majority minority district. Because of this, many people repeatedly lose their voice in our current at-large voting system.
For example, these maps from the DistrctR tool (which is being used by the IDC) show
1) the distribution of the 11% of the Portlanders who identify as Hispanic. As you can see, there isn’t a single Hispanic neighborhood, the population is distributed throughout the city.
2) The Black population at 5.7% is, to a lesser extent, also spread throughout the city.
3) The 8% Asian population is more concentrated east of E 82nd St, and also in downtown.
These distributions led to discussions last night about which neighborhoods should or shouldn’t be divided between separate city council districts. A lot of time was spent talking about what is called the Jade district, an area in east Portland with a high concentration of Asian businesses.
One commissioner mentioned that he had been in contact with APANO (Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon) and Duncan Hwang (Metro Councilor and Community Development Director of APANO), and had learned that, counter-intuitively, the Jade Business district leaders were fine with being split across two districts. The rationale being that it would give the community the ear of six, rather than just three, city council representatives.
Geographic barriers, population and culture
All of those concerns layer on top of the history and geography of the city. The main reason there is not more of a concentrated Black neighborhood is because residents of lower Albina were displaced by: the alignment of Interstate 5 through the heart of their neighborhood; the destruction of housing due to planned Legacy-Emmanuel Hospital expansion and; the construction of Lloyd Center. That destruction was followed by years of gentrification.
Geographically, the river is a natural boundary, but the population west of it is not large enough to be a district on its own. The river is also a political/cultural boundary, with one of the few resentments still socially acceptable to publicly express being animosity toward the west side. So it is understandable that some eastsiders are not eager to join a largely westside district.
What the IDC needs from you
Several commissioners repeated the phrase that “there is no perfect map” and emphasized that the draft maps were a starting point for further discussion. Borders can be tweaked, and the Commission seeks public feedback. Many times during last night’s meeting commissioners recognized that they needed to find out what people think, that the IDC doesn’t have all the answers.
That’s where you come in. Find a July meeting, fool around with DistrctR, write a letter. The draft maps should be released tomorrow, and most likely the IDC will begin receiving a torrent of advice. Stay tuned for a follow-up.
Welcome to the weekend! Here’s our weekly selection of rides and events worth your time.
This week’s guide is sponsored by the Pioneer Century Ride, this Saturday June 3rd. Choose from three routes (33/63/103 miles) that will take you on quintessential rural Oregon backroads in the shadow of Mt. Hood.
Online registration available through today (Thursday, 6/1) at midnight. Otherwise, you can register on-site. Register here.
Thursday, June 1st
Pedalpalooza Kickoff Ride – 5:30 pm at Alberta Park (NE) This is it! The big ballyhoo to kickoff three months of free bike fun. Rolls out at 6:30 pm and route heads south to the waterfront. More info here.
Friday, June 2nd
Cully Neighborhood Bike Fair – 2:15 to 5:15 pm at Rigler Elementary School (NE) The Portland Bureau of Transportation hosts this event that’s great for families and anyone looking to get their bike tuned up for cycling season. Come get free swag, get help teaching the kids how to ride, and other fun activities. More info here.
Pride Ride! – 4:00 pm at Director’s Park (SW) Join The Street Trust on this fun annual ride that celebrates Pride Month and World Bicycle Day. Ride is led by drag queen Poison Waters and is an easy, 1.5-mile route that ends with a dance party. More info here.
Saturday, June 3rd
Ride the Dirt Wave at Klootchy Creek Trails – All weekend in the Coast Range Two days of riding on excellent singletrack and flow trails at an up-and-coming MTB destination right off Highway 26 before the Cannon Beach/Seaside turnoff. Affordable prices get you guided rides and other hospitality. More info here.
Pioneer Century – All day in Canby One of our region’s classic event rides, hosted by the Portland Bicycling Club. Three routes to choose from and all the gorgeous views and hospitality you could dream of. More info here
Irvington Yard Sale Ride – 9:00 am at Irving Park (NE) Meet up with bikey folks and then traverse the beautiful streets of Irvington to find treasures galore. Meet up for tacos at the end to share your loot. More info here.
New to Portland Walk – 4:00 pm at PSU Library (SW) Nonprofit Oregon Walks has organized a group walk aimed at folks who want to learn more about downtown Portland. Led by PSU student. More info here.
Oregon City Loop – 5:30 pm at Something Cycles (E Burnside & 8th) Join Some Sorta Cycling Club as they roll south for a loop to Oregon City for a food cart dinner and then back again. This is an intermediate ride. More info here.
Sunday, June 4th
Stub Stewart MTB Ride – 9:30 am at Stub Stewart State Park NW Trail Alliance and River City Bicycles invite you for a social shred session on the excellent trails out at Stub. They’ll be grillin’ and chillin’ after a morning or riding. Make a day out of it! More info here.
They Should Call it Van-cool-ver – 10:00 am at Posie’s Bakery & Cafe (N) Looking for a bit more serious of a ride, but with a fun group of folks who like discovering new places? Roll out with Selzter.CC an, “inclusive, moderately-paced cycling club,” as they roll north and discover the charms of Lacamas Lake in Vancouver. More info here.
Asian Snacks and Friendship Ride – 10:00 am at Buckman Field (SE) This ride was so popular it has come roaring back with a new route that will hit Asian-American-owned businesses that sell yummy snacks and treats. Easy route. Picnic at the end! More info here.
Practice Biking on a Carfree Street – 2:00 – 4:00 pm on SW Bond Avenue This novel get together is organized by a certified cycling instructor and BikeLoud PDX volunteer who wants to help you gain confidence in your biking skills — just in time for Pedalpalooza. Practice turning, signaling, shoulder checks, and more. Organizer is even willing to help teach your 9-15 year old kids how to ride. More info here.
Just in time for peak travel season, the Oregon Department of Transportation has released a new public service announcement (PSA) video to educate drivers on how to safely pass a bike rider.
Here’s the text of the narration, followed by my thoughts on the video below the jump:
“You know how your sideview mirror says ‘objects are closer than they appear’? Well, when you’re on a bicycle, passing vehicles can feel even closer. So when you’re passing someone on a bike, keep in mind the size of your vehicle. Remember to slow down and leave extra space. We call it ‘fall distance.’ It’s the room riders need in case they should fall. Also, people in bicycles can take the whole lane if they need to. So you’ll need to hold back patiently until it’s safe to pass. Because here in Oregon, we all want to get there safely.”
Oregon’s Bicycle Passing Law
ORS 811.065: Unsafe passing of person operating bicycle
As far as government PSAs go, it actually looks pretty cool and does a good job laying out the issues around safe passing. One thing that bothered me was how the cars and trucks in the video had blacked-out tint on the windows. I realize that was probably an aesthetic choice by the animators, but it reinforces a really bad — and illegal! — behavior that is unfortunately all too common. It’s odd that they would show solidly tinted windows, especially in a video about passing, where seeing the person inside the car is often an important part of doing it safely.
The other part of this video that stood out to me was the explanation of “fall distance.” I think they did a great job of this both visually and in the narration. I don’t recall hearing that “fall distance” phrase before, but it’s a catchy and helpful way to educate people about our unique safe passing law (unlike most states, we don’t have a specific distance).
And it’s too bad that they couldn’t have waited a bit to incorporate something about the big revision to Oregon’s safe passing law that just passed this week. One reason Senate Bill 895 was created was to help clear up confusion in the public about what drivers are able to do in “no passing” zones on rural roads. A video like this would have been the perfect place to demonstrate that scenario and kickstart public education around it.
Hopefully this gets played a lot at DMVs on local TV newscasts, and so on.
Watch the video below and let us know what you think.
These are paid listings. And they work! We’ve helped hundreds of people find great jobs and great staff members. If you’d like to post a job on the Portland region’s most popular bike and transportation news platform, you can purchase a listing online for just $75. Learn more at our Job Listings page.
Getting that stroller on your bike can vastly increase your cycling joy. (Photos: Shannon Johnson/BikePortland)
While I am making changes to our family’s lifestyle to make it more bikeable, I have also found that I can do much of what I was already doing without the car. As I continue to ask myself, “why not bike?” when I reach for the car keys, I often discover that there is a bike-possible solution for my car plans.
One of my biking deterrents was that I didn’t have a stroller once I arrived at my destination. Originally, I just took a baby carrier and I would carry my little guy once we arrived wherever we were going. But at age one, he’s heavy and squirmy and I really needed a place I could put him down without having to chase him every second. This particularly applies to library visits, as I am unable to bend down and pick books off shelves while trying to hold or corral a wiggly toddler. The temptation was to drive to the library so that I could haul a stroller in the minivan trunk. But, like so much else, I soon discovered that carrying the stroller by bike, with the kid(s), is possible.
In my case, the solution was simple: I purchased some Voile straps after seeing them used on other bikes like mine to lash a child’s bike to the mama bike. (Newer Bunch Bikes come with nifty hooks so that you can use these straps to carry backpacks and other cargo from the sides of the box.) Using these straps, I am able to easily secure an umbrella stroller to the front of my bike box. I strap around my canopy rails, but I imagine these useful straps could be rigged to work with different bikes.
Nifty rack attachment for carrying baby strollers.
What if you don’t have a box bike? Don’t give up! A Dutch company has a solution for that too: the Steco Buggy Mee is a carrier for an umbrella stroller that attaches easily to a back rack on a standard bicycle (see how easy it is in this video).
While you can’t order the Buggy Mee directly from the company, I have found a few for sale with other online retailers or resale marketplaces. I would love to see a Portland bike shop become a Steco dealer, so we can get this Buggy Mee stroller caddy stocked in local shops (along with a lot of other cool Steco bike accessories). If you are a local Portland-area shop, and you are able to order the Steco Buggy Mee, please let us know.
This is all to say that you can do a lot more by bicycle than you might originally think. When you are tempted to believe that your bike can’t do what you need, step out of the car-centric box and look for a biking solution. You might be surprised by what you can find!
If you have found a creative way to tote your stroller by bicycle, let us know. We’d love to see how you do it.
ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW
We love Portland and bikes. So, we put our two loves together over 25 years ago, creating a nonprofit organization on a mission to broaden access to bicycling and its benefits.
Our vision is to help build a vibrant community where people of all backgrounds use bicycles to stay healthy and connected. We believe that all Portlanders—regardless of income or background—should have the opportunity to experience the joy, freedom, and health benefits of bicycling. This is the motivation behind everything we do.
In addition to delivering dynamic programs that benefit underserved communities, we operate a full-service bike shop in NE Portland that is staffed by highly experienced staff from diverse cycling backgrounds. Our programs and shop services combined help riders build their skills and confidence; empower young people to ride to school and adults to ride to work; offer educational opportunities for teens to earn school credit; and support everyone in riding for health and recreation. We also collaborate with numerous community partners to generate pathways to employment and engagement within the growing bicycle movement by training new educators, leaders, advocates, and mechanics.
Our goal is to help create a healthy, sustainable Portland for all community members.
The Community Cycling Center is an equal opportunity employer and strongly values diversity, equity, and inclusion. Individuals with diverse backgrounds, abilities and experiences are encouraged to apply.
JOB SUMMARY
Reporting to the Executive Director (ED), the Director of Diversity and People will help ensure that we are meeting our goals of creating a diverse, inclusive, and welcoming work environment, and some human relations within the organization. The Director of Diversity and People will work in tandem with the staff-level Diversity, Equity & Inclusion team to foster a more inclusive workspace. They will uplift the voices and work experience of our staff with an intersectional focus on employees of color, LGBTQ+, disabled, immigrant, youth, and other marginalized groups within the organization.
This position requires a hands-on approach to getting things done together with the ability to work well independently and collaborate with other members of the Community Cycling Center’s staff. The Director of Diversity and People is one of our Director-Level employees and part of the leadership team. Successful candidates will have experience fostering an inclusive, compassionate, and collaborative culture in a diverse workplace.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (60%)
– Lead and serve as a member of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion team, and provide support to that team as requested.
Work with the DEI team to:
*Develop materials to implement training for supervisors in Community Cycling Center policies, procedures, programs,
budgets, ethics, and how they can cultivate an inclusive and welcoming work environment.
* Help ensure a recruiting strategy that invites diverse candidates to apply for Community Cycling Center jobs.
* Develop goals for representation in our workforce from the communities we serve.
* Audit all HR documents, including job descriptions, through a DEI lens.
– Support the programs team to build a workforce development plan for youth involved in our STEM or internship program. This includes networking with community partners and potential employers.
– Check in with staff regularly to understand how the organization can best support them.
– Identify and develop tools for employee retention, with a focus on supporting our BIPOC, LBGTQ+, disabled, immigrant, youth, or other marginalized staff within the organization.
– Advocate for employee rights and benefits.
Human Relations (40%)
– Administer new employee orientation and ongoing training on HR policies and procedures as needed. Administer exit interviews and review all job descriptions for open positions as needed.
– Ensure that the organizational policies are thorough, up-to-date, shared, and accessible to every employee, and observed.
– Ensure compliance with workers’ compensation, occupational safety and health, and other rules protecting employees, volunteers, and the public.
– Serve as the primary point of contact for employees regarding Grievance related questions and manage our staff evaluation system.
– Meet weekly with the Organizational Leadership Team and manage human relation and mediation issues that may arise.
QUALIFICATIONS & CHARACTERISTICS
REQUIRED
– Bachelor’s degree in human resource related field
– Thorough understanding of HR best-practices, state and federal law, and a desire for continued education in this area
– Sees projects through to completion through a multi-faceted approach including delegation of tasks as a leader as well as hands-on work on the ground alongside staff
– Experience leading multi-cultural teams with a trauma-informed lens and ability to bridge gaps in understanding among team members with diverse backgrounds and experiences
– A deep appreciation for the mission and values of the Community Cycling Center, as well as a thorough understanding of the unique and complex community development and social justice issues facing Portland residents
– Excellent people skills, including experience collaborating in a diverse and dynamic team
– A demonstrable personal and professional commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion
– Criminal background check required for staff who are interacting with children
PREFERRED
– Cross-sector management experience in for-profit, nonprofit, and social venture work environments.
– Degree, coursework, certifications, or other training in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
– Fluency in one or more language(s) spoken in Portland’s marginalized communities, e.g., Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, or others
– Lived and/or work experience in BIPOC or Immigrant communities
– Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe, Salesforce, QuickBooks, and SharePoint
START DATE: ASAP (This is a hybrid position, working mostly remote, candidate must reside in Portland, Oregon)
REPORTS TO: Executive Director
STATUS: Full Time
LOCATION: Portland OR
SALARY: $70,000 – $75,000
BENEFITS: Medical, Dental, Vision, and 401k
How to Apply
Please submit a cover letter and resume by email with “Director of Diversity and People” as the subject line to jobs@communitycyclingcenter.org
Just how normalized has the dangerous act of speeding become? The other day a Portland Police officer posted up on the Burnside Bridge to catch speeders and decided they wouldn’t pull anyone over unless they were going 47 mph — that’s 17 mph over the posted speed limit.
I’ve known for many years that police never set out on traffic enforcement missions with a plan to cite people going 1-2 mph over the speed limit. I recall years ago when I joined a PPB officer for a ride-along they agreed (arbitrarily) at a meeting before the shift that they’d allow 9 mph over the limit before they pulled anyone over. But 17 mph? On a busy road in the central city?
And unlike in the days before social media, this is very public knowledge. I learned about this officer on Burnside because they posted a video of themselves on Instagram (below). In case you haven’t heard, a group of Central Precinct officers has quite a large following on their PPBCentralBikeSquad account. It’s a very interesting account that gives us a behind-the-scenes look into life on the streets downtown.
Last week a motorcycle officer posted that he was looking for people going 17 mph or more over the speed limit. Then in the comments, someone asked the officer why they gave such a large cushion.
“I measure the flow of traffic and then add 10,” the officer wrote back. “It’s a 30. Was getting a lot of 35-37, so I decided to stop folks at 47 mph, 10 higher than the flow.”
I reached out to the officer from the video and he shared a bit more about his thinking:
“I can only stop so many cars, so I like to focus on the higher-level violators. Especially in areas like the Burnside Bridge where bikes have to mix with cars trying to go right on NW 3rd Ave. When I do the Morrison Bridge, for example, it’s a 25 mph construction zone. Nearly everyone is doing 10 over and I can’t pull over every person, so I’m looking for people who are at those higher speeds since we both know how much excessive speeds are a factor in crashes, especially fatalities.”
That seems reasonable.
The only other rationale I’ve heard for giving a large cushion before writing citations — beyond prioritizing the worst offenders — is that officers want to make sure the citations hold up in traffic court. That is, if a defendant contests the ticket in court, it’s much more likely a judge will uphold the citation if the person was clearly driving well beyond the posted limit. Portland-based lawyer and bike law expert Charley Gee speculated the officer set a high limit to make any argument about their radar gun being out of calibration less likely to serve as a defense.
Whatever the rationale, the whole thing has just never sat well with me. And this many people are going 47 mph in a 30 mph zone of Burnside in the city? That’s just bonkers. The typical stopping distance for a car user going 47 mph is about 170 feet — that’s the length of nearly two full NBA courts. At 30 mph that distance is about 75 feet and a human has about twice the chance of survival versus someone hit by a driver at 45-50.
To be clear, I don’t blame the PPB for this. They are doing triage in a system overwhelmed with dangerous behaviors. And this officer is just a tiny cog in a vast culture of motonormativity where the things people do inside cars is just ignored as ‘the way things are.’
You might be thinking that automated enforcement cameras might be the answer here. After all, they don’t have to prioritize like a human officer does. But nope, those cameras are regulated by humans, so they are programmed with the same pro-speeding tendencies.
“The idea of issuing a citation of someone traveling at a lower speed of 9 or 8 miles per hour… frankly, I feel like you’d be very hard-pressed to find an officer — or even a deputy or a state trooper — that would issue a citation for that minimal amount. Just normally driving through a city it is not uncommon to have your speed creep up a little bit. Technically you’re violating a traffic law; but is it reasonable to issue a citation? So it gets to that reasonableness…. that’s why that particular number was selected.”
So blame it on “reasonableness” I guess. Sorry, but that doesn’t make me feel any better. Right now, the more people that speed, the fewer people get caught. That just isn’t right no matter how you explain it.
