Monthly Archives: December 2014

VOTE 2014 STREETSIE AWARDS: Santa Monica Locals Nominated, Cynthia Rose and more!

 Vote for Your 2014 Streetsies
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streetsie_2014Santa Monica Spoke’s own Cynthia Rose has been nominated for outstanding contributions for advocacy and leadership as a finalist for the Streetsies 2014: Deborah Murphy Award for Excellence in Advocacy. What an incredible line up of finalists they have again this year!

VOTE FOR CYNTHIA!

We are so honored and excited with the nomination. Equally exciting is Santa Monica’s Strategic Planning & Transportation Manager Francie Stefan being nominated in the Civil Servant of the Year category. Francie Stefan has been one of the major motivating forces behind the city’s vision for truly shared streets. Whether it is at the conceptual level, the community planning process, or in the implementation, Stefan has been a strong advocate for complete streets in Santa Monica” 

VOTE FOR FRANCIE!

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[Award for Excellence in Advocacy]…the hardest Streetsie to narrow down the nominees. The hardest Streetsie to vote.
Voting for all categories will close on Friday, January 2, 2015, at noon. Reader voting accounts for one-half of the scoring this year, with one-quarter going to staff voting, and another one-quarter going to a board vote.

Cynthia RosePurple on Brompton - As Director of Santa Monica Spoke, Cynthia has worked tirelessly to make Santa Monica a better place to bike, walk, and live – all in an unpaid volunteer capacity. As a founder, she has built SM Spoke into a highly respected voice for change via numerous local and regional alliances. The organization has become a key partner for the city, credited with playing a key role in the creation of the city’s Bicycle Action Plan. Cynthia has also been at the forefront of forming the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition’s Local Chapter Program, of which SMSpoke is the inaugural chapter. The Local Chapter Program is key in reaching all 88 municipalities in vast Los Angeles County. Does that sound familiar? It might. This is the text for Rose’s nomination for the Alliance for Walking and Bicycling’s Advocate of the Year Award in 2014.

In another stiff competition, Cynthia Rose was nominated for the Alliance of Biking and Walking National Advocate of the year for 2014.

Additionally – in the Liveable Streets Sustainable Business category is a nomination for the Santa Monica Bike Center.

VOTE FOR BIKE CENTER

 

Help name Santa Monica’s Bike Share Program

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We are so excited Santa Monica will soon offer shared bikes for use by residents and visitors to ride for transit and pleasure. Bike Share will launch in 2015 with 500 bikes located at hub locations throughout Santa Monica. Learn more at SMBikeShare.com

Click here to take this brief survey to help us choose a name. 

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Introducing, the new Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition

Introducing LACBC’s new Executive Director, Tamika Butler!

Screen Shot 2014-12-17 at 11.50.10 PMAfter an extensive national search, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition is pleased to announce that our Board of Directors has selected Tamika Butler to lead LACBC into the next phase of continued growth as we further our mission to make the Los Angeles region a healthy, safe and fun place to ride a bike.

“I’m really proud of the process and results of the search and couldn’t be more excited about Tamika as our next Executive Director,” says LACBC Board President Steve Boyd. “Tamika is the ideal leader to write LACBC’s next chapter.”

Tamika brings to LACBC a proven track record of sustainably expanding and running programs and organizations, as well as a policy and advocacy background. She spent three years as an employment lawyer at the Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center and most recently comes from Liberty Hill Foundation, where she was the Director of Social Change Strategies. She first made her mark in Los Angeles as the California Director at the startup policy and advocacy organization Young Invincibles, where she managed the west coast regional staff, was the media and policy spokesperson, organized and led coalitions, developed curriculum and trainings, and fundraised to expand the organization’s presence on the west coast. She also developed relationships with community leaders and state and local lawmakers to advance the organization’s policy goals.

“I am thrilled to have the privilege to become the next Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition and look forward to continuing the success, growth and cutting edge Screen Shot 2014-12-17 at 11.50.27 PMwork of the organization. Biking in Los Angeles County has personally changed my life and deepens my love of the region every time I go for a ride. We’re lucky to live and bike in a county full of diverse communities that motivate this talented staff and me to push towards building a healthier, more vibrant Los Angeles County. I am excited to start pedaling, dig deep, and get to work with our members and partners, within and across sectors, as we race to the front lines of the nationwide movement to create bikeable, safe and sustainable neighborhoods.” One of Tamika’s top priorities is to grow the diversity of LACBC staff and coalition membership.

When Jen Klausner started as Executive Director in 2007, there was only one other employee at headquarters and it was a real struggle to keep doors open. Jen and the organization faced an uphill battle at City Hall to pass the Los Angeles Bicycle Plan and get pavement striped with room for bikes. Seven years later, under her leadership, there are now twelve employees working on your behalf with a LOT of successes! Our growing roster of twelve local chapters will extend that reach even further as we strive to more fully represent the diversity of those who bicycle and want to bicycle in all neighborhoods across Los Angeles County. Tamika brings deep experience in social justice work and looks forward to working with the full range of communities across the county. We couldn’t be more excited.

Jen says, “Our new Executive Director Tamika Butler brings a fresh perspective to the leadership of LACBC, and one that is so relevant to the growth of the bike-ped movement and to important dialogues happening here and in cities across the nation. I am confident in Tamika’s ability to take LACBC to the next level, and I, for one, will be staying tuned and keeping my membership current, because this organization is poised to do great things in the coming years. Please join me in extending a very warm welcome to Tamika!”

Jen Mishory, Executive Director of Young Invincibles, agrees that Tamika will make a great Executive Director: “Tamika is a dynamic, innovative leader who will be a huge asset to the LACBC team. She brought Young Invincibles to new heights and I know that she’ll do the same in her new role!”

We look forward to introducing Tamika to our members, partners and supporters at the first available opportunity in January. Look for announcements of those opportunities in our weekly newsletter, on the website, and through Facebook and Twitter. And don’t forget—as part of our end of year campaign, any donation at the $250 level and above will get you an invitation to our January 22nd Donor Thank You Party—an intimate gathering with our brand new Executive Director, Tamika Butler, in attendance. Hope to see you there!

A View in the Rear View Mirror, Santa Monica Spoke

At this year’s LACBC Holiday Open House we had a slide show instead of the vision boards we assembled last year. LACBC and each Local Chapter contributed slides from this year along with a few of our favorite images. Each chapter was asked to contribute 5 slides.

Our 5 slides from the LACBC Open House Slide Show.

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top: Community event SMMoA, right: Community Meeting with city staff & SMPD, bottom: Walk & Bike Audit gathering input for MANGo
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Youth Bike Skills Festival at Mc Kinnley for Bike it Walk it Week
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top: LACBC Sunday Funday Santa Monica up PCH to meet CalBike Surf & Turf Tour, right: Road side assistance at Tour da Arts Bike Event, bottom: Santa Monica Festival at Clover Park
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top: new bike corrals on Main Street, right: Santa Monica’s first greet lanes on Ocean Park Blvd, bottom: Silver level Bicycle Friendly Community national designation by League of American Bicyclist
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Kidical Mass is more than just a bike ride. A city that seeks to build safer streets to encourage families on bikes is safer for all road users.