Wife.Blog
February 19th, 2007We are now a two-blogger household! Welcome to the blogosphere, honey.
The Transit Candidates
February 9th, 2007The folks running for mayor and city council here in KC are talking a lot about public transportation, buses, light rail, etc since the city crapped its collective pants back in November when a half-baked light rail plan won voter approval.
But the one thing that keeps bothering is the obvious fact that so few of the candidates have any personal experience with our own bus system. Most will brag about how they use the trains or subways when they visit NYC, Chicago, London, etc. – but apparently they get right back in their cars and SUVs when they land at KCI. One of KC’s biggest problems with light rail or transit in general is that we have such poor leadership on the issue.
So, when several of the 4th District candidates were at my neighborhood association last night I asked how often they rode the bus in the last month, and if elected would they commit to using public transportation to get to City Hall. Here are their responses…
Ezekiel Amador – He basically said if elected he’d be too busy and too important to wait around on a bus, he’ll need to drive all over for big important meetings around town.
Deth Im – He is a frequent transit rider who was able to quote bus routes between his house and Downtown, and pledged to use transit as often as possible if not every day.
Beth Gottstein – Another regular transit rider who was able to tell the audience which routes she uses.
Mark Forsythe – Mark regularly uses the MAX to go Downtown and has already pledged to continue doing so if elected.
Doug Gamble – He gave a very earnest reply about the importance of buses for the mobility of poor people that work in his hotels, but insisted he couldn’t do it himself because he has two children to transport. Um, OK, whatever. Tell that to the thousands families with small children who struggle every day to make transit work for them.
Rita Valenciano – Another regular transit rider who said she is already planning to walk to City Hall if elected, garnering some of the biggest applause of the evening.
Jan Marcason and John Tancredi left before the Q&A so I didn’t get their answers. However, I have heard John talk about growing up with two parents who did not drive, so I imagine I he has at least a little experience with public transportation. Mel Solomon was a no-show.
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