He listed a few of his efforts in his post. But Mark isn't exactly braggadocious. I'll list a few for him. Those involved in the advocacy efforts of the early-mid-90s might not entirely agree with the details of my take, but I'm hoping that they will take the larger points....And then feel free to elaborate.
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Full disclosure: Mark & I have had many a disagreement over the years, even big blow ups, so there ain't no hero worship going on here. Despite our differences, even an unreasonable person (such as myself) can see that the overall trajectory of his advocacy work has been tremendously positive for this community.
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I'll start with probably the least known, but, to my mind, most significant victories that is emblematic of his way of thinking, acting, and winning for bike transportation AND THE BROADER COMMUNITY.
Back in the early 90's, when bike advocates were told to stick to their knitting and "just stop at stop signs and all would be good," Mark led the charge to get the highly controversial Williamsburg Way bike underpass built when that stretch of Verona Rd was being reconstructed. Why was such a simple, low-cost facility so controversial? First, the cost: Including it in the design of the mega-highway from the get-go meant that the cost would be negligible. But a retrofit at a later date would be cost prohibitive. Hence, it was a do or die, now or never thing, from a bikie perspective. So who was against it? The lily-white suburbanites on the west side of Verona Road who feared an invasion of poor people, people not of their color, who lived on the east side of the tracks, I mean, mega-highway. The highway was their Jim Crow. Mark was a leader among leaders at combating veiled racism, fought for the connectivity that benefits all of us, and not just for purposes of transportation. And I doubt that connection has ever actually benefited Mark personally judging from what I know of where Mark has lived & worked over the intervening years.
At the time, it seemed to be an inconsequential connection that was pursued for perhaps ideological reasons that weren't necessarily related to bicycling. Maybe. And probably. After all, what is wrong with ideas? But there was more to it as well. Mark was exceptionally farsighted in seeing that the SW Path and Cap City Tr. would someday be built. These trails were hardly gleams in the eyes of even the wildest eyed advocates at the time, but Mark had the vision to see how they would all connect up, and how the connection would be a windfall to even the staunchest closet racist once the trail connections got built. Of course, he wasn't wrong in the least. Now folks in the Raymond Rd area have a direct bike link to the Mil. Ridge Tr., Cap. City and SW trails, something they would not have had without Mark's efforts.
Back in the day, not all of our efforts were huge successes, but they were worthy and laid the groundwork for future successes. Mark helped lead the fight to get a northside bike connection along N Sherman Ave by advocating that it be converted into a two-way-left-turn-lane-with-bike-lanes (would that be a twltwbl--a twittle-weeble?) configuration. Unfortunately, the stick in the mud residents of the Village of Maple Bluff Tax Island put a stop to it. We at least got a brief experiment in it accomplished. And I can't help but think that by pushing for it, we raised the awareness of city staff such that they felt comfortable installing a twittle-weeble on Dayton. I think it works pretty well, despite the substandard bike lane widths (a topic for another rant).
The cataclysm that really galvanized cyclists in this town was the imposition of, as Tim calls it, the Enemy Citadel (Monona Terrace). Again, back in the early-mid-90s, Mark really took the lead in making Critical Masses, dubbed Political Masses, a force to be reckoned with. Soglin didn't know what hit him. The press was covering us with great sympathy (believe it!) as we spent Friday after Friday, rush hour after rush hour, slowly moving along John No-LANE Ave, demanding continuous connectivity through that critical bike commuter corridor. Soglin & senior staff conveniently "forgot" to provide for this connectivity, even though we, and not-so-highly-vaunted staff reminded them at every stage of the venture that the connectivity must be there throughout. (It would have cost them nothing had they listened to us and planned for it at the outset). They thought they could get away with it. They did. For a while. But in the end, I credit Mark's leadership in making bicycling a major political force at that critical juncture with the eventual demise of Soglin (wooo-hooo!).
There were plenty of other people hard at work during the same time working on the same and similar issues. I would say that there were 5-7 who were equally as energetic and critical to bringing the bike advocacy movement together. So it is always hard to divine out who deserves just how much credit for what. There was a lot of synergy. I feel that if any one of those folks weren't present, things wouldn't be where they are now. Mark was there.
Folks newer to the area might not know of Mark now because he has been "promoted" onto key commissions that have a hell of a lot to say about the future of bicycling in the city.
For example, Mark's efforts were crucial for getting bike accommodations onto E. Wash.
Mark's hard charging efforts on the SW Bike Path Committee ensured that the trail would accommodate commuter and recreational traffic. (Though we've come to find out that his vision of an even wider path was the right one, as complaints about capacity have heated up recently.) He even had to fight the oh-so-subtle Jim Crow mentalities - yet again - that wanted the path to have no connectivity across the Beltline.
The upshot: Had he and one or two other critical members not been there, fighting the good fight, the trail would have been 6-8 ft wide and crushed lime stone and stopped at the beltline. UGH.
His presence on the Ped/Bike/Motor Vehicle Commission has helped rein in at least some of the paving proclivities of the city. (Let's put it this, way, if the others on that committee stood their ground 1/10 the degree Mark does, we'd have no more 4-lanes going out every cowpath). And virtually every arterial road project now has bike lanes on them. This wasn't the case pre-Mark.
That's the tip of Mark's advocacy iceberg.
Keep in mind that his efforts in the mid-90s were denounced repeatedly by the only paid bike advocate in the state at the time.
The rest of Wisconsin has one heck of a lot to learn from Mark. They should welcome him on the board at the BFW, and everyone should vote for him as a write in. It can be done. Last year we got one board member on there with a very quiet campaign. We'll need a hundred or so votes this time though.
NONE OF MY PRAISE FOR MARK IN THIS POST SHOULD BE CONSTRUED AS A WAIVER OF MY RIGHT TO BITCH ABOUT ANY FUTURE ROAD PROJECT THE CITY EMBARKS UPON! (Heh!)
-Mike Barrett
At 10:04 AM -0700 9/9/03, Martin Lund wrote:
I don't think he was implying that what was being said about Bill Hauda was untrue, I think he was simply looking for some information on any positive things he did during his time in officeand any other positive attributes he may have as a candidate --which remain to be reported at least by those of you with any opinion on the matter at all.
-Martin
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