The press release from yesterday's press conference announcing Omaha's first Bicycle Pedestrian Coordinator can be found by clicking on this link! Very exciting for the city of Omaha, the health of Omaha, and the quality of life in Omaha!
In the photo are community partners that made this happen: Kerri Peterson, Live Well Omaha; Rick Cunningham, City of Omaha Planning Department; Carlos Morales, new Bicycle Pedestrian Coordinator; Paul Mullen, MAPA; Mikki Frost, Alegent Health Systems; Jim Suttle, Omaha Mayor.
6 comments:
Definitely exciting times for cyclists of Omaha. Sadly so many are against this. So many on both news stations forums are crying for a recall again because of this. On the one hand this hiring shows Omaha has come a long way, yet the comments show just how far Omaha had yet to go to truly become bicycle / pedestrian friendly.
Omaha is more bike friendly then most US cities. We are making huge progress in that arena.
There are always people that disagree with any directional changes made to the status quo. It's up to the Omaha Cycling community to make a RATIONAL, and POLITE defense of why changes to the Omaha transportation infrastructure make sense from a financial, social, and quality of life standpoint.
I hope Omaha has a better experience with Carlos Morales than some of us in Los Angeles did.
One of his job responsibilities with the City Department of Transportation was overseeing the installation of new bicycle racks, which was done without consistent (or any?) standards. One outrageous example are three in front of Hollywood Neighborhood City Hall, which are placed so close to a brick planter that a "properly" parked bicycle has one wheel on the ground and the other up in the planter. When requested to re-install the racks, Mr. Morales blamed the installer and refused to accept responsibility. Despite an angry promise last May to look into the matter, the racks remain as they have been for the past year -- improperly installed.
For many years there were no bicycle racks in front of the public entrance to Los Angeles City Hall. Some were finally (properly) installed a month after Mr. Morales left town.
Good luck, Omaha.
Glenn... thank you for your efforts to keep us informed by posting this exact same comment on every post pertaining to Mr. Morales.
The previous comments made by Mr. Bailey on this blog regarding Mr. Morales performance in Los Angeles are fallacious and inaccurate. Mr. Morales was an outstanding employee in every facet of his performance with the City of Los Angeles and we were sorry to lose him to Omaha. Mr. Bailey and his keepers are disgruntled members of the public; frustrated with the City and its inability to provide staff support to the advisory committee he chairs in the face of tens of millions of dollars of budget cuts and staff reductions.
Thanks for the context, Michelle. We are glad to have Carlos in Omaha!
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