St. Louis County Complete Streets sponsor attacked but prevails in County Council election
Pat Dolan, one of the chief supporters of the St. Louis County Complete Streets Policy--the first county-wide Complete Streets Policy in Missouri, one affecting more than a million county citizens--became a target in the recent elections because of his support for Complete Streets.
Dolan was sponsor and chief supporter on the St. Louis County Council of the county's Complete Streets Policy, passed earlier this year.
His opponent in the 5th District St. Louis County Council race this fall was Jennifer Bird, one of the most vocal opponents of the County's Complete Streets Policy.
St. Louis Public Radio gave details about the race and how the Complete Streets issue played an important role:
Even though the 5th District is not a safe Democratic district, Dolan hasn’t shied away from sponsoring controversial bills. He sponsored legislation adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the council’s non-discrimination laws and also handled an effort to implement "complete streets" in the county.
“I represent the constituents,” Dolan said. “And that’s their concerns. They bring them to me. I do what I can to bring them forward and work with the other council members. Like I said, I’m just doing what they hire me to do. It’s not what my agenda is; it’s their agenda. We try to follow through when we can.” . . .
“I think we’ve done a good job of responding to all the concerns of our constituents,” Dolan said. “Any time anybody’s ever called, we’ve returned their calls or e-mails or letters. We pride ourselves on our response when residents or groups have showed concerned on certain issues. We’ve responded to that and done what we could to help them out.”
A resident of Crestwood, Bird serves as the Republican committeewoman for Gravois Township. The former schoolteacher frequently speaks out at county council meetings against much of the Democratic majority’s agenda – such as the merger of St. Louis and St. Louis County’s economic development agency and Dolan's "complete streets" bill.
Dolan sponsored legislation for the Complete Streets program to accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians. Bird said the policy is a waste of taxpayer money and serves to congest traffic by reducing the size of lanes.
Bird and Dolan also disagree on MetroLink Expansion. Dolan supports it, but only after substantial public input. Bird opposes any expansion of MetroLink to Florissant or elsewhere for now. She said we need to see a significant increase in ridership of Metro-Link now, before spending dollars for the future.
Election results? Complete Streets supporter Dolan won by a decent margin, 57% to 42%.
Promoting Complete Streets Policies at every level of government across Missouri is one of the top objectives of MoBikeFed's Vision for Bicycling and Walking in Missouri. Missouri has made tremendous strides in Complete Streets, starting with no policies in 2001 to just three policies in 2007; now the state boasts an impressive 25 policies--city, county, regional planning organization, and statewide.
Your ongoing membership and generous financial support help turn our Vision into reality--on Complete Streets and in many other areas!
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