Most in Cedar Rapids have probably heard enough about the change in government and new city council elections. But December 6th there will be a runoff election for the last at large city council position, one of them is an avid cyclist. The candidates are the incumbent Don Thomas and newcomer Tom Podzimek. Podzimek is a member of ICORR and an obvious voice for bicycle advocacy, especially the under appreciated form of riding off road. The Gazette has been running articles regarding the candidates, check it out and VOTE...
Most in Cedar Rapids have probably heard enough about the change in government and new city council elections. But December 6th there will be a runoff election for the last at large city council position, one of them is an avid cyclist. The candidates are the incumbent Don Thomas and newcomer Tom Podzimek. Podzimek is a member of ICORR and an obvious voice for bicycle advocacy, especially the under appreciated form of riding off road. The Gazette has been running articles regarding the candidates, check it out and VOTE...
Personally I'm all about the fresh faces on the council. I voted for Thomas in the first election because I hadn't put two and two together in order to figure out who Podzimek was, and Thomas was supportive the of Cedar Valley Nature Trail (CVNT). Albeit, being Streets Commissioner, I think Thomas could have done a much better job over the last twelve years to make Cedar Rapids a more bike friendly town. I pull my children around in a Burley and believe me, it is not easy to find a comfortably safe route; loading up the car (kids, bike & trailer) to drive a mile or two so I can ride Cedar Rapid's one and only safe bike trail, the CVNT, makes no sense. There is a lot of money out there for bike lanes and paths via government grants , bike friendly development can go hand in hand with street improvement projects. To my knowledge, this has not occurred in this community - Thomas says he will be a good candidate due to "his twelve years as streets commissioner". As a cyclist, I disagree.
Additionally, l see no reason a city the size of Cedar Rapids cannot condone development of off road trails. When approached with this idea in the past, city officials in the Parks Dept. have said 'go to Coralville'. I could go on and on about this, but to make a long story short:
There was an article in Friday's Gazette in support of Tom Podzimek that mentioned the decline of Beverly Park, dropping names like Wade Wagner in citing who is/was responsible.
I hope this guy gets elected, I think mt. bikers will see some favorable changes in Cedar Rapids.
It turns out I worked with him last year at Hall and Hall on boyson road. The name didn't click untill I saw the picture. He was installing cabnets in the conference room.
Podimek won with 64% of the vote, Thomas received 35%. Wade Wagner also did not get elected.
This is an excellent opportunity for CR mt. bikers to get organized and advocate, in an official capacity, for off road riding in this community; the grade of the uphill battle will hopefully be less daunting. There are good model organizations such as ICORR and CITA we could/should work with.
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