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2005 |
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Big Bucks. Big Challenges, Too Safe Routes to School Wins Federal Funding Durbin's 'Conserve By Bike' Will Convert Car Trips to Bike Biking Builds Relationship with Ward for New Generation of Aldermen Record Turnout for Chicagoland Commuter Challenge Gala Art Show a 'Gallery in Action' Miles and Miles of Fun, Every Sunday |
PROFILE: Aldermen Burnett and Reboyras One of the advantages of bicycling in Chicago is the breadth of detail we notice while riding the city’s neighborhoods: the graceful line of a row of houses, a parkway blooming with native prairie grasses, a pothole, a gaggle of . . . drug dealers.
For Chicago Aldermen Walter Burnett Jr. and Ariel Reboyras, bicycling is about noticing many things during their regular rides through their respective wards. “You get to see more . . . and pay attention to more,” said Ald. Burnett, who, along with Ald. Reboyras, was elected this summer to the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation Board of Directors. A former draftsman and operational engineer for Cook County, Burnett was first elected to represent the 27th Ward in 1995. Reboyras was elected to the City Council in 2002 after teaching at Roberto Clemente High School. Both sit on important council committees for cycling and pedestrian concerns: Burnett on the Traffic Committee, and Reboyras on the Transportation Committee. They represent a new generation of city leaders who see a wide range of benefits from bicycling.
For both, bicycling provides a unique vantage point for identifying key issues in their wards. “You can see what people are talking about: a building is bad, there’s a pothole there, drug trafficking over there,” explained Burnett. “You can ride past the drug spot and nobody would know who you are. Then, you can better relate it to people you need to relate it to,” he said. While there are important details an alderman might miss when preoccupied with driving a car, Reboyras and Burnett also note that biking creates opportunities to engage constituents. “It’s being part of the neighborhood and part being aldermanic,” Reboyras said. “It’s more of a friendly atmosphere than it is from a vehicle. A vehicle is like having a wall between you and the person.” Burnett agreed, “When you drive past somebody, you’re not going to stop in traffic and say, ‘Hey, how are you doing?’ “The other day, I rode from my house to the bank; and every block, I ran into somebody, whether they tagged me or I talked to them,” Burnett said. “I got to talking to so many, it took me about two hours to get home. My wife said, ‘What took you so long?’” Reboyras has found another way to use bicycling to connect with his constituents. He launched a family ride around the 30th Ward in 2004, in which 50 riders participated. The following spring, the ride gained popularity, attracting 150 riders. Burnett said he is now considering a ward ride of his own, one that will give his neighbors a glimpse of the ward as he sees it, “... so people can see the diversity of the ward, of their community.” David Callahan is managing editor of Bike Traffic
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