1. Do you navigate Minneapolis by bicycle, walking, or in a wheelchair? If so, for what purposes (commuting, recreation, errands) and how often? Please indicate how you commute to work.

I walk everywhere in Ward 10 and take bike when I travel downtown or to the parks. I do drive to work for I teach out of the city. 

2. Have you ever been transit-dependent or car-free? How do you understand the experiences of residents who don't have the option to drive, particularly children, seniors, and people with a disability?

I was. I lived here in Minneapolis and taught in St Cloud and for a year I did this transit marathon. Woke at 4:30 am jumped on the #6 to downtown, walked to Target Station jumped on the Northstar to Big Lake. At Big Lake I took a bus to SCSU then I walked 6 bocks to St Cloud Tech High School . On the way home I did the opposite. If you need varification, you can call my fomer colleagues at St Cloud Tech High School. They witinessed the languid Dave coming to school.

Today living on 28th street, I walk everywhere. To the bank,stores, health club,schools,lake, restaurants.

3. Describe any past work or accomplishments that you have been involved with around the areas of bicycling or walking issues in your community.

To lead by example is the best accomplishment a person can have. I am healthy, run and walk everyday and I teach my students about the importance of taking care of themselves. I also went to neighborhood association meetings and expressed my ideas and concerns with the city officials. I am not in public office so I do not have the avenues that members of the City Council have. All I can do is live by an example and help others do so as well. 

4. Last year, the City adopted a Complete Streets policy to make streets safer for everyone. The policy states: “Minneapolis is committed to rebalancing its transportation network by clearly prioritizing walking, taking transit, and biking over driving motorized vehicles, in a manner that provides for acceptable levels of service for all modes." Will you support the Complete Streets policy? Please share how you prioritize walking, transit, bicycling, driving, and parking in your decisions.

Balance. Society needs a healthy balance for transit.Our system the past 4 years isnot working. Streets have become more dangerous for EVERYONE involved especially the walkers. Yesterday I was crossing 28th street at a stop sign . A car politely waited for me but a cyclist behind her raced past her and nearly hit me.

My priorities for Ward 10

1. Make Bryant a ONE WAY with only stop lights at Lake Street, 28th and 26th. This can be a north/south route for bikers going to work.
2. Prohibit bikes on 26th,28th , Hennepin and Lyndale. Too dangerous to have people bike on these streets. Numerous bike/vehicle accidents have occured.
3. Place crosswalk lines on the sidewalks from Bryant to Girard that are along side the Greenway. Developers built ELAN and FLUX with no concern to the walkers who walk the sidewalks on a daily basis.
4. Create a "signal" crosswalk" at Lyndale and 29th. Its like plaiyng "frogger" trying to cross this street.
5. Crosswalk lines need to be sprayed in spring. Uptown still is waiting for crosswalks to be sprayed.
6. On Blaisdell also make the north/south route stop sign free except at Franklin,26 and 28th
7. Parking in Ward 10 is a mess. 

5. The 2017 Minneapolis capital budget includes $6.1 million for specific walking and biking infrastructure, which is 9 percent of the total capital streets-related funding. 2010 Metropolitan Council surveys estimated that 15.9 percent of all trips in Minneapolis were done by walking and 5.1 percent by bicycle. Would you support spending more, the same amount, or less on building and maintaining bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure?

We need an updated survey. A 2010 survey is invalid. The mayor needs to have a budget that promotes safety within every corridor of transportation. We also need to utilize the Greenway and make sure we do not let that fall to other "pet projects".

I would budget more money for crosswalks and lighting at crosswalks. I would also budget more money for paying and lining roads so they are safe for all commuters.

6. In 2015, the City adopted a protected bikeway plan that identifies 48 miles of protected bikeways to be prioritized for implementation. (Protected bikeways are a bicycle route where there is a physical barrier of some kind between bikes and cars, and have been shown to be safer and more comfortable than unprotected bike lanes.) Do you support implementing the protected bikeway plan even if it could mean losing parking or traffic lanes for cars in some corridors?

No. I have personally witness the plan in action on 28th by the hospital and it is too dangerous. I SUPPORT making the Greenway more acccesible to bikers and as mentioned before creating safe routes on Blaisdell and Bryant for the N/S bike commuters. Taking away parking only makes the city more dangerous and is not fair to the 95% of the population who drives. Balance is the key.We also have to be realistic with our climate. We are the northern most city in the nation and only a small number of people can bike during the harsh winters and our roads have to be designed so snow plows can properly clear the roads in a safe and efficient manner. 

7. In 2016, we published a report that looked at those stopped by police while riding a bike, and why. We found that it was very likely that police were profiling young black men, and were sometimes using minor infractions such as riding without lights or riding on a sidewalk in a business district as a pretense for a stop. Starting in 2014, Minneapolis police significantly reduced traffic enforcement of all kinds. Traffic violations continue to play a significant role in many biking and walking crashes in Minneapolis. With these factors in mind, how would you, or would you not, change how police enforce traffic laws in Minneapolis?

ALL commuters must follow the rules of the road. Safety always should be the number one catalyst for stopping a commuter for a violation. 

8. Public Works is currently studying policy options for winter maintenance of both bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. What changes, if any, would you like to see related to winter maintenance of sidewalks and bikeways?

Major streets cannot have the "plastic" poles as bike/vehicle barriers. It is better to cement a barrior that correlates with the width of snow plow blades on the roads and truck blades for bike and sidewalk lanes. Citizens also need to be responsible for cleaning their sidewalks. This includes apartment owners as well. 

9. Since 2010, an average of about 250 bicyclists and about 250 pedestrians have been hit and injured in Minneapolis each year, and about 40 have been killed. A number of cities around the country are taking a “Vision Zero” approach which seeks to eliminate all traffic deaths by taking a proactive approach to improving safety and targeting resources to problem areas and proven safety improvements. Would you or would you not support Minneapolis setting and working toward goals to eliminate traffic fatalities?

Like I mentioned before, parking is the major issue for "vision problems" with commuters . We must rescind the new ordinance that doesnt require parking for new developments. At intersections a person can't see when bikers, drivers, and walkers are entering the intersection. Developing the "curve sidewalk" at the intersections helps a lot.

10. What do you hope to accomplish to make Minneapolis and your ward better for bicycling and walking by the end of your term, if you are elected?

Balance and off street parking so our streets can be accessed by ALL commuters. I will also support better crosswalk markings, bike lanes protected with cement barriers and left/right turn signals at busy intersections like Lyndale and Lake. 

Ward Specific Question

Ward 10 has a number of busy corridors (including Franklin, 26th Street, 28th Street, Lake, Lyndale, 35th Street, and 36th Street) that have safety concerns related to walking and biking. What concrete steps, if any, will you pursue to improve these streets for people who bike, walk, and use transit?

I answered them within the above comments