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MTB Friendly Candidates?


olddbrider
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With the election upon us, I am spending time trying to learn about the candidates on my ballot so I can make an informed decision. Unfortunately, almost everything available online boils down to meaningless platitudes that don't give much insight into what each candidate actually stands for or against. Especially when it comes to local elections (Cedar Park/Williamson County in my case), I realized what I really care about is electing people who are friendly to MTBers. Does anybody know anything about the current crop of local candidates in terms of their stance on land/trail access, opening up new areas for access, etc.?

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I was really disappointed i the complete lack of responses from some candidates in the League of Women Voters Guide. however, I don't think there are any MTB friendly candidates, and if there are, their positions on dozens of other issues would be far more important than trails. that's hardly a political issue that even grazes my radar when it comes to voting. individual propositions for development are another issue.

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22 minutes ago, mack_turtle said:

I was really disappointed i the complete lack of responses from some candidates in the League of Women Voters Guide

This pisses me off too.  We hear everyone complaining about the 'main stream media' and 'radical left/right fake news' but there is no source for a non-radicalized voter to learn where candidates stand.  You can't go to their websites.  How is this system supposed to work when the only way to educate yourself as an informed voter is thru sources of misinformation?  

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15 minutes ago, Tree Magnet said:

This pisses me off too.  We hear everyone complaining about the 'main stream media' and 'radical left/right fake news' but there is no source for a non-radicalized voter to learn where candidates stand.  You can't go to their websites.  How is this system supposed to work when the only way to educate yourself as an informed voter is thru sources of misinformation?  

This is *unfortunately* by design.

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23 minutes ago, Tree Magnet said:

This pisses me off too.  We hear everyone complaining about the 'main stream media' and 'radical left/right fake news' but there is no source for a non-radicalized voter to learn where candidates stand.  You can't go to their websites.  How is this system supposed to work when the only way to educate yourself as an informed voter is thru sources of misinformation?  

this guide is supposed to be objective and non-partisan. the candidates are allowed to answer questions in their own words. several candidates in several races didn't answer it at all, including the POTUS.

Edited by mack_turtle
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1 hour ago, Tree Magnet said:

I usually use the League of Women Voters guide too but too many candidates are ignoring it. I don’t see their logic.

the candidates who don't respond are probably counting on their supporters having already made up their minds without thinking at all. why bother giving information to people who don't read? in most cases, it tells me everything I need to know about the candidate: that candidate doesn't respect me or civic institutions like the historic League of Women Voters enough to give us the time of day, so I'm not going to give them my vote.

Edited by mack_turtle
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If you are in district 10 there is a northwest austin politics group which has consolidated candidate positions and has discussion on some of the issues.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/nwapolitics

If trump knew the dems wanted bikes out of wilderness areas he would make an executive order mandating they be let in.

Edited by crazyt
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There was a Cedar Park City council member that made the news by saying something about how bikes don't deserve to be on the roads. Can't find it currently, but if I could I'd vote that prick out. I will also say the Mel Kirkland came by the shop after it happened to apologize on the council's behalf, so he seems cool.

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9 hours ago, Big_papa_nuts said:

There was a Cedar Park City council member that made the news by saying something about how bikes don't deserve to be on the roads. Can't find it currently, but if I could I'd vote that prick out.

My gut says Cedar Park will never vote that person out because most of the constituents probably feel the same way. It's pretty sad because they've done a lot for brushy and other trails, but it feels like the residents would be happier to have bikes on trails than streets. Here in Austin we spend all our money putting infrastructure in to get bikes onto the streets but then don't do squat for trails. Its a weird dichotomy on both sides.

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10 hours ago, Big_papa_nuts said:

There was a Cedar Park City council member that made the news by saying something about how bikes don't deserve to be on the roads. Can't find it currently, but if I could I'd vote that prick out. I will also say the Mel Kirkland came by the shop after it happened to apologize on the council's behalf, so he seems cool.

That's the kind of info I'm looking for. In a race where it's hard to find any discernible differences between candidates, a story like this is enough to swing my vote one way or the other. Yes, I know, there are more important issues than bike access. But when all the candidates are saying the same things - Transparency! Equal rights for everyone! Improve infrastructure! Promote business growth! - it's hard to find a reason to vote for one person vs another. For me, actions speak louder than words, so the fact that this guy would make the effort to go by a bike shop and apologize for another council member's comment says a lot about his character.

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If you happen to live in Woodcreek, TX (outside of Wimberley) vote for Jeff Rasco for city council. He is all for less traffic and safer streets for bikes, walkers, etc. I don't think there are a whole lot of MTB specific related issues in our little city, but if there were he would be on our side. I can say this with confidence because he is my dad.

Also, if you happen to live in Woodcreek, TX, we should probably go ride together.

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49 minutes ago, AntonioGG said:

Why don't some of you retired folks run for office?  Do one term.  We need more regular people thinking of office as a service and not a career.

That's exactly what my dad is doing. Freshly retired, wants to make a difference in the community, and what better way to spend newly found free time than bickering with other retirees. 

2 minutes ago, Sluggo said:

I have a tainted past and my current lifestyle is unelectable. 

You'd have my vote. 

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9 hours ago, notyal said:

Also, if you happen to live in Woodcreek, TX, we should probably go ride together.

Though I no longer live in Wimberley, I know Woodcreek well.  In the mid to late 80s I lived in Wimberley and couple of us developed an extensive trail network in Woodcreek North.  This was during the real estate bust cycle and most of Woodcreek North had gone feral.  Only a few houses had been built, mostly clustered towards the front.  The rest was available to ride.  It included an abandoned 18 hole golf course, a mile or more of Dry Cypress Creek just above Jacob’s Well, and miles of asphalt roads that were rutted and turning into dirt roads.  Over a few years we built approximately 25 miles of single track.  Our trail-building style leaned towards a bunch of techy features connected by meandering trails.  We still were riding what remained of it as recently as 15 years ago.  Unfortunately the neighborhood finally built out and as far as I know there is almost no trace of our trail system.

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16 hours ago, hurronnicane said:

Though I no longer live in Wimberley, I know Woodcreek well.  In the mid to late 80s I lived in Wimberley and couple of us developed an extensive trail network in Woodcreek North.  This was during the real estate bust cycle and most of Woodcreek North had gone feral.  Only a few houses had been built, mostly clustered towards the front.  The rest was available to ride.  It included an abandoned 18 hole golf course, a mile or more of Dry Cypress Creek just above Jacob’s Well, and miles of asphalt roads that were rutted and turning into dirt roads.  Over a few years we built approximately 25 miles of single track.  Our trail-building style leaned towards a bunch of techy features connected by meandering trails.  We still were riding what remained of it as recently as 15 years ago.  Unfortunately the neighborhood finally built out and as far as I know there is almost no trace of our trail system.

I still ride over there regularly. Some of the singletrack still exists and the golf course is still abandoned. Most of the roads have been repaved, but there are a few that are nicely rutted dirt roads. Those roads plus the the golf course cart path make a fun gravel ride or take the MTB over there and connect the singletrack that I've found with some golf course and road in between. I wish there were still 25 miles of singletrack. There is so much potential for MTB if we were given permission to build jumps and berms on the golf course. Imagine an easy pedal up a cart path, then turning down a sweeping open par 5, carving from one side of the fairway to the other, with bermed curves and jumps and technical features in between.  Just sayin'... 

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On 10/13/2020 at 9:19 PM, Big_papa_nuts said:

There was a Cedar Park City council member that made the news by saying something about how bikes don't deserve to be on the roads. Can't find it currently, but if I could I'd vote that prick out. I will also say the Mel Kirkland came by the shop after it happened to apologize on the council's behalf, so he seems cool.

I remember that dude.  He also had some other crazy statements unrelated to bikes.  Tim Kelly was his name, I think.

 Tim1-1.png

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