Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Hit and Run: Bike Lanes Should Have Been Built A Long Time Ago

Two bicyclists were riding back home to Savannah from Tybee this past weekend and someone in a white Dodge Ram pickup hit them and drove off, seriously injuring both bicyclists. They were bicycling on U.S. 80, the only road out to the beaches of Tybee. There is no bicycle lane. That's not right.

One of the bicyclists, Matt Barrow ,is one of my tenants,  the other his girlfriend Stephanie Chiang. Matt is a nice young man, honest, forthright, and courteous. He also works hard and pays his rent right on time, he and his girlfriend didn't deserve this. Matt is doing a lot right like running a small business and reducing emissions and congestion by using his bike whenever possible.

The commissioner for this district, the 4th, is Pat Farrell. Pat doesn't think much about the environment (see my post on Islands Town Hall Meeting). He is also one of the commissioners who flew to Hawaii in 2005 at taxpayer expense right after being elected. He also routinely takes credit for projects (Islands police precinct, Charlie Brooks Park renovation) which were planned and funded and started under the prior commission 2000 -2004. I guess if a project finishes while Pat is in office, he likes to take credit for it.

There is plenty of money in SPLOST and other accounts that should be used to build bike ways and bike paths. But I have heard nothing from Pat Farrell in his 3.5 years on the commission about supporting bike paths and bike ways. Nothing. Of course he doesn't live on Willington Island or Tybee Island.

Pat Farrell has competition this November because he has sat silent while many people in district 4 have called for more bike paths and bike lanes. Voters this November will have choices and those voters who are not content because of higher property taxes and an inability to plan for the future of Chatham County will make a choice: the status qou, or, intelligent planning and that might very well include bike lanes. 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

John

You are bashing a Republican.
Are you not running as a Republican?

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your question. Yes, I am running as a republican. Please understand that Pat Farrell is not supporting me in my race, he supports democrat Pete Liakakis who is running against me. Secondly, and in my honest opinion, Pat has not lived up to expectations. If his work product over the past 3.5 years had been more remarkable, or, if he had a better appreciation for resource management, then I would be supporting Pat.

John