San Francisco Bike Blog

To help figure out who they were going to endorse, the SFBC sent out a questionnaire to each candidate. For all endorsed candidates, you can now read the answers they supplied to the SFBC.

All candidates are asked a series of questions - the answers to two of which can be up to 300 words long, and most of the rest are Yes/No answers. There is also a small district-specific Yes/No section.

Here is Eric Mar’s answer to the first question, along with the text of that opening question:

1. Do you use a bicycle in the city? If so, for what purposes (commuting, recreation, errands) and how often? Please indicate how you most commonly commute to work. (300 words or less)

As a SF Board of Education member for two terms, I have championed installation of more bike racks, and traffic-calming and bike and pedestrian safety measures around schools. In addition, I have been a strong advocate of environmental justice, clean air and asthma awareness, use of the precautionary principle, greening of our facilities and school yards and stronger climate justice curricula in the district.

I love riding my bicycle, an activity I began daily as a UC Davis student 28 years ago. Most of my biking now is recreational, but I also bike to run errands or attend School Board meetings. On weekends, I ride in Golden Gate Park with my daughter. I also take JFK Drive and the Arguello bike lane to bike in the Presidio, and ride to Clement Street to shop. To get to Board meetings by bicycle, I travel along JFK Drive to the Panhandle and then up Masonic to the Fulton Street bike lane.

My bicycle travels have made me aware of the poor condition of many San Francisco streets, the occasional problems with parking in bike lanes, and the dangers to bicyclists at intersections. I did, in fact, work actively with Fix Masonic, Walk SF, and the SFBC on the efforts to improve conditions for bicyclists and pedestrians on Masonic at Fell and elsewhere. The problems on Masonic and others are problems that if solved will encourage others to ride more. However, a question below asks about street maintenance bonds. Bonds are problematic in that streets that have been repaved with bonds begin to crumble as we are paying off the bond interest. I would work with the SFBC and other environmentalists to identify sources of more steady revenue for street maintenance as well.

As an instructor at San Francisco State University, my car has been my primary source of transportation, but I look forward to riding to City Hall as a supervisor.

Whether you agree with the answers or not, they still help paint a picture.

For me, if the SFBC endorses a candidate, that’s good enough for me - they would know, and I trust their take. But it’s possible that you actually have a tough decision to make - say in District 9. Well, maybe the SFBC recommendation, along with the questionnaire answers, can help you decide one way or the other.

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