- Online voting begins on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015 at Winterfest and ends Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015 at midnight.
- Voting by paper ballot is also available during office hours at the SF Bicycle Coalition office before 5:00 p.m. on Dec. 23.
- Paper ballots may also be printed and postmarked by Dec. 30, 2015.
- Opportunities to meet candidates and ask them questions directly will be available at Winterfest and our annual Member Meeting and Open House.
- Only current SF Bicycle Coalition members as of Nov. 15, 2015 may cast a ballot.
- Results will be announced in the Biker Bulletin and the Tube Times.
- If you have technical questions regarding voting, please contact our technical staff at boardvoting@sfbike.org.
About SF Bicycle Coalition Board Elections
The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is governed by a volunteer board of directors. Any SF Bicycle Coalition member can run for the board. The board is responsible for ensuring the organization’s financial health and achievement of its mission. The 15-member board is elected by the membership. There is a board election each year and terms are two years. Seven seats on the board of directors will be elected by the membership this year for the term from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2017.
This year, openings for the Board were announced in the Summer edition of the Tube Times newsletter and in Biker Bulletin emails. The deadline to apply was Nov. 6. In each election, the half of the board of directors whose seats are not up for consideration may select and endorse a slate of candidates. This Board Slate meets the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s goals for board leadership with respect to commitment to the mission, specific skills (e.g., organizational development, finance, fundraising), representation of bicycle and allied organizations, and diversity. Read more about what it means to be Board endorsed.
If you are a member who is interested in learning more about board service in future years, please contact us at boardnomination@sfbike.org.
Candidate Statements
Bob Allen
Save SF Bike endorsed
Bob Allen has over a decade of experience as a campaign organizer and policy advocate for urban justice including transportation, housing and community development. Bob has worked nationally on advocacy to shift federal funds from highways to transit, walking and biking. He’s helped lead similar regional advocacy efforts for the Bay Area’s regional climate change plan known as Plan Bay Area.
In San Francisco, Bob has supported campaigns to expand transit access for youth and to increase transportation funding including for walking and biking. He views biking as an important component of San Francisco’s transportation network. Bob believes the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition plays an important role in shaping transportation and the urban environment especially in the context of gentrification and displacement in San Francisco. Because of this role he believes the Coalition needs robust member participation, genuine democratic governance and transparency. He previously served on the board of TransForm.
Mary Kay Chin
Save SF Bike endorsed
San Francisco native Mary Kay Chin has a decade of community organizing experience, most recently as a co-founder of the San Francisco Yellow Bike Project (SFYBP), a community-based bicycle resource. SFYBP was one of the 2015 recipients of the SF Bicycle Coalition’s Golden Wheel award for its work in educating, empowering and connecting community members with bicycles, parts and resources.
Mary Kay has organized with other bicycle groups including Cycles of Change, the SF Bicycle Coalition, Bici Bici, San Francisco Bike Party, East Bay Bike Party and Clitoral Mass.
Mary Kay is committed to making our streets safer and more accessible for all community members, with an emphasis on women, women of color and underserved communities. Biking is Mary Kay’s primary mode of transportation, and she lives car-free in the Tenderloin. Mary Kay has been riding a bike in SF since childhood.
Peggy da Silva
I have loved and been a member of the SFBC for over 20 years. I grew up – and raised two bicycling children — in the Sunset, have been a member of a Sunday bike-riding group forever, and I hope to still be riding to the market when I’m 80. My profession is public health, and I believe strongly in the importance of advocacy groups in moving our city transportation policies in a healthier direction. I helped to launch WalkSF and the SF Transit Riders’ Union – important partners in our efforts.
I believe that true membership (with voting rights for everyone) is critical. I want to help the SFBC return to a focus on engaging and empowering members, celebrating and supporting each person’s ideas, and using the clout of the organization to make this the best and most fun city for people on foot and on wheels – in the world!
Lisa Fisher (incumbent)
SFBC Board endorsed
LoveSFBC endorsed
I bike daily (often with my 2-year old son), am an urban planner, and am proud to currently serve on the SFBC Board. As an advocate, I’m passionate about helping women and families cycle for everyday trips to improve health, save time and money, and reduce congestion and air quality issues. On the San Francisco Planning Department’s sustainability team, I work directly to progress bike infrastructure and safety in existing and new neighborhoods. Through the Board, I also connect SFBC staff to my long-standing design, planning and development community. Looking toward the SFBC’s 2016 Strategic Plan update, I would leverage my community engagement and project management expertise to help facilitate staff and member priorities. I am honored to be endorsed by the SFBC Board and LoveSFBC slate, and would be excited to continue on the Board and help San Francisco be an ever more bikeable city for all ages, abilities and backgrounds.
Jennifer Fox (incumbent)
SFBC Board endorsed
LoveSFBC endorsed
I am a long-time member (22 years), a board member of the SFBC, and a former board member of the national League of American Bicyclists. I have run a regional nonprofit, so I have deep nonprofit management, fundraising and financial management skills. Each year, I put in hundreds of hours to help the SFBC in these areas, while connecting the SFBC to national biking advocates and people in my world of sustainability. I have devoted so much of my free time and energy over so many years to the SFBC because my passion is to make biking safe, attractive, easy and fun for everyone. I am particularly proud of our Connecting the City vision, our Bike Builds, which bring free bikes and bike training to underserved communities, and our work to bring bikes on board BART and Caltrain.
Oscar Grande
Save SF Bike endorsed
A native San Francisco son, Oscar Grande knows biking and why it is important. A bike messenger in his youth, he is currently a Community Organizer with People Organizing to Demand Economic and Environmental Rights (PODER). He works to empower immigrant Latino communities in San Francisco by focusing on issues like housing rights, land use and transportation justice. He has a keen understanding of the foundations of social justice, and of the need to have a comprehensive approach in building healthy and resilient communities with bikes as part of them.
He founded and manages Bicis del Pueblo, a community-based bike project that works towards providing low-income youth and families in the Excelsior District with the knowledge, tools and resources to incorporate bicycles into their everyday lives. He lives in the Outer Mission with his wife and four children, next to his parents’ house.
Beatriz Herrera
Save SF Bike endorsed
Beatriz Herrera has over 10 years experience working alongside underserved communities of color to wage grassroots campaigns for housing, worker and transit justice.
As a community organizer, Beatriz helped wage a successful campaign to win Free Muni for Youth, providing free bus access for youth in San Francisco. She also led POWER’s efforts to increase bike access and ridership in Bayview Hunter’s Point. Together with the SFBC and other community organizations, she helped pass the San Francisco Unclaimed Bikes Ordinance, which provided San Francisco residents with free access to the city’s unclaimed bikes.
In the last three years, she has helped coordinate bike workshops with the SFBC to distribute refurbished bikes to over 200 residents in the Bayview and Mission districts, targeting Black and Latino bike riders, women and youth. She continues to support the Bayview bike builds as a full-time graduate student in UC Berkeley’s Latin American Studies MA Program.
Jessica Hyman
SFBC Board endorsed
LoveSFBC endorsed
I’m running for the SFBC board because I want to help support the organization’s impact. As a commuter and cyclist, I am passionate about improving San Francisco’s infrastructure and community. Over the past 6 years I’ve volunteered with the SFBC through Bike to Work Day and rallying the cycling community to join great events like the Golden Wheel awards. As Community Engagement lead for the San Francisco Cycling Club I’ve launched volunteering programs that connect club members with Mission High School to help get students in the city riding. I’ve also served as Associate Board President for Girls on the Run, so I understand the importance of board leadership. I work at Atlassian as Chief of Staff and previously led Global Operations for Business for Social Responsibility. I have been endorsed by LoveSFBC and the SFBC Board.
Shirley Johnson
Save SF Bike endorsed
Shirley Johnson was awarded SFBC’s Golden Wheel in 2014 for her leadership of the BIKES ONboard project. Working with the SFBC, the BIKES ONboard grassroots volunteer teams were instrumental in (1) increasing bike capacity onboard Caltrain over 50% since 2009, and (2) ending BART’s commute-period ban on bikes on board in 2013. She is former chair of the Caltrain Bicycle Advisory Committee and current vice-chair of the BART Bicycle Advisory Task Force, serving as the SFBC’s representative. She has been an active SFBC member for 15 years.
Shirley earned a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Stanford University, works as a program manager in biotechnology, and applies her management expertise to successful bicycle advocacy. She lives car-free, commutes by bike to work in South SF, and has done multi-month international bicycle tours.
Shirley believes strongly in participatory democracy and wants to help the SFBC thrive as a member-driven organization.
Lawrence Li (incumbent)
SFBC Board endorsed
LoveSFBC endorsed
I am the president of the SFBC Board, a 17 year member, a daily bike commuter and a seasoned nonprofit manager. I am the Administrative Director for SPUR, a nonprofit that also promotes better transportation for the Bay Area. I have recently supported the Wiggle Green Corridor project and fought against SFPD Park Station’s unfair bicycling sting. I have used my experience in nonprofit finances, human resources and information systems to ensure SFBC complies with legal requirements, is professionally run and remains focused and effective. I also help raise funds via the Beans, Brews & Bikes party. As a gay Chinese-American, I am excited about SFBC’s focus on diversifying our movement. I am proud of what we have accomplished, but we have so much more to do! I look forward to working with other members on our next strategic plan.
Jane Martin
Save SF Bike endorsed
Jane Martin has been a community organizer in the Bay Area since 2001 working with low-income people of color fighting for transit justice, affordable housing and workers’ rights.
Jane served as the director for the successful campaign to win free Muni passes for low-income youth in San Francisco. In her role as political director at POWER (now Causa Justa::Just Cause) she collaborated with the SFMTA and SF Bike Coalition to conduct policy outreach and workshops with bike riders in Bayview-Hunters Point on bicycle safety improvements as well drafting transportation equity policy for the city. Jane has also worked directly with the Bike Coalition, helping coordinate SFBC volunteers on political campaigns.
In 2010 she won the Bay Guardian Local Hero award for her work championing LGBT and worker rights. Biking is Jane’s primary mode of transportation. She is passionate about climate change, transportation justice and grassroots democracy.
Note: Jane MarieFrancis Martin, owner of Shift Design Studio and Director, Plant*SF is not this candidate for the Board of Directors.
Carla McKay (incumbent)
SFBC Board endorsed
LoveSFBC endorsed
Hello! As a current Board member, I am excited to run to continue working to make San Francisco a world class biking city. I bring a background of 20+ years of business experience and a Masters Degree in Industrial and Labor Relations to the SFBC. As the owner of Crushed.com, you can find me biking the city to my clients.
As a bicyclist who lives in the Inner Sunset and connected with my neighborhood association, I am an ambassador for the resistance of people in the Westside towards improving biking conditions. I am proud that we teach adults and children how to ride safely as many of my neighbors would like to bike but are afraid to. Our Connecting the City campaign goes a long way towards providing bike lanes for people 8 to 80. I am excited to use my skills and connections to bring us more victories.
Jeremy Pollock
Save SF Bike endorsed
Jeremy Pollock bikes to work as a Legislative Aide to Supervisor John Avalos and has been deeply involved in SF bike and transportation policy for the last four years. He wrote the first drafts of the Bike Yield and Employee Bike Access ordinances, and worked with the SFBC to develop the Unclaimed Bikes ordinance.
In addition to being immersed in bike culture, he brings ties to the City’s political and art scenes. On the steering committee of the San Francisco League of Pissed Off Voters, he has helped write and distribute their voter guides since 2004. He plays guitar and sings with the Beauty Operators String Band and serves on the board of the San Francisco Institute of Possibility, which organizes large-scale interactive art events.
This summer he founded “Save SF Bike,” which led the effort to preserve SFBC members’ right to vote in this election.
Leah Shahum
LoveSFBC endorsed
After devoting 13 years to the SFBC as Executive Director, I’m running for the Board to help keep the organization strong and focused on growing bicycling and winning improvements we deserve – dedicated bikeways, secure bike parking, access to transit and a citywide commitment to Vision Zero: Safe streets for all.
I have a concern for the SFBC’s future if candidates more interested in non-bike-related political causes, pet projects and micro-managing staff take us in an unfortunate direction.
A strong Board needs not only passion for biking but also skills and experience that compliment those of staff and our amazing volunteers; they should have expertise and interest in financial management, fundraising, law and organizational management. These are unsexy but critical Board responsibilities.
If you love the SFBC and want us to continue to grow and improve bicycling, please vote for candidates endorsed on the LoveSFBC slate. Thanks for being a member.
Andy Thornley
SFBC Board Endorsed
LoveSFBC endorsed
I love the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. As a longtime member and everyday rider, I enthusiastically support its mission and its effective work to invite more people to get around the city by bike and make bicycling in SF ever more safe, dignified and delightful.
Active membership is the foundation of the SFBC’s grassroots power and community authority, though as the organization has grown our membership has become more diverse and the reasons and meaning of membership more varied. An engaged and empowered membership is critical to the future of the organization, and I’m eager to join the SFBC’s board and apply my energy and experience to the upcoming strategic planning cycle, a critical opportunity to examine and re-commit the SFBC to a course of action for members and staff and the city.
I’m proud to be endorsed by the SFBC board and LoveSFBC.