Meet the nominees for the TBAG Board!

***NOTE- I ADDED ANOTHER BIO BELOW***

Greetings everyone!
Below are brief statements submitted by six seven very qualified people who were nominated to join the Board of Directors of the Tempe Bicycle Action Group. The statements are in alphabetical order. Everyone present at the annual meeting –  this Sunday, November 2nd from 3-5pm at Boulders on Broadway – will get to vote on who gets added to our board. If you are old enough to understand, you are old enough to vote in this election!

TBAG currently has five openings on the board.

Come to the meeting,
Vote for new board members,
Tell us what you’d like to see us do over the next year,
& Enjoy some appetizers, on us!

Samantha (Sam) Bollinger

Sam grew-up in South Scottsdale and moved to Austin, TX to pursue environmental work in the 90’s after graduating from ASU, in Tempe.  While in Texas, she volunteered with Austin’s Yellow Bike Project; organizing numerous events and fundraisers including the first Bicycle Film Fest for YBP.  In Texas she also volunteered with Texas Bike Coalition, one of the premier SR2S advocacy groups in the US. With TBC she had the chance to see what  a difference good Safe Routes programming make. SR2S is long overdue in the Phoenix metro area. TBAG’s great relationship with City of Tempe and our fundraising abilities put us in a unique position to make Safe Routes programming possible in Tempe and to help set-up a strong working model that the rest for the Phoenix Metro area will follow.
Why Sam’s into Safe Routes: SR2S isn’t just for kids; the larger bike & pedestrian community benefits greatly from strong SR2S programs. At the very least we all get the use of any new bike lanes or street improvements that may come out of SR2S and it provides regular community ride events for neighbors to organize around. And, we can never too many free helmets and bike lights for kids and adults!
Jeremy Deatherage
Jeremy Deatherage might seem to be a pretty quiet and reserved sort of guy… this conceals a droll, yet vivacious personality waiting to be tapped. Ask him anything – you’ll never get the same answer twice, and usually offered with a heavy helping of his characteristically sardonic wit.

Formerly from the midwest, Jeremy got back into riding not long after moving to the Valley in 2004. Starting with a shiny red cruiser – “The HOT ROD” –  he quickly devoted himself to a lifestyle of bike commuting and participation in occasional social rides. To feed the fire, he became active in organizing new and creative events for more cyclists to come together.

Jeremy doesn’t consider himself a “bike guy”. He’s just a guy who happens to love to ride bikes. So much so, it’s starting to cross over into everything else he does. Nothing wrong with that; the joy of bicycling plays really well with his passion for Live Music and the Arts, and it feels great to get even more involved with the community.

Riding a bike is such a convenient way to live and it offers so many benefits for improved health and helping the planet, but ultimately, Jeremy’s favorite thing about it is the boundless sense of pride and the reward of great friendships.

Jeff Dunn
Cruiser, Road, Tandem, Mountain (single-speed & geared) – you name it, I’ve ridden it and probably have one in my garage.  I am a bike enthusiast, former triathlete and avid cyclist.  My knees aren’t very happy when I run, so two wheels are my preference.  I teach at a local high school and ride my college cruiser to work as often as possible.  My back-up mode of transportation is a 1963 Volkswagon Bus/Truck.

I’m an Arizona Native and have lived in the east valley almost all my life.  I attended ASU, where I met my wife (a fellow bike enthusiast, although she prefers her two feet on the trails), and have made Tempe our home for the past 11 years.  Ironically, I teach drivers education but that gives me the opportunity to install bike awareness in my kids while trying to make the streets of Tempe safer for all.

I dabble in races in the MBAA and have participated in, and volunteered at, the Tour de Fat for the last three years.  My wife and I have two daughters who attend school in Tempe and can often be found riding their bikes around the neighborhood.  Now that the weather is cooling, you can often find us riding our bikes to US Egg or Mac’s for Sunday breakfast.

Over the years, Tempe has continued to grow and change, but the heart of the city remains the same and the importance of maintaining the bicycle culture is a vital aspect of our community and our environment.  I’d like to be a part of the crew that keeps bikes on the streets and the cyclists that ride them safe.

Aaron Golub
I’d first like to thank TBAG for the work they are already doing. I moved here from a city with a well-established bike advocacy community, and it’s great to see something like that taking form here. Needless to say, it had a significantly positive effect on our community in a number of ways. That being said, I’d enjoy being part of the board of TBAG and taking a more active role in the organization. As a board member, I’d bring two things to the table which may be of use to TBAG. For one, I have been a life-long cyclist – beginning with BMX racing as a 10-year-old, later a recreational and competitive road and mountain bike rider, and for years as a bike commuter to school and work. This gives me a great perspective on the everyday needs of both commuters and recreational riders – one I am sure I share with all TBAG members. The second thing I can bring to the table is my expertise in transportation planning. I have been an active researcher, consultant, graduate student, and now professor of transportation planning in the School of Planning at ASU. While most of my formal research work involves public transit and not bicycles, my general understanding of the city planning and financing processes can be of help to TBAG as we collaborate with cities on projects. As for some ideas for future TBAG activities – here are several. We need to show up to council meetings in support of bike/ped-friendly proposals which may need council approval. For example, some developers are trying to get parking reductions for downtown developments. TBAG needs to support these initiatives. Similarly, while I wasn’t here for the meetings, I understand the bike community was helpful in getting the Orbit implemented on College Avenue. We can also help the city keep track of locations which need bike racks or specific bike improvements, and support Eric in his work in pushing for these improvements. In Berkeley, our group helped write a “safe-routes to school” grant. Perhaps there are ways we can help Eric with similar initiatives. These are just a few ideas. Sorry I could not make it to the meeting tonight – I am away at a conference. Thanks for considering me for a place on the board.

Ryan Guzy
My name is Ryan Guzy. By day I am an electrical engineer, but I spend the rest of my time riding bikes, helping people work on their bikes, organizing bike rides, promoting bikes, building bikes, and thinking about bikes. I ride road, mountain, and fixed. I bike commute to work every day and lately I’ve been getting into bike touring. I’ve been involved in local cycling projects since I was a student at ASU. I have been involved in TBAG activities for the past few years, helping organize rides and volunteering at TBAG events. I am a volunteer with Bike Saviours Bicycle Cooperative, helping out during weekly shop hours and co-teaching the advanced bike maintenance class.  I am one of the founders of the weekly CRAP ride and it’s associated local bike tours; the WIPE. I am also a volunteer at Handlebar Helpers in Scottsdale working with youth and teaching them how to maintain bikes in an earn-a-bike program.

If I am elected to the TBAG board, I will help TBAG with current projects such as advocacy, ride organization, and support of local bike programs. I will work to make TBAG a more responsive and open organization by working with all of the local groups to promote cycling and introduce new people to the fun they can have riding a bike.

Rebecca Hale
I am a graduate student at ASU and have been living in Tempe for just over a year now.  As a recreational cyclist and commuter I’ve become very familiar with the bike infrastructure in the metro area, both appreciating the many great things and current needs. My major concern here as a cyclist is safety. A large portion of cycling accidents in the Phoenix area are due to cyclist error.  As a TBAG board member I would like to work with the university, bike shops and local schools to make sure cyclists know their rights and the rules of the road, via workshops, the establishment of better signage, and by increasing the availability of safety literature.

Tom Tomczyk
The short of it is, I just love biking.

I have been actively cycling for 8 years now in varying intensity. I’m currently commuting 6.6 mi each way to work in downtown Tempe 3 days a week at a minimum. I’m working with Bike Saviours taking their weekly bicycle maintenance class on Wed nights and plan on soon helping out as a volunteer mechanic. I’ve rebuilt bikes on my own but the class is a good litmus test for verifying my current self taught skills.

Community-wise I enjoy being involved, I just recently volunteered for TBAG for Walk to School Wed earlier this week. This year was also my 3rd year volunteering to help out at Tour de Fat. I have been following the blog and participating at TBAG events since mid 2007.

I’m considered the organizer among my circle of friends, if it wasn’t for me half of the group outings we participate in wouldn’t happen. This year I organized and coordinated getting 27 folks dressed up as Where’s Waldo for Tour de Fat, last year we had 10 people dressed up as DEVO.

I’d love to help out with community outreach and event organization. Also, just want to throw out a few specific bullet points. I work in the web/software industry and would be more than happy to help out with the blog as necessary. I also was an original volunteer contributor to the Phoenix division of Metblogs.com