01.05.10
I’m a little late getting to this, but looks like some bad news for Brookline cyclists:
“A nationally recognized transportation scholar and vocal advocate for bicycle accommodations was voted off the Transportation Board this week in a move he insists reflects a lingering “anti-bike” bias in Brookline.
The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously against re-appointing Peter Furth, who has served on the board since 2007, at its meeting Tuesday, choosing to place former board member Bill Schwartz in his place.
“I think it’s a bad message to people who care about bicycling,” said Furth, who serves as director of the Transportation Engineering Program at Northeastern University. “If you speak up about bicycling things, you’re not considered to represent the town.”
It’s not clear exactly what prompted the Selectmen to oust the incumbent board member. Two Selectmen, Dick Benka and Nancy Daly, declined to comment on the vote, and a third, Jesse Mermell, insisted her vote only reflected her support for Schwartz. Betsy DeWitt said she voted against Furth because “it appeared that his participation was somewhat disruptive to teamwork” on the board.
But Selectman Kenneth Goldstein said residents had complained that Furth was “too focused on bicycles” and “not balanced enough in his approach to transportation.”
“He doesn’t bring the same balance to the board as Bill Schwartz has previously proven that he does, and will in the future,” he said.
Though Daly declined to comment on the vote, her questioning during Furth’s interview on Dec. 8 suggested that she, too, was concerned about Furth’s emphasis on bicycle accommodations.
“There have been some suggestions made to some of us — some complaints, I guess — that you, in particular, lean too much in favor or bicycles,” she told him during the interview.
Furth denies the accusations of a bias against cars, saying he balances his enthusiasm for bicycling accommodations with concerns for traffic flow and pedestrian safety. He pointed out that during discussion about changes in Coolidge Corner, he fought to keep metered parking on Harvard Street, rather than replacing it with a bike lane, as a transportation consultant had suggested.
“If all I cared about was bicycling, I would have said, ‘Halleluiah, let’s do it!’” he said. “I opposed that plan because I cared more about pedestrian safety, and the livability and walk-ability of the commercial area.”
Furth said he’d been made to be the scapegoat for a contentious debate over changes on Carlton Street at St. Mary’s Station last summer, which often pitted neighbors and merchants against one another. Though Furth admitted he was a strong supporter of a controversial bike lane option, which would have required the removal of several heavily used parking spaces, he said he’s also been blamed for some miscommunications and procedural problems unrelated to his support.
“The people who are bitter about that controversy, they felt all I cared about was bikes,” he said.
The ouster came as a disappointment to some bicycle advocates in Brookline. Tommy Vitolo, a Precinct 1 Town Meeting member who served on the Bicycle Advisory Committee with Furth, said the Transportation Board was losing a critical mind, as well as a vocal advocate for bicyclists.
“I’m frustrated, because I felt like he brought an important voice to the board, and that was one that was technical, one that understood how to move all forms of transportation effectively, and one that was connected with all the communities that surround Brooklinem” said Vitolo.
Furth said he would continue to contribute to the Bicycle Advisory Committee, though he said he wasn’t sure if the Transportation Board would appoint him.
Mike Sandman, chairman of the Transportation Board, also declined to comment. He was re-appointed to the board this week.
Schwartz served on the Transportation Board from 1996 to 2002, and currently serves as co-chairman of the town’s Parking Committee. He works as a transportation-planning consultant and holds a master’s degree in transportation from MIT.
Furth: Carlton Street debate behind Selectmen’s ouster.”
Mister Furth appeared in the short film “Lanes” by Matthew Hashiguchi, which can be viewed here.
Follow up TAB editorial.
Pro-bicycle does not equal anti-car or pedestrian, man.
