Mike Harris – 2018

Name Mike Harris
Candidate for: Mayor
1.    Do you ride a bicycle in Petaluma for recreation or transportation?  Why or why not?  What has been your experience? I ride my bike for recreational purposes during the summers. I always enjoy the rides. I tend to ride from downtown, along with river and along the Lynch Creek Trail. 
2. What role does bicycling and walking play in your vision for the future development of Petaluma?  If elected what strategies/ tools/resources would you utilize to realize this vision? Having a walkable and bicycle friendly city is very important to me. I served on the Pedestrian & Bicycle Advisory Committee for a couple of years and enjoyed my time I spent on that committee. The committee weighed in on development projects to make sure they adhered to the general plan in respect to the purview of the committee and made sure it was incorporated into their plan a bike friendly and walkable element. If I was honored to be the next Mayor, I would continue to use these resources. 
3.  What are Petaluma’s biggest transportation challenges?   What policies or projects would you promote to address these challenges? In general, it’s traffic circulation in town.While I am a stead fast supporter of the Rainier cross-town connector and inter-change which would overall help with traffic circulation in town, it is imperative to simultaneously make the city more bike friendly and walkable. In a macro sense, this would help with congestion in town as well by encouraging folks to use their bike or walk when they can. 
4.  Petaluma streets are increasingly congested and worn if elected, how would you propose to improve infrastructure in the City? We need to continue with economic development in order to have more funds to pull from in order to prioritize upgrading our infrastructure. It’s very important that the our roads are up-graded for not only better traffic circulation, but when bicycles traverse them, they are safe. 
5.  Why should people who care about street safety, bicycling and walking issues vote for you? I would be honored with the communities support. I have served on the Petaluma City Council for 12 years (Jan 2003-Jan 2015) and understand the balance that is needed for encouraging economic development while maintaining a bicycle friendly and walkable city.