Bike The Vote: Mitchell Englander - Candidate for LA County Board of Supervisors District 5

Over the past several years, BikeSGV and the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition have made great strides toward making bicycling a safe and convenient way to travel, connecting diverse communities to make our county more livable, economically vibrant and environmentally sustainable. Critical to this progress has been supportive leadership from our County Supervisors, who also serve on the Metro Board of Directors.

It is our hope that our new supervisors will continue this progress and elevate LA to the next level. To better inform voters as well as the candidates themselves, LACBC and BikeSGV invited all supervisorial candidates to respond to a series of questions relevant to anyone who bikes and walks in Los Angeles County.

Note: Both BikeSGV and the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition and BikeSGV are 501(c)3 non-profit organizations and cannot endorse candidates or engage in electioneering on behalf of a candidate. We are offering this questionnaire as a service to candidates to communicate with potential voters for informational purposes only. All candidates have an equal opportunity to respond and responses will be distributed without bias in the order in which they are received.

The election for the L.A. County Board of Supervisors' Fifth District is on Tuesday, June 7th. Below are responses from Fifth District candidate Mitch Englander.

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To register to vote, check your registration, request vote-by-mail, or find your polling place, visit: ​www.lavote.net

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Candidate Response: Mitchell Englander

1. Please share a memory involving a bicycle that has had a lasting effect on you (whether or not you were the one on the bicycle). 

My father was a 100% disabled veteran, so we didn't have any money. I remember that my dad bought my first bike for me on an installment plan. I got to go to the bike shop with him every month when he made the payment to "visit" my new bike. When it was finally paid off, I got to take it home and he taught me how to ride it. That bike shop was called the Spoke N Wheel and is still open today. As a Councilmember, I was able to feature them as a "Business of the Month". You can see that video here. 

2. Bearing in mind there are thousands who do not drive for any number of reasons; under
what circumstances would you feel safe using a bicycle as your primary means of
transportation?

I personally feel safest when traveling by bicycle in clearly designated bike lanes on a roadway. I think that bike lanes will encourage more people to travel by bike as they provide a level of security and protection from car traffic. Taking it one step further, protected bike lanes are the ideal solution in my view, as they help control the flow of traffic and offer a much better level of protection for cyclists.

3. To better understand the needs of those who depend on the County’s public and active transportation systems, would you be willing to take the SoCal multi-modal challenge once a year? I.e. Complete your daily routine for 5 days without the use of an automobile?

Absolutely. I strongly believe that the best way to understand something is by experiencing it yourself. As a City Councilmember, I have always made a point of taking a hands on approach to any issue when considering policy proposals to address that given issue.