At our Annual Membership Meeting January 11 we will elect new Board Members. Our bylaws call for a minimum of seven and a maximum of eleven members. Three members – Bob Stender, Christine Culver, and Genevieve Franklin – will be continuing their two-year terms.
Alex Mallonee (current Board President)
I’ve been on the Coalition Board for the last four years. I have been proud to serve as President of the board for the past two years year. I’ve been fortunate to work with a dedicated and hard working board. Still there is much work to be done. As board members we need to work along with our new Executive Director to build and involve the membership, solicit more volunteers, and to make the Coalition financially solid so that we may be an effective voice for the cycling community. If reelected I pledge to do my part to reach these goals. I would appreciate your vote.
Jenny Bard (current Board Secretary)
I am committed to the success of the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition and excited to be running for a board seat again. Now into my fourth year on the board, I have been so impressed by what our staff and volunteers accomplish on a daily basis to help make our community a great and safe place to ride a bike. Thank you to all of you for supporting the coalition!
My goal for the organization is to increase the number of people who ride their bike!
Reading through the recent Santa Rosa Bike and Plan Update currently underway, a key statistic jumped out: “Bicycle mode share increased just one tenth of one percent between 2012 and 2016. (1.2 percent to 1.3 percent).”
This statistic should alarm everyone. With our climate, location and relatively flat streets, we should be seeing a much greater percentage of people who choose bicycle as their primary mode of transportation – not only in Santa Rosa but all of our cities! We must create street environments that enable people to feel safe cycling, and that’s what I will work on as a board member, including pushing for the long-awaited Highway 101 overcrossing. I work for the American lung Association and believe there is no better transportation mode than bicycles for clean air and healthy lungs and planet!
John Murphy (current Treasurer)
I have been Board Member of the SCBC for 6 years, with the past 3 as Treasurer. I have a long background in cycling advocacy at the local and regional level, involved with projects from San Jose to Cloverdale and out to the East Bay. I am a fan of cycling at all levels from riding with my 9 year old to school, to doing long recreational rides, and has biked to work for 20 years. I’m particularly interested in the nexus of bike riding and mass transit systems. I’d be honored to be awarded another term on the board.
Cathy Balach
I’m keen to be on the board for the Sonoma County Bike Coalition. I’ve been involved with boards and nonprofits, but bicycling is my passion, and I’m eager to spend more time with something I feel strongly about. Getting more people bicycling – and bicycling safely – is something that resonates with me, and good roads, accessibility, and improvements to cycling infrastructure, I feel are important for a healthy cycling community.
Cycling is a passion I discovered later in life and until recently, I have often focused my work efforts on pursuits different to my personal desire for a healthy lifestyle. Work was “work”, and I only pursued the things I enjoyed in rare fits and spurts on the weekends. The opportunity to match my enthusiasm for cycling with my work skills opens many possibilities I previously would have missed.
I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Business and Accounting, as well as a Master’s in Business with an emphasis on Marketing. I am self-employed, with my focus primarily on two things: (1) marketing and management consulting for education and nonprofits, and (2) working with entrepreneurs and start-ups regarding strategy and planning.
One of the greatest benefits to me of moving to the area has been a lifestyle that includes bicycling as a much bigger part of my life. I’ve led Biker Chicks rides for several years (and manage the Biker Chicks webpage on the coalition’s website), guided local bike tours, and was the Event Director for the Tour de Fuzz (growing it from 100+/- riders to its year-after-year sellout of 1,300 riders).
Unfortunately, I recently broke my olecranon (elbow) bike riding, and I’m concerned both with getting back on my bike again and also how to keep our roads safe so I, and others don’t encounter a pothole like the one that took me down.
Bjorn Griepenburg
I’m eager to help improve bicycle safety and accessibility–and ultimately, grow Sonoma County’s bicycling culture–through a seat on SCBC’s Board of Directors.
I cherish bicycling because it makes me happy, healthy, reduces my carbon footprint, and enables me to connect with nature and community. As a proud member of a one car household, the bicycle is my preferred mode of transportation. I also love to ride recreationally on Sonoma County’s beautiful rural roads every weekend. But above all else, my passion for bike advocacy is driven by my desire to connect people of all ages, physical abilities, and income levels with their communities.
I’m a lifelong resident of Petaluma, where I serve as the Chair of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee and helped launch community group Bike Petaluma. I see the Board role as an excellent opportunity to serve as a conduit between SCBC and our advocacy and community engagement efforts in Petaluma. One of my top priorities as a Board Director would be to boost engagement between SCBC and Petaluma’s bicycling community.
As the Policy & Planning Director for Marin County Bicycle Coalition, I am well-versed in the nuances of local government, the role of bicycle advocacy organizations, and what it takes to effect change. As a Board Director, I will be happy to assist SCBC’s advocacy efforts however I can.
I hold a Master’s Degree in Community & Regional Planning from the University of Oregon and a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Prior to MCBC, I worked on long-range transit planning for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.
It would be an honor to contribute my passion, skills, and interests to SCBC’s Board and serve the organization’s efforts to make Sonoma County the best place to ride a bicycle.
You may also nominate someone at the meeting (including yourself!) Board members must have been an SCBC member for at least one year.