2020 National City Council Questionnaire – Marcus Bush


Candidate: Marcus Bush

 

1) What are your top 3 priorities for improving the biking experience for residents and families in National City?

My top 3 priorities for improving the biking experience for residents and families in National City are planning for and constructing more protected bike lanes, encouraging our schools to get students to bike (bike/walk to school day, installing more bike racks at schools, etc.), and overall promoting more of a bike culture in National City by hosting more events.

 

2) How do Vision Zero and Climate Goals (such as mode share targets) fit with your vision for National City?

Although National City has been consistently ranked as one of the most walkable cities in the County, it also has a high amount of pedestrian/cycling accidents with vehicles. Vision Zero goals will make it safer for people to walk and bike which in the long run will help achieve Climate goals for increasing mode share shift and reducing Vehicle Miles Traveled, which ultimately reduces Greenhouse Gas emissions. However, as a City, we also need to look at updating our Climate Action Plan with more stringent goals and targets, which could be modeled after the City of San Diego’s Climate Action Plan.

 

3) Transportation is the largest source of the San Diego region’s GHG emissions (55%). What steps will you take to meet regional air quality and GHG reduction goals are met or exceeded?

As a Councilmember in National City, I would work with the Mayor and Council on updating our Climate Action Plan with more stringent targets for mode share shift and VMT reduction. That process could take a year or 2 and in that time, we as a Council could also do more to overall encourage and promote the bike culture in National City, by hosting bike events in the City, having our staff and elected leadership be seen biking, work with the school districts on potential incentives and programs to encourage the students and faculty to bike to school more, and continuing the city’s engineering staff implementation on bike lanes throughout the City. As a Councilmember I would also support the efforts of our SANDAG Board Rep, Mayor Alejandra Sotelo-Solis and her advocacy at the SANDAG Board so that we can continue to get more funding for regional bike projects such as the Bayshore Bikeway, which still has segments that need to be completed.

 

4) Safe bike lanes often face opposition due to slower road speeds or reduced street parking. How would you work with the community to address concerns without compromising safety or delaying bike infrastructure in the name of consensus?

I would work with the community early on in the process, using the community-based outreach model I used while working for Council President Georgette Gómez’s office to approve the Orange Avenue Bikeway. We did that by reaching out to schools, and community-based organizations to educate residents and rally support. Parents who wanted safety for their kids were a key priority and we were able to overcome neighborhood opposition by turning out supporters and focusing on safety for families over parking spaces for vehicles.

 

5) Please share a memorable experience you have of bicycling.

My most memorable biking experience was my bike-camping trip with Nicole Burgess, Georgette Gómez, her partner, and Nicole’s friend to Crystal Cove State Park just before New Year’s in 2018. It was truly a multi-modal experience, where we took the train from Santa Fe Depot to Irvine, rode our bikes to Newport and along the coast, then hiking up the mountains to our campsite.