BIKEable Communities posed a series of 5 questions to each of the active candidates for elected positions in Long Beach that will be contested in the upcoming election on Tuesday June 3.

Below are the answers from Long Beach Mayoral Candidate Damon Dunn to 5 questions posed by BIKEable Communities regarding active living, Biking and walking in Long Beach.

Active living, bicycling and walking in Long Beach

1. Can having an active living oriented, bike and pedestrian friendly culture be an important business differentiator for Long Beach.  Can it help us attract new businesses and new resident that are looking for a city that promotes an active life style along with a business friendly environment. If so, what as an elected civic leader would you do to help deep us ahead of the pack.I do believe that having a robust biking and pedestrian culture can be a part of building a healthy business environment.  There is probably some threshold that we need to achieve in order to see the gains from this.  I think we can particularly make gains near downtown and around heavily shopped and office areas near residential.  We would need to build “complete streets” that have intersections that take into account all of these elements, have protected bike lanes with curbs like we have on some parts of Broadway, and promote a bike program and map system.  it’s possible.  It requires planning.
2. Studies from Portland other US cities show people on bicycles spend more per month in local business districts than those arriving by other modes.  Bicycling and walk also promote a “shop local” mindset (it’s difficult to get to a far away store to shop if you are walking or biking). What steps would you take to ensure that local businesses in your district are able to benefit from better access by bicyclists?I’m not an expert in this subject matter and i’m willing to learn.  I would look to get input from a bike task force per neighborhood so that we can answer this question more accurately.  It would seem that we need bike racks, bike lanes, promote events for programs, and have the mayor participate in bike events to make the connection between the infrastructure and the programs.
3. Childhood obesity and chronic weight related health issues are a major problem in the city of Long Beach.  In six of Long Beach’s zip codes residents diagnosed with diabetes, sugar diabetes or pre diabetes is 20% or greater.  As an elected official how would you use your position to foster an active lining agenda that will make measurable improvements in these chronic but often preventable diseases? I was an athlete so being active was automatic for me.  with the cuts to our schools, our physical education programs have suffered.  i would love to see the city use some of our one time revenues to offer bike vouchers to kids that sign up for obesity training programs.  If parents sign their kids up for programs in our parks then they would have access to a bike voucher.  I’ve seen this work at Carmelitos.
4. Would you support a business are resident council on active living that would provide guidance for city policy?yes
5. Will you commit to using your leadership position in the community to “walk the walk” by personally walking and biking during your tenure in office?yes