Quick releases

New staff
Lee Crandell is Active Trans’ Membership Director. He is excited to help Active Trans grow its community of advocates through membership. He spent the past four years leading the membership and chapter programs at the Congress for the New Urbanism. Prior to that, he worked as communications and development associate at Illinois Action for Children and as an editor at PR Newswire. He holds a BA in English from James Madison University. Lee has been car-free since he moved to Chicago seven years ago and he runs carfreechicago.com. He serves on the board of his neighborhood association and enjoys cooking and urban hiking.

Ted Villaire, Active Trans’ writer and editor, has a background in journalism, non-profit editorial work, and writing outdoor recreation guidebooks. He’s the author of 60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Chicago and the forthcoming books, Road Biking Illinois, Best Rail Trails Illinois, and Camping Illinois. He’s a year-round cyclist who loves to go on long rides. While cycling around Lake Superior, Ted discovered that he thrives on a diet of smoked fish and candy bars.

Room for debate
Elections for 2011 are heating up. Watch for results in the coming months from a questionnaire we are sending to candidates in some of the key races. We are interested to know where potential officials stand on transportation funding, traffic safety and the issues that impact cyclists, pedestrians and transit users. If you are interested in getting involved with that questionnaire, please contact rob@activetrans.org.

It’s in the bag
Congratulations to Jennifer Richards, who won a Patagonia messenger bag! Jennifer was one of the first 100 people to buy tickets to the hottest Bike Town Bash yet. Missed it? Pretend like you were there by looking at these pictures.