The Senator and I

On Friday I was lucky enough to join a reception and small dinner hosted by Marvell and Carl Guardino for Senator Diane Feinstein. It was an interesting event—the reception was attended by many elected officials who have been reliable supporters of bicycling over the years. I had an opportunity to chat with Santa Clara County Supervisors Ken Yeager, San José Mayor Chuck Reed, San José Councilmembers Sam Liccardo and Pierluigi Oliverio, and Santa Clara City Councilmember Jamie McLeod. From the business world I chatted with David Cush, CEO of Virgin America, and Andy Ball, CEO of Webcor, among others.

We moved from the larger reception into a 20-person dinner. With my recent election to the board of the League of American Bicyclists and my concern over the current state of the federal transportation bill, I was eager to talk with Senator Feinstein about bicycle-related issues, but sadly, she didn’t seem as interested in the topic as I was. She was focused on topics more broadly appealing, such as tax policy and citizen security. Even still—I was very glad to join the dinner and was grateful to have been invited.