Many Changes in Store for SVBC
As 2017 comes to an end, there are many changes in store for SVBC. Most of them present opportunities but, like a lot of change, some are a little scary.One of the exciting changes is that we’re growing. We’ve added one new staff position at SVBC, Mui Sam Le, bringing the full time number of staff at SVBC to 10 along with a couple committed part-timers. Mui is leading three new SVBC programs. 1) Bike Share for All, a program that spreads the word about the Ford Go Bike low income memberships, 2) Pedal 2 Health, a program funded by the El Camino Hospital Foundation to increase safe bicycling on and near Vision Zero corridors and 3) SVBC’s role in helping to develop and build support for San Jose’s protected bikeway network.On the scarier side of the change scale, SVBC is saying goodbye to two longtime SVBC staff members.Anne Fisher, SVBC’s Administrative Manager, told me about two years ago that she planned to retire at the end of 2017. I chose to ignore that warning for the first year, but then realized burying our heads in the sand was not a wise approach to transition, especially transition of the most important role in the office – the one that makes sure everyone else can do their jobs smoothly. Anne has been with the organization almost as long as we’ve had paid staff and as an example of her amazingness, consider this: In her ten years here she has never let a bill go uncollected. We will miss Anne but know that she is off to a well-deserved retirement. And, as you can read about here, we are excited to welcome her replacement, Lynn Grandi.The other big change is that after nearly nine years, SVBC’s Chief Jokester and Deputy Director, Colin Heyne, has finally decided to move on. He’ll be joining the City of San Jose’s Department of Transportation as their Public Information Officer. For those of you who know Colin, you know that he can do, and has done, just about every job at SVBC. In fact, he still does. Just the other day I came in to the office and he was vacuuming the couches. From policy analysis, pithy quotes for the media, mostly funny jokes and his huge understanding of TEAM, Colin Heyne will be missed. This also means we’re hiring – the job description is posted here.The last major bit of change is that SVBC will likely be moving. An opportunity to co-locate with the San Jose Bike Clinic in a ground floor retail location of a MidPeninsula Housing development arose and we’re pursuing it. And like everything in nonprofit, there will be much bootstrapping. The first of such bootstrapping involves a talented architect from Anderson Architects. SVBC put out a call to our partners for pro bono help and several folks recommended Kurt Anderson. He jumped on the opportunity and is now bringing his energy and expertise to oversee the design and build-out of SVBC’s new space. Thank you, Kurt!(As an aside, if you have skills to offer, please let us know and the bootstrapping will continue.)As SVBC continues to change and grow, we appreciate your ongoing support. There is much work to be done and in the next e-Bulletin we’ll detail our goals and priorities for 2018.
