Assembly Rep. Bloom Honored with First-Ever California-Wide Streetsie Award

Date:

 Richard Bloom (left) with Santa Monica Spoke’s Cynthia Rose

Richard Bloom (left) with Santa Monica Spoke’s Cynthia Rose

Streetsblog California* named Assemblymember Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) “Legislator of the Year” for its first-ever statewide Streetsie awards.

SBCA tapped Bloom, who sat on the Santa Monica City Council from 1999 until 2012 when he was elected to the State Assembly, for the honor because of his work at the state-level to make California streets more sustainable and safer for people to ride bikes, walk, and otherwise get around without driving.

“Not only has he actively supported sustainable transportation in his district, including the expansion of Metro transit into the westside and the implementation of Santa Monica’s new bike-share system, he is a champion of bicycling legislative efforts at the state level,” Melanie Curry at SBCA writes.

Specifically, Curry points to Bloom’s work on AB 902, which he co-authored with Assemblymember David Chiu.

AB 902 “allows cities and police departments to set up education programs allowing bicyclists to lower fines by taking bike safety classes, something that car drivers have long been able to do. Lower fines will likely be helpful for low-income bike riders, who make up the majority of people riding bikes for transportation. Developing bike safety classes can also give advocates one more set of tools to encourage bicycling in the state,” Curry writes.

He has also been chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Resources and Transportation, where he “has been a champion for smart, sustainable development, reducing reliance on fossil fuels, and focusing congestion relief investments on transit, walking, and bicycling. He is also a proponent for the sensible solution of investing Greenhouse Gas Reduction Funds into the Active Transportation Program, which remains one of the main sources of funding for bike and pedestrian infrastructure locally and statewide,” Curry writes.

Bloom’s environmental work goes beyond just his work on livable streets. He has also pushed legislation through like AB 888, which would ban plastic microbeads from personal care products like facial wash and toothpaste. Microbeads, as they journey down drains and into streams and oceans, collect toxic chemicals and are ingested by the wildlife, which are, in turn, ingested by us. According to Bloom’s office, microbeads contribute approximately 38 tons of plastic pollution to the environment annually.

Most recently, Bloom issued a statement that he would introduce legislation to put an initiative on the state ballot “demanding the federal government overturn the Citizens United case,” according to the statement.

Bloom was also nominated for a Streetsie in Streetsblog Los Angeles’ contest. He was up for “Elected Official of the Year” along with four others, but lost out to L.A. City Councilmember Joe Buscaino.

This is the first year that Streetsblog California has awarded Streetsies since it launched in April 2015.

*Streetsblog California is published by the nonprofit California Streets Initiative, the same nonprofit that publishes Santa Monica Next.

Jason Islas
Jason Islashttp://santamonicanext.org
Jason Islas is the editor of Santa Monica Next and the director of the Vote Local Campaign. Before joining Next in May 2014, Jason had covered land use, transit, politics and breaking news for The Lookout, the city’s oldest news website, since February 2011.

Share post:

More like this
Related

Council Majority Makes Symbolic Vote to Try and Persuade Voters to Vote for Measures K and PSK

At this week’s City Council meeting, the Council held...

Letters to the Editor: A Damning Statement from Oscar de la Torre

The following letter to the editor by SMMUSD School...

Santa Monica DOT Will Provide Updates on Projects at Zoom w/Spoke Next Wed.

SaMoDOT Mobility Staff will present updates on bike and...

OPA Update 10/10/24: Details for Monday OPA Meeting, Airport Conversion Survey, & Things To Do This Weekend

OPA Oct. 14 Monthly Meeting Monday: This month's meeting will be at the 2601 Main...