5th Congressional Race

On March 3, a special primary election will be held to fill the 5th Congressional District seat vacated by Rahm Emanuel (now White House Chief of Staff). Active Transportation Alliance has more than 1,600 members in the 5th District. As a service to our members, we are offering each of the candidates an opportunity to post their transportation platform on our blog.

The first posting is from Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley. His posting appears below unedited. We will add other candidate postings as they are received. Please feel free to share your opinions by commenting on the blog postings.

Statement from Commissioner Quigley:
Mass transit provides a safe, affordable, environmentally efficient way for people to travel to and from work. Chicago is in desperate need of an infusion of federal funds to continue to upgrade our transit system. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided a great opportunity to invest in transportation infrastructure. Commissioner Quigley urged Congress to include more funding for mass transit in the final version of the stimulus package on a new website, with a petition to support transit funding. Unfortunately, a third of the funding for CTA, METRA and other local transit operators was cut from the final bill. If elected to Congress, Commissioner Quigley would continue to fight for more funding for bike lanes and to make walking and public transit safer, more convenient and more efficient.

On the County Board, Commissioner Quigley has sponsored every piece of major environmental legislation adopted by Cook County in the last decade and continues to press the County to make environmental sustainability a top priority. His efforts lead the Chicago Reader to name him the greenest elected official in Chicago. In their recent endorsement, the Chicago Sun-Times, wrote that Commissioner Quigley has championed the Cook County Forest Preserve District, gotten more money for environmental programs and persuaded county government to buy green. Commissioner Quigley also forcefully advocates for and works to protect the Forest Preserve District. Since 2006, as chair of the Forest Preserve Board Finance Committee, he has urged District officials to increase the pace of land acquisition, opposed encroachments and inappropriate uses of District lands, and supported careful restoration of District lands to their natural state.