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Nominations Committee announces board candidates
for the October 2012 election
Ballot
 Oct. 2012 ballot
To vote electronically:
1. Look for an email message dated Friday, Oct. 5 from Chuck Ayers with a subject line “Less than a week to vote!”
2. Open the email and click on “access your e-ballot” to find your unique e-ballot link.
If you cannot find the email message or if you have any difficulties at all, please contact us at (206) 522-3222 or at election@cascadebicycleclub.org.
Meet the candidates!
Board Responsibilities
Board of Directors responsibilities
Board Candidates
Maggie Sue Anderson
 Washington grown and living and working in Seattle since 2006, I take pride in having been lost on my bicycle in almost every neighborhood in the city. While I try to stick to fruits and veggies for snacking, I can't resist treats like my favorite Cuban sandwich joint at one of the great stops along the Burke Gilman Trail. While there is something to be said about enjoying the journey, I believe that through strengthened bicycle infrastructure, increased awareness and education, we can get more people out on the streets cycling safely and confidently.
I have made a career out of coalition building, organizing, and health promotion. In my role at Washington State University Extension with the King County Food & Fitness Initiative, I work with community organizations, local government, school districts and the health department to promote healthy, active and safe schools and neighborhoods. As a Cascade supporter and organizational partner since 2007, I have worked with Cascade's Education Foundation to leverage resources and help launch the Chief Sealth International High School Major Taylor Youth Cycling Club.
 While lack of opportunities for physical activity and play is a problem across the nation, this is particularly true for many low-income communities. Fear of crime and safety concerns add to the challenge of being physically activity. I truly believe that we can create a better community through bicycling and have seen that happen through Cascade's youth programs and education work. I bring a fresh perspective, passion for community engagement, steadfast skills in campaign management, and a wide-angle lens on issues communities face when it comes to access to safe environments for cycling. I would be excited to work alongside the board and staff to continue to build club membership and expand reach to new communities and demographics.
Brent Hadley
 CBC is all about bike riders riding their bikes. It is a strong and healthy club that creates many opportunities for its members to participate in riding. Therefore, the club always needs regular and strong voices representing the riders on the board. Whether that voice is from me or you, we all need to participate to improve the Cascade Bicycle Club.
I am excited and humbled to offer my time and energy to support the members of CBC and to provide a voice of the riding members on the board. My motivation to volunteer and get involved comes from personal success story involving our family. For many years we had been trying to teach our disabled daughter to ride. Through the joint efforts of both CBC and CanBike, today she can ride with the family and even competes regularly at the Special Olympics. Our family wants to continue to ensure these types of opportunities are available to other families as well.
Over the years our family has participated in many, if not all, the CBC events as volunteers, riders, ride referees or ride leaders. In addition to recently serving on the Rides Committee, I have had the opportunity to be a rider leader on daily ride and training series such as CTS, CATS, and WTS. This has given me the opportunity to meet a great number of the club members and although they hail from all circumstances, they are all driven by the same love: riding their bikes with old friends and new friends yet to be found.
 If I have the opportunity to serve on the board I will be your advocate to:
1. Continue the growth of the club's influence and activities to enhance cycling in the broader Puget Sound Region for event, recreational, and commuting riders.
2. Improve cycling safety through training opportunities, infrastructure improvements and public awareness. We must seek ways to improve safety for riders of all ages and interests.
3. Increase support for our superb riding programs and the hundreds of individual hours and hundreds of thousands of collective hours that our volunteer ride leaders invest in the opportunities for all our members to enjoy.
4. Enhance our technology adoption for communication with our members. As social media has been changing the way we interact, our club will be changing with that societal change.
5. Grow and strengthen our interactions with other cycling clubs in our region to increase opportunities for all riders to ride. Needless to say, all of us can't fit on the lake loop.
6. Provide event opportunities to inform and educate the broad public that we can have safe neighborhoods for the riding public.
Remember it is all about the enjoyment of the riding and that is why we do it.
Steinar Hjelle
Shortly after moving to Seattle from Connecticut in January, I fell in love with the beauty, culture and bike-friendliness of the Pacific Northwest. All my life I have enjoyed outdoor activities, including hiking, skiing and biking – both recreationally and competitively. I spend as much time as I can riding my mountain, cyclocross and road bikes in organized events, for regular exercise rides and to commute to work. My riding experience includes everything from short intense rides to 300+ mile endurance races. One of my top priorities after moving to Seattle was to find a bike club. After some research, I found Cascade Bicycle Club to be a great match with my passion for team rides, local events and biking advocacy. I have enjoyed Cascade's regular rides and I participated in Chilly Hilly and STP.
I would like to serve on the Cascade Bicycle Club board of directors to help promote biking advocacy, influence decision makers to help make Seattle a more bike-friendly city, and move the club forward in its mission to create a better community through bicycling. At Group Health, I work as the Chief Learning Officer responsible for organizational and individual development. My skills and experience in strategic planning, budgeting, organizational advocacy and new member recruiting would make me an effective Cascade Bicycle Club board member. With more than 15 years of serving in executive leadership positions in Fortune 100 companies, I will be an effective and active board member and I would help ensure that we stay true to our mission.
My company, Group Health, has been a partner of Cascade's since 2003, providing support in funding, in-kind support for bicycling basics, and supporting programs such as the Major Taylor, Commute Challenge and Bike to Work breakfast.
 Cascade Bicycle Club does so much good work on behalf of so many people that I would be honored if you would vote for me to serve on your board of directors. If you elect me as your new board member, you will get a strong club and cycling advocate, active fundraiser, and an active participant in your rides and events.
Joe Platzner
Like many people, I owe Cascade Bicycle Club. They helped re-kindle my passion for cycling, and they work to make cycling safer and more enjoyable for everyone.
Growing up, bikes were a significant part of my life. Bike shops provided my first jobs and lifelong friends. Bikes got me to and from school and work. I raced on the track and road, and I toured across the country and around the world. My team shop was my home away from home.
However, one winter evening about 10 years ago, I took inventory and realized I had drifted away; I had not been on the bike for many years. So, like thousands before me, I signed up for STP. I had a great time and never looked back. I've since gone on to do most of the big Cascade rides as well as RAMROD and Death Ride which launched me into the gravitational pull of the Seattle International Randonneurs. I enjoy the challenge of long rides such as the Cascade 1200 and Paris-Brest-Paris. I do at least one 200k ride a month. I also build frames as a hobby in my garage, which, I admit, holds a few more bikes than I need.
 But my cycling is not the main reason I'm interested in Cascade. I have a young daughter who likes to ride but we have not created an infrastructure that makes cycling compelling and safe for her. I want her to be able to ride to school or the grocery store. So, a couple of years ago, I joined the board of The Bicycle Alliance of Washingtonand as a member of the Executive Committee, I have become energized by the education and advocacy work they do. I see how their efforts increase the number of cyclists on the road.
I want cycling to be a mainstream activity for many. I want to see it funded as an essential mode of transportation. I'd like to see Washington State as a model for a bicycle-friendly place to live. Cascade is an influential organization, and I'd like to help leverage this influence.
I believe I can contribute to the club. I was an aerospace executive for many years but I'm currently a stay-at-home dad. I have some relevant skills, and I have the time to commit to put in the effort required to make a difference. I can bring my leadership experience in strategic planning, network planning, marketing, and program management to the table. I have a master's degree from Cornell University in transportation planning, and I worked in planning at the New York State Department of Transportation.
I hope you will find my background appropriate for Cascade. I'd like to give back a little since I owe them for getting me back on the bike.
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