A mobility plan including traffic-calming devices common in
other cities was defeated in ballots returned from the combined Oak
Park and Samarkand neighborhoods to the city’s Public Works
Department. In an earlier neighborhood ballot poll, the mobility
plan was approved; a determined campaign by anti-calming activist
Michael Self (pictured), however, managed a decisive reversal. Self
demanded that the neighborhood balloting be redone with checkbox
options for “oppose” as well as “support” of the mobility plan,
developed by city staff and homeowners in a series of meetings.
Self went door-to-door arguing that the city’s true intention was
not to smooth traffic flow with devices such as mini-roundabouts,
nor to make neighborhoods safer, but to make driving inconvenient
so people would prefer alternatives like bikes and buses. The plan
needed a supermajority.
