In Karla’s 7 years in office, she has advocated against:

• Local businesses such as Big Bear Cafe, El Camino, the Sunday Farmer’s Market and the planned Indigo 2 restaurant;
• Common sense safe street measures such as curb extensions and bikelanes;
• The Federal Government’s presence in DC- especially masked ICE agents and armed National Guard Troops patrolling our streets.

KARLA’S record

Karla was elected to the Ward 5 Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) in 2018 to act as the official liaison between local residents and the DC Government. Instead, Commissioner Lewis has a documented history of abusing her position to push her personal agenda– more parking for cars– above the safety, well-being and interests of her constituents.

• Putting street parking for cars above all else
• Fighting for the city to take action against Big Bear Cafe and other local restaurants and bars
• Failing to oppose the Federal Government’s presence in DC and masked ICE agents
• Fighting the Bloomingdale’s Sunday Farmer’s Market
• Undoing DDOT’s work to make our streets safer by demanding the removal of curb extensions and flex posts on dangerous corners
• Voting to oppose protecting the dangerous Q and R St bikelanes even when a majority of her constituents expressed support for them in a public hearing
• Helping cancel a metrobus line on 1st St NW that would have given residents access to the new Reservoir Park Recreation Center
• Failing to vote for restaurant El Camino’s renewed liquor license
• Blocking the Michelin-recognized Indian restaurant Indigo from opening a new location here in Bloomingdale
  
  

what’s the big deal about bikelanes?

The DC Department of Transportation (DDOT) is considering changing the painted bikelane on R St to a protected lane (with flex posts or a curb). If this occurs, it might not require removing any parking on R St at all, and most likely not on Karla’s side of the street. But Karla’s top priority is to park directly in front of her house.

While DC residents are fighting to preserve home rule, Karla is allying herself with the Trump Administration by calling for DC’s bikelanes to be removed.

She has falsely and publicly claimed that fewer than 0.001% of Washingtonians use bikes, and that “no one uses the bike lanes at all.” In fact,

• 18,000 DC residents bike to work on a daily basis (5% of residents)
• DC ranks 2nd nationally for the percentage of residents who bike to work
• Ward 5 alone had approximately 9,000 completed bicycle trips per day
• DDOT found that bike lanes in DC reduced crashes by 49%, without increasing congestion
• Every person on a bike means one fewer person in a car. That results in less traffic, pollution, injuries and deaths.
• When cyclists don’t have bikelanes to ride in, they are forced to bike in the middle of the street or on the sidewalks
• Painted bikelanes are dangerous. Cyclists (and the children they transport to school) have to navigate stopped vehicles, drivers veering into the bike lane, inch-close dangerous passing, and the constant threat of being “doored” by drivers in parked cars. Protected bikelanes provide a physical barrier between cyclists and cars

Karla regularly says that bikelane supporters are discriminating against seniors whose only transportation option is to drive their own cars. She willfully ignores the fact that 36% of Washingtonians do not own a car, and that DC provides Metro Access, a free, door-to-door transport program for senior citizens and disabled people that’s legally permitted to stop by bikelanes and sidewalks to board or drop off passengers.

Safe streets opponents like Karla argue that some cyclists break traffic laws and are a nuisance. We agree! And we believe the same is true of car drivers. But there’s a life and death difference between being hit by a negligent cyclist on a 40lb bike vs. being hit by a negligent driver of a 6,000lb SUV.

Safe streets opponents argue that some electric bikes are actually motorcycles and should be regulated as such. They are a menace when they drive in bike lanes and on the sidewalks, endangering pedestrians with their high speeds and unpredictability. We agree!