The rizzler
Had a very Burbank interaction with Councilmember Chris Rizzotti at the new airport terminal today.
First off, the new terminal is great. Really nice event this morning, got to talk with the mayor and some other folks about bike access, and I’m genuinely excited about the new path along Winona that takes you into the terminal.
One small problem: I could not for the life of me find the bike parking.
So after the event, I’m walking my bike out and happen to pass Councilmember Chris Rizzotti. I ask, “Hey man, do you know where the bike parking is?”
He gives me a little side-eye, and as I keep walking I toss out something like, “Oh, right, because nobody bikes in Burbank.”
Yes, I was giving him a little grief. I was also literally standing there with a bicycle.
I’m probably ten paces away at this point when I hear him call after me: “Was that a cheap shot? You’re just going to take a cheap shot and walk away?”
I tell him I’ve got to get to work. He keeps at it. So, fine. I walk my bike back over and ask what he wants to talk about.
He asks why I took the shot at him. I tell him that he’s opposed bike infrastructure before.
And he tells me, very plainly: “I’ve voted for every bike lane that has ever come before me.”
Okay!
I get on my bike and leave. And the funny thing is, he said it confidently enough that halfway home I started wondering whether I was the asshole here. Had I mixed something up? Was I confidently accusing this guy of a vote he hadn’t actually cast?
So I got home and checked.
Last November: Chandler Bikeway Extension. A pretty significant piece of Burbank bike infrastructure.
City Council vote: 4–1.
The one? Chris Rizzotti.
And that’s the part that bugs me. I made a cheeky comment to an elected official and kept walking. He was perfectly entitled to roll his eyes at me. Instead, he called me back and turned it into a confrontation, then made an extremely specific claim about his own voting record that was contradicted by the exact vote I had been thinking of.
If you’re an elected official, occasionally a constituent is going to give you a little chin music about your record. That seems like part of the deal.
Anyway, I still don’t know where the bike parking is.