Dave Nevala
Former Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz has stepped down as executive director of the Wisconsin Bicycle Federation after four years heading the nation’s largest statewide bicycle organization.
Cieslewicz says he plans to pursue “a lifelong dream of writing full time.” He has been a regular contributor to Isthmus, where he blogs as Citizen Dave.
“I’ve been here for just over four years and that makes for a good time to make a break and turn the handlebars over to somebody else to see what they can do with the organization,” he writes in a farewell blog post to Bike Fed members.
Longtime Bike Fed deputy director Dave Schlabowske has been named executive director while Cieslewicz plans to stay on as “director emeritus” through the first quarter of 2018 to help with the transition. The nonprofit organization holds safety classes, advises local transportation officials and sponsors events including the annual “Ride Across Wisconsin” a one-day, 175-mile tour from Dubuque to Kenosha.
Cieslewicz tells Isthmus he has been shopping around a book based on a cover story he wrote for the paper last year about how baby boomers can age with a social conscience. He also has been working on another book idea about the economic advantages of the Upper Great Lakes because of abundant fresh water and relative climate change security, ideas that he’s also explored in his Citizen Dave blog.
“And, of course, like every writer I've got 15,000 words of a novel lying around in the bottom drawer of my desk,” he says.
Cieslewicz grew the Bike Fed membership over 50 percent to nearly 6,000 members statewide, while lobbying for bicycle and pedestrian issues at the state Capitol.
But the organization was unable to block legislation in the last budget that sharply curtailed the ability of local governments to use their authority to acquire more property for bicycle trails. It did, however, score a victory in 2017 when Gov. Scott Walker signed a “Vulnerable User Law” which increases penalties for careless drivers who kill or injure cyclists or pedestrians.
In his farewell blog, Cieslewicz writes that he is excited with the organization’s growing reach — not just in Madison and Milwaukee but in Green Bay, Appleton, Racine, Kenosha, Beloit, La Crosse, Stevens Point and Eau Claire.
“Local governments, businesses and citizens understand what being a great place for cycling can do for their communities in terms of quality of life and economic development,” he writes. “And it’s local governments that repair the streets, fix the potholes, pave the shoulders, build the bike lanes, enforce the laws and do probably 90 percent of the things that matter most to people who ride bikes.”
Schlabowske says he plans to tour the state and meet with various stakeholders to see what they would like in what he is calling “Bike Fed 2.0.” The organization, which has offices in Milwaukee and Madison, lost several staff members over the past few months and is looking to retool.
“The board asked me if I would hold off my retirement, become executive director and work with Dave for a while to give some stability to the organization,” says Schlabowske.
As mayor of Madison from 2003 to 2011, Cieslewicz championed bicycle and pedestrian issues. Before that he was executive director of 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, a statewide land use advocacy group. He also served as government relations director for the Nature Conservancy and worked for former state Rep. Spencer Black.
“I still need to make some money, but not much,” he says. “And not much is just what writing pays. So it works out perfectly.”
