We are people-powered in how we get things done (and hopefully how we get from A to B!). Behind-the-scenes of WABI efforts are a half dozen people that bring together quite a range of civic skills and experience. The “WABI-ists” are ardent cyclists and walkers, stirring things up to help others enjoy being on two feet and two wheels here in the City of Burien.
We welcome the ideas, talents, and participation of all of our Burien neighbors who share our vision for a more active, safer, and greener community. Would you like to get involved? Be a “WABI-ist“! Please send an e-mail to Maureen at info@wabiburien.org. We’ll let you know about volunteer opportunities.
And please tell your friends about WABI Burien…
See you around town!
The WABI-ists
WABI Burien Board of Directors:
Maureen Hoffmann
WABI Burien President
Graphics, Media & “WAB-master”
Maureen likes being self-propelled on two feet and two wheels. Through WABI she hopes to encourage others to also enjoy walking and biking for fun, alternate transportation and well-being. She handles public communications, graphics and media for WABI; organizes and leads the monthly Walk-n-Talks; and works with the other WABI-ists toward the installation of bike racks in town. As a lifelong Burien resident, Maureen sees WABI as her way to nurture the community around her. For over thirty years she has been a graphic and web designer in her own firm, Kunstdame.
Brooks Stanfield
WABI Burien Vice-President
Fresh off a two-year stint in South America, in 2003, on a whim, Brooks started riding his bike to work from his north Seattle apartment. Actually it was his dad’s heavy, rusty, old bike. The buses were quiet and boring while riding a bicycle to work was invigorating and fun. Now ten years later, Brooks has used campaigns to grow bike commuting at his work over 400% in the last 10 years and is now expanding them nationwide. He helped organize Burien’s B-Town Bike Fair in 2010 and 2011 along with several other community biking and walking events. He currently serves on the Planning Commission for the City of Burien and works as a strategic planner at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Focus areas with WABI include equitable transportation infrastructure and working on activities with his grade school-age kids, like Safe Family Rides (Bike SaFaRis). Brook’s ride of choice: Jamis – Aurora Elite (steel frame, disc brakes) which he still rides to work each day.
Jimmy Schulz
WABI Burien Treasurer
Jimmy fell into the world of cycling through his love of taking things apart and rebuilding them. Through the process of building bikes, he remembered how much he loved RIDING his bikes. He made the choice to move to a neighborhood close enough to work to make bike commuting a reality. He has lived in Burien the last 5 years and is a sustainability-curious, fair-weather bike commuter. He helped organize the 2010 and 2011 B-town Bike Fair and serves as the WABI treasurer. On any given Sunday you may find Jimmy biking through Burien with his now 2-year-old son in tow, tending his garden or crafting the finest homebrew west of 509.
Janet Shull
WABI Burien Secretary
A resident for the past 24 years, Janet envisions a Burien with neighborhoods, schools and businesses connected by walkable and bikable streets and trails where folks from 8 to 80 can travel easily and safely. Trained as an architect, she has spent most of her professional life working as an urban planner focusing on urban design, affordable housing and economic development. More recently Janet has been involved in planning initiatives with a focus on healthy and sustainable communities, including the development of bicycle and pedestrian master plans and urban agriculture policies and programs.
Sue Blazak
Board Member
Sue comes to WABI with a passion for walking and a focus on tying in with schools through such programs as “Safe Routes to Schools” and “Walking School Bus.” She draws on her experience as a former Burien City Councilmember as she navigates continued involvement with governmental agencies for the benefit of pedestrians and cyclists.
Tim Kniffin
Board Member
Tim prefers feet to wheels, two-wheels to four-wheels, and human-powered to engine-powered whenever possible. Driving alone in a car is dreary business, and he prefers to avoid it whenever possible. He regularly walks through Burien, bikes to work, and bikes for fun around Burien and Seattle. Tim is originally from Chicago, where the flatness makes biking a heck of a lot easier. But Tim loves the Puget Sound region for the mountains, the water, the views, and the exercise biking around it gives him. Tim’s wife is from Seattle and they live with her and their two daughters in Burien.
