Our next TED monthly meeting will be this coming Tuesday, 7pm at
Vinny’s. On the agenda:

1. Recap and update on SH 45 SW. Steve Beers worked extensively on
   this project and will fill us in on the details and what comes next.
2. The upcoming “reverse” Environmental Council Forum on June 25.
   This is going to be an exciting event, where citizens will get the
   opportunity to meet Council Members and tell them their priorities for
   the upcoming two years and beyond.

What: Texas Environmental Democrats of Austin
When: Tuesday, June 16 @ 7pm
Where: Vinny’s Italian Cafe, 1003 Barton Springs Rd.

Tonight, at Gardner Betts, the Texas Environmental Democrats endorsed the following candidates for the 2009 City of Austin Municipal Elections:

Mayor: Lee Leffingwell
Place 1: Dual: Perla Cavazos + Chris Riley
Place 2: Mike Martinez
Place 5: Bill Spelman
Place 6: Sheryl Cole

TED would like to congratulate all of the candidates and express thanks to our membership for taking the time to engage with the candidates and the important environmental issues facing the city.

The next campaign event TED is participating in is the Combined Environmental Forum on April 9 at City Hall. This is a unique opportunity for voters to drill down on the candidates’ environmental positions and generate some accountability metrics for their prospective terms. More information can be found at
http://www.austinenvironment.org

Early voting starts on April 27 and ends on May 5. The election date is May 9. We encourage all TED members to stay engaged with the electoral process and volunteer for our endorsed candidates. We will send out volunteer opportunities as we receive them.

The regular scheduled March General Meeting was canceled due to tonight’s election forum. We will have a regularly scheduled meeting in April.

Kedron

Our February meeting scheduled for Tuesday Feb. 24th at 7pm at Vinny’s Italian Cafe (1003 Barton Springs Rd.)

We have some short business to take care of regarding our bylaws, the upcoming candidate forum and questionnaire, then we’ll hear from Jere Locke of the Texas Climate Emergency Campaign. The TCEC is a member of the 1Sky coalition and works to broaden the coalition of groups seeking to influence climate change legislation at the national level. Jere will talk about the latest science, the coming national bill and the TCEC’s work on it.

Update from those who attended last week’s legislative lobbying session with the Alliance for a Clean Texas.

Tuesday January 26th, 2009
7:00 pm: Texas Environmental Democrats
2009 Planning Meeting
Location: Vinny’s Italian Cafe
1003 Barton Springs Rd.

Here’s a brief agenda:

1. Introductions
2. News Update/Action Alerts
3. Treasurer’s Report
4. Vote on whether to become member of Central Texas Zero Waste Alliance
5. Discussion of Proposed Bylaws Change (vote in Feb.) on modification of the endorsement process.
6. Report and Discussion on 2009 Municipal Election Questionnaire, Forum, and Endorsement
7. Discussion of opportunities to participate in 2009 Legislative Session lobbying effort

New officers for Texas Environmental Democrats of Austin were elected at our meeting on August 27th.

• Kedron Touvell,  President

• William Jones,  Vice president

• Sharron Hargis, Corresponding Secretary

• Craig Smith, Legal Secretary

• Tim Mahoney,  Treasurer.