Austin has no shortage of environmental heroes. One of them who's been on the battlefield longer than most our local greens is Mary Arnold, an old-school activist with a genteel tongue. Arnold's institutional memory is one of the enviro community's most valuable resources. Want to brush up on your rules-and-regs history? Talk to Mary. Her civic vitae reads like a who's who of boards and commissions: Let's see, there was the Planning Commission and the Environmental Board, both of which she chaired; and there was the Parks Board and the Water and Wastewater Commission. Until recently, Arnold served as vice chair and later interim chair of the Save Our Springs Alliance. Though she is still an SOS board member, she insists she is "trying" to retire to spend more time with her four grandchildren. We wish her well.
