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Will Wynn
50th Mayor of Austin, Texas
Incumbent
Assumed office  2003
Preceded by	Gus Garcia
Born	September 10, 1961 (1961-09-10) (age 47) Beaumont, Texas
Political party	Democratic
Residence	Austin, Texas
Alma mater	Texas A&M University

William Patrick Wynn (born September 10, 1961) is the current mayor of Austin, Texas. He is a Democrat.

Contents 1 Family 2 Early Career 3 Mayor of Austin 3.1 Advocacy 3.2 Awards 3.3 Affiliations 3.4 Toll Roads 4 Controversies 5 References 6 External links

Family

Born and raised in Beaumont, Texas, Texas, Wynn was the sixth of seven children.¹ He attended Texas A&M University, where he graduated cum laude with a degree in Environmental Design in 1984.² Although Wynn was born in East Texas, his family's roots in Austin and Central Texas run deep; two of his great-great-great grandparents, James and Julia Olive, settled in southern Williamson County in 1843.¹

His great-grandfather, Daniel LeMaster of McDade, was the state representative for Bastrop County in the 1920s. Will's great-uncle, Ridley Ott, built and managed the Checker Front General Store, now FreshPlus, at 43rd and Duval in Hyde Park during the 1930s and 40s.

Some of his family's history in Central Texas can be seen in several books by J. Frank Dobie, including "Cow People" and "The Longhorns"; "The Ladder of Rivers" by Harry Chrisman; "Black Cowboys of Texas" by Sara Massey, "Four on a Limb" and "I'll Die Before I'll Run" by C.L. Sonnichsen; and "The Shooters" by Leon Metz.

Born and raised in the deep north end of Beaumont, Will was the sixth of seven children, and the fifth of six boys. He attended Texas A&M University, graduating in 1984 with a degree in Environmental Design. He first moved "back" to Austin in 1981. Will is the proud father of two daughters ages 12 and 9.

Early Career

Wynn has over 20 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry, with projects large and small, including the $40 million redevelopment of the Frost Bank Plaza on Congress Avenue in Downtown Austin. In 1997, Will founded CIVITAS Investments, Inc. to focus on historic restoration projects. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute and believes that only through dramatically better land use practices can Austin and the surrounding region appropriately deal with challenges like traffic, air quality, housing affordability and environmental protection. In 2001, he was one of the founding members of, what became, Envision Central Texas. Will has also worked over the years to build support for numerous local causes and organizations.

Prior to being elected to the Austin City Council in 2000, Wynn served as Chair of the Downtown Austin Alliance, in addition to acting as Director of the Children's Museum and Heritage Society of Austin. He has long been a leading advocate for transforming downtown Austin into the most vibrant urban core in the country.

Mayor of Austin

Austin voters elected Wynn to be Austin's fiftieth mayor on May 3, 2003, replacing Gus Garcia. He was re-elected three years later on May 15, 2006 with over 78 percent of the vote. The front-runner from the start, Wynn garnered most of the endorsements and raised much more money than his two competitors, Council Member Danny Thomas, and Jennifer Gale. He also received a boost from the strong leadership credited to him when Hurricane Katrina evacuees came to Austin in 2005.

As Austin Mayor, Will Wynn serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors for Austin Energy, the 9th largest public power utility in the United States. As such, Mayor Wynn presides over the nation's most successful utility-sponsored green power program (for the 4th consecutive year according to the U.S. Dep't of Energy), an award-winning energy efficiency program that has eliminated the need for a 500-megawatt, coal-burning power plant near Austin, and a greenbuilding program that was the first of its kind in the world and served as the genesis for the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the national greenbuilding movement. Austin Energy has assets of over $3.5 billion, annual revenues of $1.2 billion, almost 1,500 employees and generates up to 3,000 megawatts of electricity. Its fuel mix is 35% natural gas, 29% coal, 23% nuclear and 11% renewables (mostly wind).

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Advocacy

In addition to his local responsibilities, Will Wynn has risen to a position of national leadership on energy and climate issues. Since 2004 he has chaired the Energy Committee of the 1,200-member U.S. Conference of Mayors and is a key member of the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Task Force.

In June 2008 at the U.S. Conference of Mayors annual business meeting, Wynn was reappointed chair of the Energy Committee. He authored or co-authored several high-profile resolutions that were adopted by the full body of the USCM, including measures relating to: the International Energy Conservation Code, federal legislation to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, federal tax credits for renewable energy, and energy efficiency block grants for local communities.

In May 2008 Wynn gave the opening keynote a the Sustainable Operations Summit, which brought together national leadership from government, academia and corporate America.

At the invitation of U.S. Secretary of Energy, Wynn in April gave the keynote address at the first annual "Solar America Cities" meeting in Tucson, hosted by the DOE to recognize cities leading the nation in deployment of solar renewable energy projects.

In April 2008 Wynn presented the Austin Climate Protection Plan to the annual Texas Public Power Association convention specifying the progressive work of Austin Energy to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its electricity generation.

Also in April 2008 Wynn gave a keynote speech on Global Warming to the 16th annual Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) linking dramatically better land use practices to climate protection.

In February 2008 Wynn spoke on global warming and presented the Austin Climate Protection Plan to the Association of Energy Engineers, at 9,000 members strong, the world's largest professional association of energy officials.

Over the late winter and early spring months of 2007-2008, Wynn continued to press Congress for full appropriation of funding for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant legislation that passed in January after a successful push by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

In January 2008 Wynn spoke on climate change and the need for an aggressive government response in a presentation to the Western States Land Commissioners Association, a body bringing together agency executives from 23 states as well as staff and industry representatives.

In January 2008 at the U.S. Conference of Mayors annual Winter Meeting, Wynn launched a multi-city campaign advocating for changes to the International Energy Conservation Code that will result in a 30 percent increase in energy efficiency for new home construction in most of the nation's cities.

In November 2007, Wynn participated in the U.S. Mayors Summit on Climate Protection in Seattle, along with former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore, where he hosted a panel discussion on greenbuilding. Also in November, Wynn spoke on local initiatives at the U.S. Greenbuilding Council International Conference in Chicago, an event that drew more than 20,000 attendees from around the world.

In August 2007 in Arlington, Wynn spoke on greenbuilding and local strategies for energy efficiency at the Texas Mayor's Summit: Air Quality, Public Health & Climate Change, a conference sponsored by ICLEI which brought together mayors from Texas cities large and small and from across the political spectrum.

In July 2007, Wynn gave testimony to the U.S. House Committee on Small Business and the U.S. House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming on greenbuilding, renewable energy, energy efficiency and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

In June 2007, Wynn was re-elected by the full body of the U.S. Conference of Mayors to chair the Energy Committee and was honored for Outstanding Achievement in the 2007 U.S. Climate Protection Awards. Wynn co-sponsored seven energy- and climate-related resolutions that were adopted by the full USCM at the annual summer meeting.

In May 2007, at the invitation of NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Clinton Climate Initiative, Wynn addressed the mayors of the world's 40 largest cities regarding greenbuilding and renewable energy.

In February 2007 Mayor Wynn unveiled an aggressive plan that sets the standard among cities nationwide in the growing campaign to address global warming. The Austin Climate Protection Plan will: eliminate GHG emissions from virtually all municipal activities by the year 2020; dramatically enhance the use of renewable power and demand reduction measures at Austin Energy; implement the most energy efficient building codes in the nation; and develop targets and reduction plans for GHG emissions community-wide.

Wynn received training from Al Gore at The Climate Project in Nashville in January and has since been presenting his Austin version of the slideshow that inspired the Academy Award-winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, to community groups, businesses leaders and policy makers in the Austin metro area calling for a dramatic expansion of energy efficiency policies.

Also in 2007: Wynn led a key group of leading mayors in a meeting hosted by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, where they coordinated on local strategies and developed an agenda for pressing congressional action on global warming; lead a U.S. Senate briefing on plug-in hybrid technology and the year-long Plug-In Partners Campaign, an effort that has successfully pushed major auto manufacturers to commit to producing plug-in hybrid electric vehicles; spoke at a U.S. House congressional briefing on climate protection; delivered the keynote address at the International Conference on Sustainable Urbanism.

In 2006: Wynn was a featured speaker at the Sundance Summit on Climate Protection in Utah; convened the first National Summit on Energy and the Environment in Chicago, where he spoke on plug-in hybrid technology, and the second National Summit on Energy and the Environment in Atlanta, where he led panel discussions on energy efficiency; addressed the EPA's 4th International Conference on SF6 and the Environment; was featured in Time Magazine's watershed issue on global warming as well as Newsweek's "The Greening of America" issue.

Wynn was one of only five mayors from around the globe, and the only one from the Western Hemisphere, invited to speak at the first ever United Nations special session on renewable energy in Bonn, Germany where he addressed the energy ministers of the 154 nations present regarding municipal issues.

Awards

Will was named Austinite of the Year by Austin Under Forty (back when he was under 40); was awarded Scenic Austin's first annual Scenic Hero Award; was named Energy Executive of the Year by the Association of Energy Engineers; is a Distinguished Alumni of Texas A & M's College of Architecture; received the Alliance to Save Energy's prestigious Charles H. Percy Public Service Award; and, following Austin's response to Hurricane Katrina, was named Local Public Official of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers.

Affiliations

He is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition³, a bi-partisan anti-gun group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition is co-chaired by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Toll Roads

Mayor Wynn voted in favor of a Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) toll road plan on 2004 July 12, prompting the Texas People for Efficient Transportation PAC to start a movement seek a recall election of the mayor.⁴The committee failed in its attempt to collect enough signatures to place its referendum on the 2005 May 7 ballot⁵

Controversies

Mayor Will Wynn apologized after he physically ejected a man who had crashed a party at Wynn's downtown condo building on 2006 March 17.⁶ The man claimed that after being told to leave by Wynn, the mayor followed him outside and proceeded to choke him.⁷ On 2008 March 5, Travis County prosecutors charged Mayor Wynn with a Class C misdemeanor for assault for the Luke Johnson incident.⁸ On 2007 Nov 11, Mayor Wynn was also involved in an incident where he yelled at a big rig truck that was blocking morning rush hour traffic on downtown Austin's 5th Street. The Mayor apologized and said he "spewed a fog of profanity".⁹

References

External links

• City of Austin - Mayor Will Wynn Profile
• Mayors Against Illegal Guns
• The Austin Climate Protection Plan
• The Austin Climate Protection Plan
• Wynn to seek federal energy efficiency funding for Austin at U.S. Conference of Mayors
• USCM Climate Summit
• Texas Mayors Summit
• Address on plug-in hybrids
• Testimony to U.S. House Committee on Small Business and the U.S. House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming
• Wynn's re-election to USCM Energy Committee
• The C40 Large Cities Climate Summit in New York City
• Mayor Wynn at Sundance Summit

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• This page was last modified on 30 October 2008, at 04:42.

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