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Loyd Cortez

San Antonio, Texas
Vice Chair
Alamo Group

"Anger is what got me involved with the Sierra Club," says Loyd Cortez, whose easygoing nature makes a decidedly un-angry first impression. "The city of San Antonio wanted to cut down a lot of trees on undeveloped land and build a golf course on top of our local aquifer. Most citizens were against it, but the only way to legally fight the re-zoning was to get 70,000 petitions and put it on the ballot."

Cortez at first expected only to sign the petition. But when no one in his part of town volunteered to collect signatures, he stepped up. "I set up a table at the P.O. and gathered signatures for 3-4 hours a day. All told, we got 100,000. But the city council exploited a legal loophole—a technicality on the wording of the ballot initiative—and approved the golf course. That really ticked me off. That's when I joined the Sierra Club."

A retired mainframe computer programmer, Cortez soon found himself speaking in public on water quality and zoning issues. When the Alamo Group chair heard him speak, he asked Cortez to run for the Alamo Group excom, which he did—successfully. He now serves as group vice chair, membership chair, and webmaster.

"My goal is to raise awareness," Cortez says. "I tell people if they want to make a difference they should join the Sierra Club and sign up for action alerts. One person standing in front of his city council won’t have much impact. But if 1,000 people sign on, elected officials will listen."

In his spare time, Cortez enjoys traveling to Austin for the restaurants, cafes, and the nightlife. In San Antonio, he hops on his motorcycle to get around. "It gets 45 mpg," he winks. "It's hard to beat that for fuel economy."

Published: January 22, 2007