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Aloha `ohana, 

I hope you are all recovering from last week's tough decision at the City Council. We will be meeting on Friday (2/24) at 6pm at LCC-W to debrief what happened and discuss next steps. If you haven't yet had a chance please call Mayor Peter Carlisle (mayor@honolulu.gov, 768-4141) to ask him to veto Bill 50. He must make a decision to veto by next Friday, March 2nd. Is anyone willing before than to come in to Honolulu to ask him to veto the bill? Remember while we're mad and disappointed with the council members, he actually hasn't been involved with this issue and we should give him a chance to do the right thing. It is also not too late to call the members who voted to keep the Purple Spot in to express your frustration:

*Ann Kobayashi (Manoa to Kaakako, Makiki to Kaimuki) 768-5005
*Ikaika Anderson (Waimanalo to Kaneohe) 768-5003
*Ernie Martin (Wahiawa to Kahalu`u) 768-5002
Stanley Chang: 768-5004
Romy Cachola: 768-5007
Nestor Garcia: 768-5009

You can also call to mahalo the three who voted to remove the spot and ask them if they'll help pressure Carlisle to veto the bill.
Tulsi Gabbard: 768-5006
Breene Harimoto: 768-5008
Tom Berg: 768-5001

I went to a GMO Labeling rally at the capital and saw Anthony Aalto of the Sierra Club speak. Of all the different things he could say during his speech, he chose to talk about the city council's poor decision to pass Bill 50 with the Purple Spot in it. Even though we didn't get exactly what we wanted in this fight, know that your energy is not in vain--you are causing ripples all throughout your community as well as in more distant circles. Mahalo nui for all your time and aloha, hopefully see you tomorrow night.

-Shelley