[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 147 (Tuesday, November 29, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: November 29, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
             ON THE RETIREMENT OF THE HONORABLE ROD DIRIDON

                                 ______


                         HON. NORMAN Y. MINETA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 29, 1994

  Mr. Mineta. Mr. Speaker, during the 20 years in which I have had the 
honor of representing the people of Santa Clara County in the U.S. 
House of Representatives, many of those same constituents have enjoyed 
the fair and dedicated representation of Rod Diridon as their voice on 
the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. From the moment we were 
both elected to our posts in 1974, it has been a pleasure and an honor 
to work with Supervisor Diridon in addressing the needs of our 
community.
  On December 31, 1994, in Santa Clara County, CA, Rod Diridon will 
officially retire from two decades of service as a Member of the Santa 
Clara County Board of Supervisors.
  Mr. Speaker, Rod Diridon is a man of vision. His leadership as five 
time Chair of the Santa Clara County Transit District, Chair of the 
Metropolitan Transportation Commission for the nine counties of the San 
Francisco Bay area, Transit Liaison to the Department of Transportation 
for the State of California, and Chair of the American Public Transit 
Association are but a few of the many positions held by Mr. Diridon 
which demonstrate his expertise in the field of transportation. Through 
his outstanding leadership and advocacy in transit planning, Supervisor 
Diridon has helped lay the foundation for creating a new rail transit 
system in Santa Clara County. As Chair of the Committee on Public Works 
and Transportation in the U.S. House of Representatives, I have been 
grateful for Rod's partnership in responding to the transportation 
needs of our growing valley.
  Rod Diridon has provided unparalleled leadership during his tenure on 
the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. He has presided over more 
than one hundred national, state, and local community service programs 
and projects. As Chair of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District 
and the Association of Bay Area Governments, Mr. Diridon has been 
responsible for the development of the San Francisco region's major 
housing and environmental master plans. He has been involved with 
nearly every major land-use decision made in the bay area for well over 
a decade.

  Mr. Speaker, Rod Diridon is a man of great principle. He has, time 
and again, demonstrated a willingness to fight for worthy causes, even 
in the face of fierce opposition and passionate controversy. Rod 
Diridon refused to back down from his battle for safer streets in our 
community, despite powerfully organized efforts to defeat the gun 
control ordinance he firmly supported. Thanks to Rod's leadership, our 
county recognizes the danger posed by assault weapons and has taken a 
stronger stand against crime. Our community now has the lowest crime 
rate of any major metropolitan area in our Nation.
  Rod Diridon has served as a defender of those programs vital to the 
members of our community who depend upon services and funding provided 
through the county government. Rod has worked repeatedly with a variety 
of funding sources to ensure continued support for our county parks and 
libraries. As a champion of clean air, Supervisor Diridon has supported 
new programs to reduce air pollution, and successfully led a strongly 
contested effort to establish one of the first ordinances in the Nation 
to limit public smoking. He has consistently protected funding for 
county health care services, fighting for equal health care options for 
all women and to guarantee that no indigent member of our community 
would be turned away in a time of greatest need. And, Mr. Speaker, it 
was Rod Diridon who took the initiative in my home of Santa Clara 
County to introduce and pass an ordinance calling for reparations for 
former county employees of Japanese ancestry who lost their jobs upon 
being interned during the Second World War.
  Over the course of two decades, Mr. Speaker, Supervisor Rod Diridon 
presided over the positive and healthy manner in which our community 
made the transition from the blossom covered orchards of the Valley of 
the Heart's Delight to today's bustling center of technology, Silicon 
Valley. With his vision and foresight, Rod Diridon led the way in 
planning for the future of our county, defined our community as a 
regional and national leader in the areas of his expertise, and 
remained forever committed to the daily services important to his 
constituents.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that my colleagues in the House of Representatives 
join me in honoring Rod Diridon as he retires from 20 years of service 
on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, and in recognizing his 
numerous achievements which remain as testimony to his success as a 
modern pioneer and exemplary public servant.