[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 27, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S64]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO RETIRED MAYOR BETTY JO RHEA

   Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to 
one of South Carolina's leading ladies, Betty Jo Rhea. Betty Jo retired 
as Mayor of Rock Hill, South Carolina on January 20. With her 
retirement, my state loses one of its most beloved politicians and 
progressive leaders.
  Betty Jo Rhea began her career of public service over 25 years ago, 
when she was appointed to the Rock Hill Parks and Recreation 
Commission. She was elected to the Rock Hill City Council in 1977, and 
has spent the last 20 years in the thick of her city's political fray.
  In 1986, Rhea became Rock Hill's first woman Mayor. When she retired 
in January after 12 years in the office, she also was one of the city's 
longest serving and most popular mayors. During her tenure, Betty Jo 
focused her prodigious energies on attracting jobs to the region and 
preventing economic collapse in the wake of the closing of the textile 
mills that had underpinned Rock Hill's economy.
  She has been incredibly successful. Not only did she help prevent a 
severe recession, she led Rock Hill in an economic rejuvenation. Under 
her leadership, the city built three business parks to attract large 
industries, began a downtown revitalization and preservation program, 
and started a successful recycling program in cooperation with Rock 
Hill Clean and Green.
  But Betty Jo didn't stop there. She also went abroad to promote Rock 
Hill, serving as the region's most successful ambassador. She was 
President of the Municipal Association of South Carolina, on the board 
of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and active in the National League of 
Cities.
  In recognition of her achievements and dedication to her community, 
the Municipal Association of South Carolina awarded Rhea the Allison 
Farlow Award, its highest honor. And in appreciation of her support for 
recycling, conservation, and greenery programs, Rock Hill Clean and 
Green created the Rock Hill Environmental Action (RHEA) award, named in 
her honor. For Rhea's contributions to the community, Winthrop 
University bestowed on her an honorary doctorate.
  As Betty Jo's friends and admirers know, her greatest attributes are 
her sunny disposition, charm, and complete devotion and loyalty to Rock 
Hill and its people. Of course, these qualities haven't hurt her in 
politics, either. They have won her many friends and allies; and no 
doubt her success as Mayor has been aided by her habit of baking 
homemade bread for City Council members at Christmas.
  Fortunately for South Carolina, Betty Jo Rhea's retirement from her 
duties as Mayor is not a retirement from public life and community 
service. She is set to begin her new career as head of a fund-raising 
campaign for the arts, and she plans to volunteer with the Salvation 
Army. Rhea's days of ribbon-cutting are over, but the people of Rock 
Hill can look forward to many more years of her wise counsel and 
progressive leadership.
  Mr. President, I salute Betty Jo Rhea. She exemplifies all the 
virtues of citizenship and political leadership. She has pursued 
politics not out of egotism, but rather from the sincere desire to help 
her neighbors and strengthen her community. Thanks to her leadership, 
Rock Hill has not only weathered economic hardship, it has ridden the 
storm to ever-rising economic heights.
  As one of her many fans remarked upon her retirement, Betty Jo Rhea 
truly was ``a people's mayor.''

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