[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 58 (Tuesday, April 27, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E778-E779]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              IN HONOR OF RICARDO DIAZ AND BOBBI MARSELLS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. THOMAS M. BARRETT

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 27, 1999

  Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, today, I would like to share 
with my colleagues my appreciation and regard for Mr. Ricardo Diaz and 
Ms. Bobbi Marsells, of the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee. 
Today, Monday, April 26, 1999, the residents of Milwaukee's Hillside 
Public Housing Development are honoring Ricardo and Bobbi for their 
work to revitalize Hillside.
  Ask anyone familiar with HUD's HOPE VI public housing revitalization 
program, and they`ll tell you that Hillside`s transformation wasn't 
just another `revitalization'; it was more like a resurrection. In 
1993, most of the residents in Hillside lived below the poverty line 
and had no earned income at all, the facilities were ugly and outmoded, 
the neighborhood was plagued with drugs and crime, and most public 
housing applicants preferred to wait longer for help than to move 
there. Today, earned income is way up, poverty and crime are way down, 
the design and appearance of the buildings and neighborhood are 
contemporary, attractive, and functional, and Hillside has a waiting 
list of eager would-be residents.
  Hillside is special not just for Milwaukee, but as an example for the 
national of what public housing can be. Hillside shows us that 
revitalization means more than just, safe, structurally sound, and 
comfortable buildings. Hillside demonstrates that co-locating 
supportive services offered in partnership with committed, community-
based organizations can help public housing residents to work their way 
out of poverty. Hillside also reminds us that removing design barriers 
like dead-end streets and tree-line screens, and actually integrating a 
public housing development into the surrounding neighborhood, can 
reduce crime and raise the quality of life for the residents of the 
development.
  Many people contributed to Hillside's transformation, but the 
indispensable element, the driving force that made it happen, was the 
team of Ricardo Diaz and Bobbi Marsells. Ricardo and Bobbi helped 
political leaders convince HUD that the revitalization strategy was 
sound and they built and energized a coalition

[[Page E779]]

of local supporters. As a result, Milwaukee won a $47.5 million HOPE VI 
award that made Hillside' remarkable transformation possible. They also 
took a very personal and active role in the implementation of 
Hillside's HOPE VI project, and the end result is a reflection of their 
commitment and vision.
  Ricardo and Bobbi were not content to stop at Hillside. They worked 
tirelessly over the past few years to help secure a $34 million HOPE VI 
grant to revitalize the Parklawn Public Housing Development. Today, 
they are planning Parklawn's transformation, and I am confident that a 
few years from now, Parklawn will reflect the same innovative vision 
that Hillside represents today.
  Mr. Speaker, very few people can look back on a body of work and say 
that they helped change a whole community and set a new standard for 
the nation. Fewer people still can say that they're planning to do it 
again. Because of their determination, their devotion, their ingenuity, 
their charm, and their very, very hard work, Ricardo Diaz and Bobbi 
Marsells are among the those few. On behalf of the people of Milwaukee, 
I thank them for their efforts to make our city a better place to live.

                          ____________________