[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 134 (Wednesday, October 6, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2048]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                IN TRIBUTE TO J. WILLIAM ``BILL'' LITTLE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELTON GALLEGLY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, October 6, 1999

  Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to J. William 
``Bill'' Little, who will retire as City Manager of Camarillo, 
California, this month after bringing it back from the precipice of 
bankruptcy.
  As a former mayor of a neighboring city, I know firsthand how 
important it is to have someone of Bill Little's caliber at the helm. 
He is a low-key taskmaster who works quietly and effectively to ensure 
necessary assignments are accomplished. Eleven years ago, Camarillo 
suffered a $25 million loss to bad investments. Its budget was 
bleeding. The employee pension fund was bare. Then the city hired Bill 
Little.
  Today, the city of 62,500 is thriving. In 1987, the city brought in 
$2.5 million in sales taxes. In 1998 it took in $6.3 million, thanks in 
large part to the upscale outlet mall and other retail endeavors Bill 
Little brought to Camarillo. Its credit rating has rebounded. It has 
money to spend to better the community.
  Although Camarillo has long been in the center of the urbanized 
stretch of Ventura County, meeting planners previously bypassed it for 
``more suitable'' locales. Today, Camarillo is recognized as a fine 
place to bring the east and west together. Under Bill Little's 
guidance, it has also become a center for high-tech firms.
  Only a person with the rare gifts of both vision and ability could 
have made it happen. After tightening the city's belt and making it 
solvent, Bill Little led the way toward rebuilding the city's 
infrastructure, including a new water treatment plant and police 
station. Streets were widened, three interchanges off the Ventura 
Freeway were added, and the county was persuaded to build a new fire 
station in the city.
  Those improvements made the city much more attractive to commerce, 
and commerce has responded enthusiastically.
  Bill Little is also largely responsible for bringing Ventura County's 
first four-year university to Camarillo, a facility that will improve 
the educational and job opportunities for Ventura County residents for 
decades to come.
  Bill and wife Mary will remain in Camarillo after he retires, 
enjoying the community he raised up from near catastrophe. The city 
owes Bill Little a debt of gratitude, but he's not one for such 
sentiments. He says he was just doing his job, but he did it quite 
well.
  Mr. Speaker, I know my colleagues will join me in congratulating Bill 
Little for proving that the seemingly impossible can be done, for 
improving the lifestyle for the City of Camarillo and for all of 
Ventura County, and for accomplishing it all with understated class.

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