[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 127 (Thursday, October 12, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1760]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 TRIBUTE TO JAY R. STROH, DIRECTOR OF CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF ALCOHOL 
                            BEVERAGE CONTROL

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JERRY LEWIS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 11, 2000

  Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I would like to call your 
attention today to one of California's most unsung dedicated public 
servants: Mr. Jay R. Stroh, who has been director of California's 
Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control for 17 years, during which 
time he has professionalized and modernized an extremely important and 
complex agency.
  Jay R. Stroh began his public career as a deputy with the Los Angeles 
Sheriff's Department, rising through the ranks to become captain. He 
was Chief of Police for the City of Inglewood for 10 years, and Chief 
of Police of El Segundo for four and a half years. He was appointed by 
Governor Ronald Reagan to the Commission on Peace Officers Standards 
and Training, served at the California State University Los Angeles as 
a member of the Institute Planning Committee on Police Science and 
Administration, School of Applied Arts and Sciences, and at El Camino 
College.
  Mr. Stroh was first appointed Director of the Department of Alcoholic 
Beverage Control (ABC) by Governor George Deukmejian on February 3, 
1983, reappointed by Governor Pete Wilson and again by Governor Gray 
Davis upon his election in 1999. Respected by the alcoholic beverage 
industry, law enforcement and community coalitions, Mr. Stroh has 
received recognition by State legislators, both Democrats and 
Republicans, as an effective leader.
  While he has been Director, Mr. Stroh has turned the ABC into a 
proactive agency with several innovative programs that brought 
merchants, law enforcement, youth, community leaders and alcoholic 
beverage industry members together. Mr. Stroh helped pass legislation 
elevating the Department's peace officer status to a classification 
equivalent to the California Highway Patrol. He increased by one-third 
the field enforcement activities of Department investigators and 
streamlined and modernized the Department's licensing and investigative 
procedures.
  Mr. Stroh's tenure is believed to be the longest continuous 
directorship in California state government. His retirement brings to a 
close 49 years as a public servant to the people of California. Mr. 
Speaker, please join me in thanking Jay R. Stroh for his dedicated 
service and numerous accomplishments, and in wishing he and his wife, 
Jackie, good luck in their future endeavors.

                          ____________________