[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 24 (Thursday, March 7, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E296-E297]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING RICHARD ``DICK'' DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 7, 2002

  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of Richard 
``Dick'' Day, a man who walked his talk with both integrity and good 
humor, and whose life should encourage every citizen working for a 
better community.
  Born in Idaho of a large and boisterous family 67 years ago, Dick Day 
matured in the hot political atmosphere of the California of the 60's. 
Not one to fear overwhelming odds, the young Dick Day chaired John F. 
Kennedy's presidential campaign in the Republican heartland of Orange 
County. Later, Day attended U.C. Berkeley's Boalt School of Law 
balancing his studies with a whimsical campaign for a seat in the 
California legislature, which he lost handily.
  After gradation in 1968, the 32-year-old lawyer moved to the fast 
growing city of Rohnert Park in Sonoma County. The next year, Day moved 
to Santa Rosa and won election to the Sonoma County Board of Education. 
In 1970 he lost election to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. In 
1979, Day was selected by Governor Jerry Brown to fill a vacancy on the 
Sonoma County Municipal Court, a position he lost in a mid-year 
election a year later.
  Dick Day's destiny was not to be an office-holder, but to be a man 
who seized on important issues from the grassroots. Day joined with 
Bill Kortum, Chuck Rhinehart and others to fight against an attempt by 
private developers to block 13 miles of spectacular coast from coastal 
access. As the attorney for Californians Organized to Acquire Access to 
State Tidelands (COAAST), Day was able to convince the state Supreme 
Court to overturn a county supervisor decision favorable to developers; 
and later become instrumental in the passage of a statewide measure 
that guaranteed public access to beaches in the state and formed a new 
agency, the California Coastal Commission which is chartered to protect 
California's coastline from overdevelopment.
  In an ongoing fight against unrestrained growth, Day served on the 
board of Sonoma County Tomorrow; was a founder of a coalition of Santa 
Rosa neighborhood groups and became chair of the Committee to Oppose 
Warm Springs Dam. Later he helped form Concerned Citizens for Santa 
Rosa, which became an influential player in Santa Rosa politics and a 
training ground for several future leaders, including current 
California Assemblywoman Pat Wiggins. Day was also a founder of Sonoma 
County Environmental Action, an effective grassroots political 
organization that helped elect numerous environmental progressives to 
Sonoma County city and county government. Fighting against sprawl, Day 
pushed for city-centered transit as a founder of the Sonoma County 
Transportation Coalition and for downtown revitalization as a member of 
Heart of Santa Rosa.
  Dick Day provided both legal advice and political savvy to all of 
these groups. Always outspoken, he learned he was most effective in a 
background role. When there was a press release, a letter to the 
editor, a legal challenge to be written, Dick Day was always ready to 
serve. He didn't always carry the day, but working with others, he won 
significant victories in protecting the Russian River against dredging, 
limiting campaign contributions in local elections, creating greenbelts 
around the county's cities, and defeating tax measures to widen 
highways without developing public transit. Representing the Sierra 
Club he won a settlement from the Santa Rosa City Council

[[Page E297]]

in the early 90's, after charging that the Council acted improperly in 
providing tax incentives to the developers of a shopping center.
  Dick Day had many opponents, but no real enemies. It was clear that 
he was coming from a place of integrity. He was a gregarious man, 
always armed with a quip. He loved to hold court in Mac's Delicatessen 
in downtown Santa Rosa, advise and josh his friends, and debate and 
trade barbs with folks of other political persuasions. Politics was 
play to Dick as much as it was serious business.
  He was blessed with a long and loving relationship with his wife, 
Jean, who was a partner in all of his endeavors, and helped provide a 
home full of warmth, good conversation and books. Jean died last year, 
and Dick carried on bravely though his heart was broken.
  We will miss Dick Day. His activism showed us that dedicated, 
informed citizens can make democracy work. And clearly, for all who 
knew him, Dick Day has been elected to our hearts for life.

                          ____________________