[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 159 (Wednesday, November 5, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2234]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        COMMENDING JOHN WILLIAMS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. STEVE BUYER

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 5, 2003

  Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend and thank John 
Williams, Mayor of Bedford, Indiana, for completing 24 years of service 
to the great people of Indiana. I wish John, Jean and their family well 
in his retirement.
  Public service often brings great satisfaction in the ability to help 
people. During the last three decades, John has worked hard to better 
the lives of those in southern Indiana. At the same time, those who 
serve cannot do so alone. John's wife, Jean, too, has been a valuable 
member of the community in public service and, has given her support, 
even as she had her own personal health battles.
  Mr. Speaker, Indiana has benefitted from the service of these two 
fine Hoosiers and I am proud to call both John and Jean Williams my 
friend.
  Tonight, I rise to recognize a unique man who has left a positive 
mark. By my count, Mayor Williams will have served some 8,760 days in 
office spanning 24 years. During his unprecedented tenure, the city's 
landscape has undergone a remarkable change for the better as vacant 
stores acquired tenants and empty lots sprouted new homes and 
businesses. City pride has swelled and Bedford's reputation of sound 
government and livability has spread throughout the State of Indiana.
  When Mayor Williams entered office he inherited a city with a 
decaying downtown business district and an outdated and malfunctioning 
infrastructure. To be successful, he realized that community action and 
involvement were needed. He established a citizens' committee to lead 
efforts to rejuvenate downtown and at the same time worked with state 
officials to improve transportation and utility services.
  Mr. Speaker, today that same ``citizens'' committee'' still operates 
and has evolved into the present-day Bedford Revitalization, Inc. As 
with many smaller communities, the courthouse square, once a bastion of 
activity had slowed. In recent years, the community behind the 
leadership of Mayor Williams, focused upon the development of the 
Courthouse Square business district and they succeeded in redeveloping 
it into the center of the community as it once stood. Moreover, they 
have succeeded in having the district included in the National Register 
of Historic Places.
  Bedford, Indiana, located approximately 76 miles south of 
Indianapolis, had many of the same challenges regarding transportation 
and infrastructure of other cities its size. In the early 1980s, Mayor 
Williams used his creativity to solve the transportation problem for 
local residents. He worked with state and federal agencies and created 
the Transit Authority of the Stone City (TASC). In the 1990s, he built 
upon that effort and initiated a point-to-point, or door-to-door, 
pickup service that streamlined the operation. This success prompted 
state transportation officials to cite TASC as a model program for 
other small to medium-sized Hoosier cities to emulate. Today, the buses 
record about 80,000 passenger trips a year, providing mobility and 
independence for many of our citizens.
  Mayor Williams' transportation successes, and his efforts to expand 
and develop opportunities for local businesses and individuals to 
compete in the marketplace, resulted in a four-lane east-west street 
connecting Indiana State Road 37 and Lincoln Avenue that is now named 
after the Mayor. Doing so, opened hundreds of acres for industrial and 
business development. The process took ten years from inception to 
completion, but, today, John A. Williams Boulevard is a main artery in 
the city.
  Mr. Speaker, furthering recreation has been a continuing program in 
Mayor Williams' administration. Today, Bedford has seven city parks and 
an 18-hole golf course, which has been called one of the best municipal 
courses in Indiana.
  Mayor Williams may be retiring but he still has a lot to give to 
Indiana and Indiana owes a lot to him. I am pleased to join with the 
citizens of Bedford and salute my friend, Mayor John Williams, on a 
lifetime of public service and a job well done. God speed!

                          ____________________