[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 9 (Wednesday, February 2, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E152]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     IN RECOGNITION OF PAUL DANISH

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 2, 2005

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Paul Danish 
for his decades of exemplary public service to Colorado. Paul is one of 
Boulder's outstanding political and journalistic figures, and I want to 
thank him on behalf of all Boulder's citizens for his fine service as 
County Commissioner for the past twelve years. He has shared his 
skills, experience, humor, and passions with us, and he is much 
treasured in turn by his community.
  Born in Chicago, Paul moved with his family to Colorado in the 1940s 
and attended the University of Colorado in 1960. He received a 
bachelor's degree in history from CU and did graduate work in political 
science. To put his student period in perspective, he was instrumental 
during his years at CU in the transformation of the University Memorial 
Center cafeteria from the Indian Grill to the interim Roaring Fork to 
the lasting Alfred Packer Grill.
  Paul Danish's journalism career began with the student newspaper, 
Silver and Gold, which later changed its name to the Colorado Daily. He 
has been a reporter for the United Press International, the San 
Francisco Chronicle, and Boulder's Town and Country Review. He was 
technical editor for the Joint Institute of Astrophysics in Boulder and 
the Negev Institute for Arid Zone Research in Beer Sheva, Israel. His 
work experience includes being a special assistant to the late 
University of Colorado President Roland Rautenstraus and editor for 
Talmey-Drake Research in Boulder.
  He served as a Boulder City Council member from 1976 to 1982. In the 
early 1970s, Boulder residents were seriously concerned about the 
adverse impact of unplanned growth on the area's environment. Paul 
authored Boulder's original growth management plan which was passed by 
the voters in 1976. The Danish Plan limited population growth by 
restricting the number of building permits that could be issued each 
year for residential subdivisions. After the expiration of the Danish 
Plan in 1982, Boulder has continued to successfully manage growth based 
on his original strategies.
  Paul has never hesitated before political rough and tumbles, and in 
1995, he won a well-fought four-way campaign to fill the vacancy for 
Boulder County Commissioner. Who among the 300-some vacancy committee 
members will ever forget the speech-of-a-lifetime he gave the day of 
that vote? He has never been `short' on the free give and take of 
ideas, or on his irresistible tendency to be honest and forthright, or 
on time for coffee with a friend.
  As a county commissioner, Paul has been very involved in the cleanup 
and future use of the Rocky Flats site. He has been an effective 
advocate for an aggressive cleanup, protecting worker safety, and 
ensuring that former workers are compensated for any adverse health 
effects they may have encountered while working there. He has also 
worked tirelessly for sound land-use and sensible growth throughout the 
county. Citizens of Boulder will miss his tenacious commitment to 
policies that serve the environment and the education and health of 
people.
  For many years, Paul wrote columns for the Colorado Daily after it 
became privately owned, and he was a contributing editor to the Soldier 
of Fortune magazine. His writings are always alive and kicking with 
subjects ranging from prairie dogs and Greek agoras to national 
politics and international issues. In person, he combines a 
distinguished intellect with a genial sense of fun. A volunteer on the 
way to work for his early campaigns could always find his headquarters 
by the peals of laughter emanating from his gardens and front door. And 
he continues to throw great celebration parties in Boulder's finest 
tradition.
  Paul Danish has made important contributions to the protection and 
preservation of the quality of life in Boulder County, as well as to 
the diversity of views in our communities. I ask my colleagues to join 
me in thanking Paul Danish for the courageous stands he has taken for 
the people of Boulder and his unswerving dedication to principles of 
free expression. I wish him congratulations on his accomplishments and 
good health and happiness to him and his family in the future.

                          ____________________