[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 28, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E224]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING CAROLYN MEEKER

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL BILIRAKIS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 28, 2006

  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Carolyn Meeker, a 
community champion whose activism has been missed by those in the small 
community for which she once fought.
  Carolyn Meeker was a community treasure in the tiny town of Lutz, 
located in my congressional district. A native New Yorker, she moved to 
Lutz in the mid-1960s and quickly became immersed in issues affecting 
her and her neighbors. She led the charge against suburban sprawl and 
excessive development. She successfully restricted zoning laws and 
helped impose limitations on public well field pumping.
  Mrs. Meeker became a regular at Hillsborough County Commission 
meetings. She firmly, but politely, shared her well-reasoned arguments 
with commissioners, many of whom favored that which she opposed. Her 
arguments often carried the day because, as a long-time friend once 
noted, she let facts, not emotion, guide her.
  She eventually ran for the Commission herself, narrowly losing the 
election but nonetheless continuing her crusade to protect the rural 
lifestyle which so many in Lutz love. She subsequently served on many 
County-appointed boards working for better growth management. She also 
headed the Lutz Civic Association. She died in 2003 after a determined 
fight against cancer.
  Mr. Speaker, Carolyn Meeker was a shining example of what community 
service and citizenship is all about. Her life reminds me that we all 
share a responsibility to be civic-minded and to fight for that in 
which we believe. Many of my constituents are better off because she 
did.

                          ____________________