[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 127 (Tuesday, July 29, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1582-E1583]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO MARVIN HAMMOND

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR.

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 29, 2008

  Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, Marvin Hammond, a longtime friend, has now 
retired for the second time, first from Knoxville Utilities Board, and 
now from the Hallsdale-Powell Utility District.
  I did all sorts of odd jobs as a boy--selling programs and 
refreshments at ball games, mowing yards--but my first hourly-pay job 
was as a groundskeeper at Holston-Chilhowee Ball Park in East 
Knoxville.
  I was 15, and I made $1.00 an hour. My first boss was a 19-year-old 
named Marvin Hammond. He worked under Coach Raleigh Johnson, but Marvin 
was the one who told me what to do.
  From that time in the early 1960s, I have thought of Marvin Hammond 
as one of the finest men I have ever known.
  He went from his job as manager of Holston High School athletic teams 
to a position as a trainer in the Cincinnati Reds Farm System and got 
to know many of the all-time great baseball players, such as Pete Rose 
and others.
  He spent most of his career as an executive with the Knoxville 
Utilities Board. He was one of the most popular and respected employees 
of KUB.
  I remember my first race for Congress in 1988 when he was driving me 
and some other people on a campaign swing to some distant parts in our 
district.
  One of the other campaigners, jokingly but pretending to be serious, 
complained about his ``huge'' utility bill. Marvin, very concerned, 
said, ``Lance, How much was it?'' When Lance replied ``$36,'' Marvin 
almost ran off the road.
  I remember another time when I was a judge, Marvin found that I was 
Cubmaster of a Cub Scout troop. He told me he could get several canoes 
from another church and he knew some people who owned a dairy farm 45 
miles away with a big lake on it.
  He spent his whole day getting the canoes, helping the boys tour the 
farm, do the canoe rides, cook out, and then load everything back up 
for the return.
  When I was first starting my law practice and needing to make some 
money, Marvin told me he was head of off-campus instruction in 
Knoxville for Walters State Community College.
  He hired me, for $500 a semester, to teach political science, I 
believe for three semesters. Many of the students were police officers, 
which also helped me in my law practice.
  So, you can see, Madam Speaker, that Marvin Hammond has had a big 
influence on my life. I am very grateful to him.
  But he has helped so many people over the years, and I am certain he 
has made his community and the Nation much better by all he has done.
  Sandra Clark, another longtime friend and the publisher of the Halls 
Shopper News, has

[[Page E1583]]

written a column in tribute to Marvin Hammond. I would like to have it 
reprinted in the Record and call it to the attention of my colleagues 
and others.

                 [From the Shopper-News, July 21, 2008]

                             Missing Marvin

       If ever there was a man who opted to wear out rather than 
     rust out, it is Marvin Hammond.
       He's retired again, but don't count on it sticking with 
     Marvin.
       A crisis in Maynardville left folks without water over the 
     Fourth of July holiday. City officials asked Hallsdale-Powell 
     Utility District for help, and Hammond was quick to respond. 
     ``Hook them up,'' he said, ``and we'll work out the paperwork 
     later.''
       ``One man told me he had a shower for the first time in 10 
     days,'' Hammond said last week.
       Utility districts network in order to sell water across 
     systems when necessary. Maynardville Utility District had not 
     tapped into HPUD's new water plant on Norris Lake. There are 
     issues with water pressure and leaks up there, but these are 
     engineering concerns--fixable.
       Hammond had the vision to build a new water plant on Norris 
     Lake and to expand the one on Melton Hill Lake. Hallsdale-
     Powell customers won't be running out of water. And Hammond 
     leaves the district in a position to sell water to our 
     neighbors.
       Hammond was named president of HPUD in 2000. He took the 
     title president emeritus last week as Darren Cardwell was 
     elevated to the top job. Cardwell is just the third leader of 
     HPUD, the district built by general manager Allan Gill of 
     Powell.
       Hammond, who earlier had retired from KUB, found a district 
     with money in the bank and low rates; he left a district in 
     debt with substantially higher rates.
       Construction foreman Greg McCloud said it best: ``Hallsdale 
     was getting bigger (more customers), but we were not getting 
     better.''
       Hammond set out to improve customer relations and to build 
     partnerships with regulatory bodies such as the Environmental 
     Protection Agency and the Tennessee Department of Environment 
     and Conservation. He replaced much of the 150 miles of 2-inch 
     galvanized water line and looked for leaks that were draining 
     off 39 percent of HPUD's treated water. He hired engineers 
     and consultants to upgrade the wastewater system and put a 
     halt to violations at the treatment plant.
       Engineer Nick Jackson said no violations have been reported 
     for 25 consecutive months, and HPUD will receive the Water 
     Environment Association operational excellence award this 
     week at the WEA conference in Knoxville. The award covers a 
     2-state region of Kentucky and Tennessee.
       Hammond is credited with development of a long range 
     strategic plan which includes expanding HPUD's service area.
       In 1999, HPUD served 21,780 customers with physical plant 
     assets of $66 million.
       Today, the district serves 28,200 customers with physical 
     plant assets of $144 million.
       Sometimes we just get lucky.
       Halls and Powell residents were blessed with the leadership 
     of Allan Gill--a man with military bearing who brooked no 
     nonsense and built a water system through grit and willpower.
       Likewise, we were blessed with the leadership of Marvin 
     Hammond--a man with vision for the future and the courage to 
     raise the rates to pay for progress.

                          ____________________