[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 8 (Wednesday, January 14, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S380-S381]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO TOM WATSON

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to honor a well-respected 
Kentuckian, Mr. Tom Watson. Throughout his life, Mr. Watson has 
contributed immensely to Owensboro and to the Commonwealth.
  Recently the Messenger-Inquirer in Owensboro, KY., published a story 
about Tom and his work as mayor of Owensboro. Throughout his career as 
a public servant, Tom has worked hard to give back to the community 
that he loves so dearly. I have worked closely with Tom over my career 
and have seen firsthand his dedication to the people of Owensboro.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Mayor Watson and wish him 
the very best as he embarks on new challenges. I further ask unanimous 
consent that the full article be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

         [From the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer, Dec. 19, 2008]

                          Watson Bids Farewell

                          (By Owen Covington)

       Owensboro Mayor Tom Watson closed out his term Thursday 
     night in the lobby of the RiverPark Center, just yards away 
     from where work has begun on a $37 million river wall for 
     which he helped secure funding.
       The farewell reception attended by dozens of friends, 
     families and colleagues was just two blocks away from The 
     Commerce Center, a ``one-stop-shop'' for business and 
     economic development that became a reality at Watson's 
     urging.
       ``I, for one, look forward to what he'll do next,'' City 
     Commissioner David Johnson told the crowd. ``Everything he 
     does is special, and he does it well and he does it with a 
     passion.''
       This week, Watson talked with the Messenger-Inquirer about 
     his four years in office and said he had no regrets about his 
     decision to leave city government.
       ``I'm just happy I had a chance to serve, and I'm humbled 
     that I made it through four years,'' Watson said.


                           Unified Government

       Watson jumped in the mayoral race in 2004 as a former 
     chairman of the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce who had 
     built a successful prosthetics and orthotics business with 
     offices in Owensboro and Evansville.
       Central to Watson's campaign was a drive for unified 
     government, a push to bring city and county government under 
     one entity to ``speak with one voice.''
       That push took Watson to Frankfort in 2006 when he helped 
     lobby support for a bill that would put cities and county on 
     a more even footing as they looked at unified government.
       That bill became law, and Watson and the commission adopted 
     an ordinance in early 2007 to create a commission to study 
     merger, but inaction by Daviess Fiscal Court meant Watson's 
     merger push went no further.
       ``I feel good we tried, but it didn't work out,'' Watson 
     said. ``It was something you've got to try to do.''
       Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce President Jody 
     Wassmer said Watson's election in 2004 is evidence that the 
     issue is one that will not go away.
       ``I think we've been able to move some things to the 
     forefront that will pay off in future administrations,'' 
     Wassmer said. ``I think Tom will probably be known as the man 
     that brought government merger back to the forefront.''
       At Thursday night's reception, Watson was made an honorary 
     judge-executive by Daviess County Judge-Executive Reid Haire, 
     with Haire noting with a smile that the title was probably 
     something the mayor had ``lusted for'' in the past.
       ``We have worked well together,'' Haire told Watson.


                        State, federal attention

       As mayor, Watson was able to use his connections with state 
     and federal elected officials to help bring the community 
     notice when in the past it had been overlooked.
       ``I think one of his greatest strengths was the 
     relationships that he developed with state and federal 
     officials, and those efforts brought Owensboro an 
     unprecedented amount of state and federal funding,'' said 
     former City Manager Bob Whitmer, who served for three of 
     Watson's four years.
       U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell said during a phone interview 
     Thursday that Watson is responsible for making him realize 
     how important riverfront development was to the community.
       ``He had a lot to do in getting me even more interested and 
     enthusiastic about the future of the Owensboro riverfront,'' 
     McConnell said. ``Tom deserves a lot of credit for pushing 
     that project, believing it was important and believing it 
     would transform the city.''


                          Economic development

       Just months after taking office, Watson along with Haire 
     unveiled a ``white paper'' that presented a plan with a 
     broader look at economic development efforts and resulted in 
     a more coordinated effort by the community.
       The paper also led to the creation of the separate Greater 
     Owensboro Economic Development Corp. and The Commerce Center, 
     which is now home to EDC, the chamber, the office of Downtown 
     Development Director Fred Reeves and the Owensboro 
     Metropolitan Planning Commission.
       ``I certainly think he and the judge presented and 
     articulated a vision about how they wanted economic 
     development to be a little more streamlined,'' said Nick 
     Brake, EDC president and CEO. ``He had some real strong ideas 
     about doing some things much differently than what we've done 
     in the past.''
       Thursday night, EDC board chairman Darrell Higginbotham 
     presented Watson with a framed copy of the cover of the 
     ``white paper'' and said a duplicate will be hung in the 
     EDC's offices.
       ``Your vision for The Commerce Center is a reality today,'' 
     Higginbotham told the mayor.


                        ``Man of great energy''

       Commissioner Al Mattingly Jr. noted Thursday night that he 
     got to know Watson as the two squared off in the mayoral 
     election in 2004 and has seen the sacrifices that Watson has 
     made as mayor.
       ``I know of no other man in the city of Owensboro that is 
     as compassionate, is as

[[Page S381]]

     caring or has as much empathy for others as Tom Watson,'' 
     Mattingly said. ``I think those are real traits in a 
     leader.''
       Watson's term wasn't without its controversies, and his 
     effort to seek state approval and funding for a joint 
     partnership between the city and development firm Gulfstream 
     Enterprises Inc. opened up a rift in the community.
       The city was hoping its partnership with Gulfstream for the 
     proposed Gateway Commons development on Kentucky 54 would 
     allow it to receive millions of dollars in tax increment 
     financing.
       Some viewed the push as an abandonment of efforts to 
     develop downtown, while others saw the project as the only 
     way to get state funding for a new mixed-use events center.
       The proposal prompted a lawsuit against the city and failed 
     to pass muster with the state, but it was followed by the 
     community backing the creation of a downtown master plan.
       ``You always knew where he stood,'' said City Manager Bill 
     Parrish. ``I've seen him as a man of great energy where you 
     know where he comes from and he wants to get things moving. 
     He is a man of unbounded enthusiasm.''
       Though not able to attend Thursday night, Commissioner 
     Cathy Armour sent her thoughts about the mayor in a letter 
     read by Mattingly, and wished him luck and now more time to 
     enjoy his grandchildren.
       Commissioner Candance Castlen Brake announced Thursday 
     night that the city staff and the commission would be making 
     a donation in Watson's name to the Daniel Pitino Shelter, an 
     organization that he has personally supported in the past and 
     urged the city to commit money to.
       Watson counts the proclamations he has announced and the 
     recognitions he has handed out as some of his fondest 
     moments, which also include visits to classrooms to talk 
     about city government and work to help open the Department of 
     Veterans Affairs clinic in the city.
       ``Really it hasn't been a job,'' Watson said Thursday 
     night. ``It's been another opportunity in my life to 
     participate in my community.''
       When asked if he had any second thoughts about not seeking 
     a second term, Watson explained that he is a ``front 
     windshield'' kind of man.
       ``I don't like to look out the rearview mirror too much,'' 
     Watson said. ``But you still have that piece of you that 
     wants to see things completed that you started. . . . It's 
     almost like a blur, really, it went by so fast.''

                          ____________________