[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 95 (Wednesday, June 23, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1183]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         HONORING LEE'S SUMMIT, MISSOURI, MAYOR KAREN MESSERLI

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EMANUEL CLEAVER

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 23, 2010

  Mr. CLEAVER. Madam Speaker, I proudly rise today to pay tribute to 
Mayor Karen Messerli, who has graciously served the City of Lee's 
Summit, Missouri, for twenty-one years as an elected official.
  Karen Rose Messerli was elected Mayor on April 4, 1994, becoming the 
first woman to hold that office in the history of Lee's Summit, a fast-
growing community of over 93,000 residents, in the Metropolitan Kansas 
City Area. This year, Mayor Messerli completed sixteen years of 
dedicated service as Mayor, a tenure which has been prolific for Lee's 
Summit as well as Missouri's Fifth Congressional District.
  Mayor Messerli is widely recognized as an active leader in the 
metropolitan area on a variety of regional issues. She was a founding 
member of the Tri City Mayors Coalition, a coalition of mayors from 
three major cities in Eastern Jackson County. She also served as a 
member of the Eastern Jackson County Betterment Council, and worked on 
the successful campaign for the Bi-State Cultural Tax to renovate 
Kansas City's Union Station. In October 2000, Mayor Messerli was 
elected as President of the Missouri Municipal League, an organization 
of over 610 municipalities in Missouri. Prior to this, she served as 
Vice President and on the Board of Directors. She has also been 
extremely active in her support of Hope House, an organization serving 
battered women, as a member of the Board of Directors and serving as 
co-chair for the Capital Campaign to build a domestic violence shelter 
in Lee's Summit.
  Mayor Messerli has received numerous awards, including being named 
the Woman of the Year by the State of Missouri Business and 
Professional Women Organization in 1998. In 2002, she was one of sixty 
women featured in the book, ``A Power of Her Own'' by Kathryn Sommer, a 
collection of stories about women from the Kansas City area who were 
the first to make significant strides for women. She was also the 
recipient of the 2004 Missouri Parks and Recreation Association Public 
Official Achievement Award. In 2009, she received the Dick King Award 
from the Missouri Economic Development Financing Association to honor 
her commitment to economic development and community betterment.
  The citizens of Lee's Summit know Mayor Messerli as a respected 
leader whose integrity has brought trust to the city government. To her 
family, she is a loving wife, a caring mother of two, and an adoring 
grandmother of three. In addition to her achievements as a public 
official, Mayor Messerli is also an accomplished equestrian and has won 
many awards showing Arabian and national show horses in local, 
regional, and national circuits.
  I first met Karen when I was serving as Mayor of Kansas City, 
Missouri, and we developed a friendship that has lasted long past my 
mayoral terms. One of my greatest memories is attending a concert that 
featured musical legends such as Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder with 
Mayor Messerli while she was visiting Washington, D.C.
  Madam Speaker, I ask that you and our colleagues in the House join me 
in saluting the former Mayor of Lee's Summit, Karen Messerli, for her 
leadership and many accomplishments for the City of Lee's Summit, 
Missouri. We wish her the very best as she leaves public office and 
pursues other endeavors. Thank you to Karen Messerli for choosing to 
serve. Her time as Mayor not only enriched the community and residents 
of Lee's Summit, Missouri, but also the entire Fifth Congressional 
District.

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