[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 6 (Tuesday, January 13, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E57-E58]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        IN HONOR OF LOU CALCAGNO

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 13, 2015

  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to draw the attention of the 
House to the remarkable

[[Page E58]]

public service career of Lou Calcagno. I have had the distinct honor 
and pleasure of working with Lou for nearly 40 years in many capacities 
ranging from local land use questions to federal farm policy. Today is 
his last meeting as a Monterey County Supervisor and I wanted to take a 
moment to recognize his record and example.
   Lou was born in 1937 on his family's ranch in Moss Landing, 
California, the youngest son of Italian immigrant parents Pietro and 
Clara Calcagno. He grew up in his family's dairy operation and attended 
Monterey County schools. Hoping to take the family business to the next 
level, Lou left home to study dairy husbandry and manufacturing at Cal-
Poly, San Luis Obispo. He then returned to put his expertise to use and 
built a career as a highly successful dairyman, which included service 
as: Chairman of the California Milk Advisory Board, Chairman of the 
National Dairy Promotion and Research Board and Chairman of the 
California Co-Operative Creamery, and co-founder of the California Milk 
Advisory Board.
   As Lou was building his successful dairy career, he married Carol 
Lanini. Together, Carol and Lou raised two children: Louis Franklyn 
(Carolyn) Calcagno and Debbie Calcagno Soares; and, they have three 
grandchildren: Adam (Colleen) Soares, Lauren Soares, and Jennifer 
Calcagno and one great-grandson, Bradley Franklyn Soares.
   Lou's work in the dairy industry and agriculture more broadly pulled 
him into the world of public policy. Lou quickly became involved in 
local and state government and many other public service efforts, 
including leadership positions with the Monterey County Planning 
Commission, the Ag Land Trust, the Monterey County Fair, the Monterey 
Regional Water Pollution Control Agency, the Fort Ord Reuse Authority, 
the Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority, the North County Water Issues 
Advisory Committee, LAFCO, the Pajaro River Watershed Flood Prevention 
Authority, the Monterey Regional Waste Management District, TAMC, and 
is the only Republican to chair the California Coastal Commission, just 
to name a few.
   The culmination of Lou's public service was the 16 years he spent as 
a member of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors. As one of his 
predecessors on that board myself, I know first-hand how much 
difference you can make in the lives of the people of your community. 
Lou's service was definitive proof of that truth. He amassed a dynamic 
record of pragmatic leadership and problem solving that including 
turning around the finances of Monterey County's public hospital, 
prioritizing the preservation of prime ag land in local land use 
planning, and many more accomplishments than I have time to list now. 
Lou's retirement will diminish a voice leadership in Monterey County 
has known and relied on for half a century.
   Mr. Speaker, in closing, I want to extend the gratitude of the House 
to Lou and his family for his leadership and vision and for the 
countless hours devoted to the minutia of local democracy and 
governance. It is the service of people like Lou Calcagno that make 
America the world's greatest democracy.

                          ____________________