[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 177 (Tuesday, December 8, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1733]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   IN RECOGNITION OF MARGE COLAPIETRO

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JACKIE SPEIER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 8, 2015

  Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Marge Colapietro for eight 
years of dedicated service on the Millbrae City Council, including a 
term as Vice Mayor in 2011 and as Mayor in 2012. Marge's commitment to 
her community is unparalleled. She has logged precisely 24,274 hours of 
public service since she was elected to the council in 2007. This is 
the kind of precision and accountability that characterizes Marge's way 
of approaching problem solving in service to her constituents. I am 
proud to call her a colleague and dear friend.
  During her tenure on the city council, Marge has always sought the 
greatest good for Millbrae's residents and businesses. She worked hard 
to protect safety services, helped attract businesses to the city, used 
prudent spending practices to control the budget during very difficult 
fiscal times in our nation's history, and she has always been attentive 
to her constituents both young and old. My staff reports that she 
regularly sought assistance for her constituents with federal issues, 
and always wanted to be kept up-to-date on whether or not a problem was 
resolved. Marge Colapietro's public service has been marked by thorough 
analysis of opportunities facing the City of Millbrae, constant 
interactions with an ever-changing city population, and a staunch 
belief that local decision making about land use and public services is 
a key tool in maintaining Millbrae's outstanding quality of life.
  With a 37-year career in global transportation services, Marge 
brought invaluable experience and expertise to the table. Millbrae, in 
addition to being a tree-lined community of families and multiple 
generations, is a transportation hub resting adjacent to San Francisco 
International Airport. Due to its strategic location, Millbrae has 
wonderful prospects in its future. To bolster these prospects while 
preserving Millbrae's small-town character, Marge served on a long list 
of committees, including the Cultural Arts Committee, the Downtown 
Process Committee, Millbrae Community Television, the Senior Advisory 
Committee, the Tourism Committee, and the Youth Advisory Committee. She 
also played an essential role in ballot measures to save Millbrae's 
fire services.
  Marge is passionate about bolstering the middle class and working 
families of her community, as well as housing and emergency 
preparedness. This passion is reflected in her multiple assignments 
through the city council. Regionally Marge represented Millbrae on the 
Airport Community Roundtable, the Airport Land Use Committee, C/CAG's 
Board of Directors, the League of California Cities Public Safety 
Advisory Committee, the San Mateo Council of Cities, the San Mateo 
County Office of Emergency Services, the San Mateo County Coalition for 
Safe Schools and Communities, and the San Mateo County Regional Housing 
Needs Allocation Policy Advisory Committee.
  From this long, yet incomplete, list you can see how she arrived at 
more than 24,000 hours of service. Marge is the ultimate volunteer on 
behalf of Millbrae's best interests. She made time for the American 
Cancer Society, the Special Olympics, the Lions Club, Rotary, the 
Millbrae library, the historical society, and Millbrae's outstanding 
schools. In 2001 Marge was honored as Millbrae Woman of the Year. In 
2004, she received the California's Park and Recreation Society 
District IV Volunteer Award. In 2009, she received the Lifetime 
Achievement Award from President Obama. RSVP, a senior volunteer 
organization, honored her with another Lifetime Achievement award for 
volunteering 4,000 hours in less than three years.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to rise with me to 
honor one of the most dedicated and hands-on public servants our region 
will ever see. As a Councilmember and Mayor, Marge Colapietro's 
fingerprints are all over Millbrae and will be there for generations to 
come. If her colleagues and future members of the council learn even 
half of the lessons of stewardship that Marge has taught by example 
throughout these years, these council members will earn PhD's in public 
service. Marge Collapietro, the committed, energetic and completely 
thorough professor of stewardship is retiring from her post to become 
an emeritus professor of public life. We wish her all the best in her 
many years to come.

                          ____________________