[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 160 (Thursday, September 27, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1320]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       RECOGNIZING ROBERT SISSON

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. GERALD E. CONNOLLY

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 27, 2018

  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Mr. Robert ``Bob'' 
Sisson on his retirement. Since 1991, Bob Sisson has served as the City 
Manager for the City of Fairfax. This has given him the distinction of 
being one of the longest-serving local government administrators in the 
D.C. region.
   Bob began his career in local government in 1974 as an 
administrative assistant to the city manager of Overland Park, 
Oklahoma. He would go on to be assistant city manager in two additional 
communities in Oklahoma, Norman and Stillwater, before becoming the 
city manager of Grandview, Missouri, a suburban community of 28,000 
located in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Bob served as Grandview 
city manager for four years before being selected in a nationwide 
search to take the helm of the City of Fairfax.
   Under Bob's leadership, the City of Fairfax has received numerous 
accolades, including being consistently ranked among the Top 10 places 
in the country in which to live, reaching as high as No. 3 in Forbes 
Magazine in 2009. Most recently, U.S. News and World Report rated the 
City of Fairfax the sixth-healthiest community in the nation. Criteria 
for this rating included such categories as residents' income, 
education, life span, access to critical services and proximity to 
parks.
   I was proud to work with Bob on many major projects in the region, 
including the construction of the City of Fairfax Regional Library and 
the relocation of the Lamb Center for homeless individuals. As someone 
who also began their public service career in local government, I have 
always held a special appreciation for those who choose to dedicate 
their life to public service at the local level. I have often said that 
local government is where the rubber meets the road: accountability is 
absolute and everyone knows where you live and has your phone number. 
At the local level, the citizens we serve aren't concerned with 
political ideologies or scoring points for your respective party. They 
expect you to deliver concrete results and will hold you to account 
should you fail to do so. The pothole was either fixed or it wasn't--
and if it wasn't, the community will know who didn't get the job done.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Bob 
Sisson on his retirement and in thanking him for his many decades of 
service to his communities, both in Northern Virginia and throughout 
the United States. Though he may be officially retiring from public 
service, I have no doubt that he will continue to stay involved on the 
issues that are important to him. I wish him all of the best in his 
future endeavors.

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