[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 192 (Monday, December 12, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1248-E1249]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 IN RECOGNIZING THE DEPARTURE OF DIANA REDDY FROM THE CITY COUNCIL OF 
                              REDWOOD CITY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JACKIE SPEIER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, December 12, 2022

  Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize a giant sunflower in a 
field of wildflowers. Diana Reddy, councilwoman in Redwood City, is 
leaving office. I am saddened to see her retire.
  As a public policymaker she stands out because of her willingness to 
consistently advocate for low-income families across multiple issues, 
most importantly housing. Her support of these families led powerful 
forces to oppose her initial election. She prevailed, and her message 
of social justice, delivered from the dais in the years since, is a 
call that all fair-minded persons should heed.
  Diana spent 35 years working in the administration of the Sequoia 
Union High School District, starting in 1972. The city changed 
enormously during that time. From that change, she drew many lessons 
that she applied to her city council service.
  When Diana first worked for the school district, Redwood City had 
about 56,000 residents and median household income was about $10,000, 
equivalent in 2020 to $63,000. By 2020, the median household income was 
$123,000 or almost double what it would have been if virulent housing 
inflation had not created a wave of gentrification that swept over 
Redwood City in the intervening decades.
  Upon retirement, Diana went to work for Peninsula Interfaith Action 
and became the face of this group before many peninsula city councils. 
She advocated for affordable housing, transportation services and 
healthcare for all residents.
  In 2010, she wrote an opinion piece in our local newspaper entitled, 
``Why Affordable Housing Week Matters'' and noted that two affordable 
housing developments had recently opened in San Mateo County. One had 
119 apartments and 1,500 applications, while the second had 68 
apartments and 1,000 applicants. Each year, she noted, San Mateo County 
and two other nearby counties competed nationally for the dubious 
distinction of being the metropolitan area where housing costs and 
household income are most misaligned. This situation was simply unjust.
  As she noted in comments made during her council campaign eight years 
later, ``At first, the displacement we were seeing affected service 
workers, low-income seniors, and veterans and has evolved into our 
teachers, highly trained crafts workers, nurses and others critical to 
our community. We are the heart of one of the wealthiest areas in the 
country. That wealth was created on the backs of working people who are 
not able to benefit from their efforts.''
  Today, the city's focus has changed dramatically. When discussing 
city policies, staff and council are now committed to grappling with 
the question of how the policy impacts disparate groups within the 
city. Councilwoman Reddy and two other councilmembers served on a 
council subcommittee to hammer out a proposed equity plan for the city. 
This changed focus is one of the outcomes. She

[[Page E1249]]

even helped paint the community's Unity Mural.
  In addition to her support for affordable housing and tenant 
protections, Diana has supported measures to address climate change, 
and is a strong supporter of public transportation improvements and of 
health care services for the entire community. Her Facebook page 
promotes community festivals and activities like Port Fest, coastal 
protection, Music on the Square, gun buyback and gun lock programs, and 
the Diane Howard clothing sale to benefit Kainos Home and Training 
Center.
  During the height of the COVID pandemic she supported city resources 
to aid families and to protect tenants from evictions. As Redwood city 
responded to business requests for COVID changes to ordinances, she 
generally supported them.
  At this point, it is easy to see why Redwood City Councilwoman Diana 
Reddy is a sunflower amidst a field of wildflowers. Wildflowers are 
beautiful, but sunflowers stand out. As one surveys the field, the eye 
fixes on the sunflower and its message: life is bursting forth. It is 
beautiful. It should be lived vividly. We thank her grandchildren Lahki 
Reddy and Ronan Gantes for allowing Diana to serve, no doubt sometimes 
at the expense of family time.
  As a proud advocate for working families throughout the area, and as 
a councilwoman, Diana Reddy stood out. Tens of thousands will never 
know the debt they owe her but, in a democracy, it is enough that the 
effort was made, that it met with a measure of success, and that the 
example now exists for all who follow in service to this community. 
Diana Reddy is leaving the official field of public policy. She will 
remain a sunflower as a private advocate because her remarks into a 
public microphone will always stand out. As in the past, so in the 
future, for when she concludes her remarks, thousands will utter a 
quiet ``thank you.'' l would like to say thank you, dear friend, for an 
extraordinary contribution to humankind.

                          ____________________