[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 10]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 13731-13732]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  A TRIBUTE TO SAM RACADIO FOR 18 YEARS AS CITY MANAGER OF HIGHLAND, 
                               CALIFORNIA

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JERRY LEWIS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 29, 2006

  Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I would like today to pay 
tribute to a longtime public servant, Sam Racadio, who as city manager 
has been a guiding force in the growth of Highland, California from an 
unformed new city into a municipality known for a dedication to a high 
standard of living.
  For the past 35 years, Sam Racadio has been a hard-working and 
energetic public servant in city government. He went to work as an 
intern in the City of Riverside just after graduating from the 
University of Redlands, and even spent several years in the Peace Corps 
as a municipal advisor in Maracay, Venezuela.
  After some years in city government in Tulare, California, Sam 
Racadio returned to the Inland Empire as city manager for three years 
in Banning, California--a fast-growing city in my district.
  The late 1980s were a boom time for new cities in San Bernardino 
County, and one of the most promising, but least organized, of those 
new municipalities decided to hire Mr. Racadio as its first city 
manager. When he joined Highland in 1987, he was just the second 
employee of the city of 28,000, and the city government worked out of a 
small trailer.
  Highland had a small commercial tax base and few businesses of any 
size when it gained cityhood, and some analysts warned that the new 
city would have a shaky budget and could fail. To save money for the 
future, Mr. Racadio vacuumed floors, cleaned bathrooms and gathered up 
trash.

[[Page 13732]]

  By continuing that dedication to saving taxpayer dollars, Sam Racadio 
has helped build Highland into a thriving city that now has a 
population of more than 50,000. There are three new parks, a City Hall, 
and a community center. Coming soon are a municipal pool, a library and 
athletic center.
  Mr. Speaker, I was delighted to work with Mr. Racadio on the 
development of a city environmental learning center, which will provide 
access to hands-on, state-of-the-art science facilities for school 
children and city residents. When it is completed, it will be a model 
for cooperation between city officials, schools and federal agencies.
  As my colleagues can imagine, Mr. Racadio's visionary work as a city 
manager has been widely recognized among his peers. He has served on 
the League of California Cities Board of Directors, and was president 
of the City Manager's Department of the League in 1999. He was 
president of the San Bernardino County City Managers Association from 
1990 to 1998. He was the inaugural recipient of the James A. Thalman 
Memorial Public Service Award from the Inland Division of the league of 
cities and received numerous other awards.
  Mr. Speaker, after 35 years of public service and 18 years of 
dedication to the City of Highland, Sam Racadio is retiring to travel 
with his wife of 36 years, Len. Please join me in thanking him for all 
he has done to make his community a better place, and wish him well in 
his future endeavors.

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