[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 10431]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     IN RECOGNITION OF SACRAMENTO CITY COUNCILWOMAN BONNIE PANNELL

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DORIS O. MATSUI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 18, 2014

  Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Sacramento 
City Councilwoman Bonnie Pannell who has successfully served the people 
of Sacramento for the past sixteen years. As her family, friends, and 
colleagues gather to celebrate her outstanding career and numerous 
accomplishments, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing 
Councilwoman Pannell as an outstanding public servant.
  Prior to being elected to the Sacramento City Council, Councilwoman 
Pannell was a community activist in her South Sacramento neighborhood. 
Outside of elected office, she spent twenty-two years working for 
Unilab Medical Laboratories and Pacific Bell. Councilwoman Pannell was 
elected to the Sacramento City Council in June of 1998, succeeding her 
late husband, Samuel Pannell. As a Councilwoman, she has been re-
elected to four-year terms in 2000, 2004, 2008 and again in 2012. She 
served as the City of Sacramento's Vice Mayor in 2001 and served with 
distinction for multiple years on the Board of Directors of the 
Sacramento Area Flood Central Agency, Sacramento Regional Transit 
District and with a number of other special agencies.
  I have had the distinct pleasure of working closely with Councilwoman 
Pannell to ensure the that South Sacramento Streams Group flood 
protection project gets completed and expensive flood insurance is no 
longer mandatory for our shared constituents. An unwavering champion of 
public transportation, Councilwoman Pannell's steadfast support for the 
light rail extension to Cosumnes River College has helped make that 
project a reality and it will be completed by September of next year.
  Councilwoman Pannell represented the City of Sacramento well, serving 
the communities of Meadowview, Parkway, North Laguna Creek, and Jacinto 
Creek. Her priorities included economic development, education and 
recreational programs for her constituents, as well as a steadfast 
commitment to create safer neighborhoods. Councilwoman Pannell was able 
to bring to her community the Valley Hi-North Laguna Library, which 
opened in 2009. The beautiful full-service library has brought high-
tech services and additional educational opportunities to a part of 
Sacramento that long had been underserved.
  She also helped turn around the neighborhood of Franklin Villa, and 
saw it transformed into Phoenix Park. Councilwoman Pannell has always 
put her constituents first and her record of accomplishments is long 
and will not be forgotten. It is very fitting that to mark her 
retirement from the City Council that her colleagues have voted to 
rename Meadowview Community Center in honor of her and her late 
husband.
  Mr. Speaker, as Councilwoman Bonnie Pannell's family, friends, and 
colleagues gather to commemorate her for her service to the people of 
Sacramento, I ask my colleagues to join me in acknowledging this 
dedicated public servant, and true partner of mine, for helping make 
Sacramento a better place for families to live and prosper.

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