Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and accomplishments of Mr. Sydney Potter.  As our neighbors in the Tampa Bay area know, you cannot talk about Sydney without also talking about his amazing wife, Thalia. Sydney and Thalia were true partners dedicated to their family and to serving our community. Sydney passed recently, but today I am happy to honor their countless accomplishments and unsurpassed reputation for improving Hillsborough County. 

Sydney and Thalia Potter married in 1944 and raised their family along the banks of the Hillsborough River in 1955.  Both Sydney and Thalia had distinguished professional careers. Sydney served most of his career as Secretary-Treasurer of I.W. Phillips & Company before managing a distribution office for Ace Hardware. Thalia had an outstanding career as a legislative aide which began with Florida State Representative Ed Blackburn in the early 1970’s and continued with State Senator Pat Frank as well as State Representative Jim Davis before her retirement. Throughout her career, Thalia was known for her scrupulous ethics, impeccable attention to detail, and unparalleled skill for serving constituents with kindness and poise.

Sydney and Thalia’s love of the Hillsborough River led them to be longtime advocates for environmental stewardship. In the words of close friends, Sydney and Thalia “were green before green was cool.” Their activism led to the passage of environmental protection bills for the Hillsborough River as well as led to the completion of projects that successfully reversed erosion along a local riverfront park and pushed local officials to allow more freshwater to flow from the upriver dam to replenish the river’s ecosystem. In 1997, they also helped organize Citizens for the Responsible Application of Malathion (CRAM), which successfully stopped the spraying of dangerous pesticides over the citizens of Hillsborough County. Sydney and Thalia’s leadership in environmental conservation and preservation has had an immeasurable impact on the community and the future of the Tampa Bay Watershed.   

Sydney and Thalia’s dedication and community service has led to their recognition by several prestigious organizations.  Thalia was awarded the Sierra Club’s Pine Tree Award in 1998 for achievement in group activism and, later that year, Sydney was awarded the Club’s Gopher Tortoise Award for support of a member in important activist effort.  In 2008, The League of Women Voters of Hillsborough County announced the establishment of the “Sydney and Thalia Potter Civic Leadership Award for their commitment to good government, protection of the environment, and community activism.

Sydney was a gentleman in the finest sense of the word and was remarkably knowledgeable in his understanding of the key issues affecting our community and country. His poignant, tough questions to public officials at Suncoast Tiger Bay Club meetings led to him winning more Garfield Awards than any other member. Thalia is a woman of true grace and grit from a remarkable family with an unmatched history of commitment to helping children and families. Sydney and Thalia are consummate examples of servant leadership. At every turn, they acted with the best interest of the community and country at heart. Mr. Speaker, please join me in recognizing two irreplaceable and inspirational leaders of the Tampa Bay community for a lifetime of dedicated public service.