Page 19 - Florida Sentinel 2-11-22

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Former Hillsborough Commissioner Miller To Be Honored Feb. 15 With Park Renaming Ceremony, Sign Dedication
In nearly a half century of public service, Lesley “Les’’ Miller, Jr., worked tirelessly to ensure residents had clean drinking water and plentiful parks, fought against bigotry and racism, led groundbreak- ing efforts to fund cancer re- search and patient care, and steered Hillsborough County through the first stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Tuesday, Feb. 15, his public leadership will be rec- ognized when Hillsborough County’s flagship park and recreation center will be christened the “Lesley "Les" Miller, Jr. All People's Com- munity Park and Life Center.” The 2 p. m. ceremony and sign unveiling at 6105 E. Sligh Ave., Tampa, FL 33617 will be led by County Admin-
istrator Bonnie Wise and include numerous commu- nity leaders.
Formerly known as All People’s Life Center, the park opened in 2007. Its 45,000- square-foot recreation com- plex serves as the center of the County’s adaptive sports program, which provides year-round sports and recre- ation programs that promote physical activity, healthy lifestyles, and recreational and competitive sports for area children and adults with physical disabilities. The park includes a 10,000-square- foot adaptive playground, the County’s largest, and is home to Parks & Recreation’s wheelchair football and bas- ketball programs, the only County-run Special Olympics
LESLEY ‘LES’ MILLER, JR.
teams, and is the main ad- ministrative office for the adaptive recreation program.
A graduate of the Univer- sity of South Florida and a U. S. Air Force veteran, Miller
spent many years serving on public boards like the Hills- borough City-County Plan- ning Commission before he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1992. He was re-elected three times before winning election to the Florida Senate in 2000. He was the first person to serve as the Minority Leader in both the House and Sen- ate.
Among many other ac- complishments during his legislative tenure, he champi- oned the H. Lee Moffitt Can- cer Center, filing and helping pass the bill that allocated a portion of the state’s cigarette tax for cancer research and care.
Miller was elected in 2010 to serve District 3 on the
Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners. He won re-election two more times and was selected as Board Chairman three times before leaving the board at the conclusion of his term in late 2020. He has served as a member of many service or- ganizations, including the Free and Accepted Masons, Prince Hall Affiliate, the Hillsborough County branch of the NAACP, the Ancient Egyptian Arabian Order No- bles Mystic Shrine, Inc., life member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. and on the board of the Urban League of Hillsborough County.
In 2005, Florida A&M University bestowed him with an Honorary Doctorate De- gree in Humane Letters.
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