CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 201

Introduced by Assembly Members Fong and Cunningham

March 13, 2018

Relative to the Jesse L. Acebedo Memorial Highway.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


ACR 201, as introduced, Fong. Jesse L. Acebedo Memorial Highway.
This measure would designate a specified portion of State Highway Route 46 in the County of San Luis Obispo as the Jesse L. Acebedo Memorial Highway. The measure would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.
Fiscal Committee: YES  
WHEREAS, Jesse LaMadrid Acebedo was born on November 20, 1948, in Delano and was raised in McFarland, in the County of Kern, where he attended schools and graduated from high school in 1967; and
WHEREAS, In 1969, he married Patty Valenzuela and moved to Wasco, where they had three sons, Ben, Keith, and Jeff; and
WHEREAS, In 1970, Jesse began his law enforcement career with the Wasco Police Department, but shortly afterwards, he joined the Kern County Sheriff’s Department, and the western area of the County of Kern continued to be his beat until his retirement in 2004; and
WHEREAS, Some of his career highlights included travel to Mexico to bring back three homicide eyewitnesses, as well as participating in America’s Most Wanted in Washington, D.C. involving a kidnapping in the County of Kern; and
WHEREAS, Jesse’s life was one of public service, not just through his work, but also through all of his causes, which included coaching Little League, Babe Ruth League, and soccer, or being the announcer for the Wasco Union High School football games; and
WHEREAS, For several years, Jesse was also a recruiter of underprivileged boys who attended the R.M. Pyles Boys Camp and in 2010, Jesse started the Kern County Student Leadership program at Wasco Union High School, which is still going strong; and
WHEREAS, Jesse was very involved with St. John’s Catholic School, where he served twice as their school board president, was first elected to the Wasco Union High School Board in the early ‘90s, went on to serve on the Kern County Board of Education, and in 2006, he was again elected to the Wasco Union High School Board, where he served two more terms; and
WHEREAS, Jesse was a past member of the Wasco Festival of Roses board for several years, where he served as president more than once and also served on the Wasco Housing Authority; and
WHEREAS, Jesse was an avid golfer who could be found on any golf course between the Central Valley and the Central Coast, where his favorite course was the Morro Bay Golf Course; and
WHEREAS, Jesse at 68 years of age was driving west on State Highway Route 46 just after 2 p.m. on March 31, 2017, when a semitruck hit him head-on, just after he had passed the Shandon rest area; and
WHEREAS, During his lifetime, Jesse touched many lives from all walks of life. Whether people agreed with him or not, they knew where they stood with Jesse because he was always a straight shooter; and
WHEREAS, Jesse didn’t focus on people’s position, money, status, or titles, just the person, a testament to which is all the people who attended his celebration of life at the historic Wasco Union High School Auditorium, which seats 1,182 and was almost full; and
WHEREAS, The City of Bakersfield was Jesse’s residence at the time of his passing, but the Wasco community was home and where his legacy of giving back remains; and
WHEREAS, Jesse is survived by his wife, Raquel, and his three sons, Ben, Keith, and Jeff; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the portion of State Highway Route 46 from E. Centre Street (approximately PM 48.625) to State Highway Route 41 (approximately PM 45.480) in the County of San Luis Obispo as the Jesse L. Acebedo Memorial Highway; and be it further
Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested to determine the cost of appropriate signs consistent with the signing requirements for the state highway system showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources sufficient to cover that cost, to erect those signs; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the Director of Transportation and to the author for appropriate distribution.