Amended  IN  Assembly  August 30, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Concurrent Resolution
No. 31

Introduced by Senator Bradford
(Principal coauthor: Senator Hertzberg)
(Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Gipson and Holden)
(Coauthors: Senators Archuleta, Atkins, Dodd, Durazo, Hueso, Mitchell, Pan, Stern, Umberg, and Wiener)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Burke, Chiu, Cooper, Jones-Sawyer, Kamlager-Dove, McCarty, Rendon, Ting, and Weber)

March 20, 2019

Relative to the Willie L. Brown, Jr. Circle and Plaza.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SCR 31, as amended, Bradford. The Willie L. Brown, Jr. Circle and Plaza.
This measure would name the public street, circle, and plaza at 914 and 915 Capitol Mall in the City of Sacramento as the Willie L. Brown, Jr. Circle and Plaza. The measure would request the Department of General Services to determine the cost of erecting the appropriate signage commemorating this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources, to cover that cost to erect that signage.
Fiscal Committee: YES  
WHEREAS, Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. was born on March 20, 1934, in Mineola, Texas, and is the son of Minnie Collins Boyd and Willie Lewis Brown, Sr. and grandson of Anna Collins. He married the former Blanche Vitero in September 1958. He is the father of four children: Susan Elizabeth Brown, Robin Elaine Brown-Friedel, Michael Elliot Brown, and Sydney Minetta Brown; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Brown arrived in San Francisco in 1951 to live with his uncle, Rembert “Itsie” Collins, and then received a Bachelor of Arts degree from San Francisco State University in 1955 and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of Law, in 1958. He was admitted to the practice of law in the State of California and to the federal court, including the United States Supreme Court; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Brown was first elected in 1964, and served as a Member of the California State Assembly from 1965 to 1995, as Speaker of the California State Assembly as the longest serving Speaker in California history, from 1980 to 1995, and the first African American Speaker; and two terms as the 41st Mayor of the City and County of San Francisco, from January 8, 1996, to January 8, 2004; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Brown served as the Chair of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee from 1971 to 1974, and on other major committees; served on the Board of Trustees of the California State University system and as a Regent of the University of California; and served on the Board of Administration of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System; and
WHEREAS, As mayor of California’s most cosmopolitan city, he refurbished and rebuilt one of the nation’s busiest transit systems, pioneered the use of bond measures to build affordable housing, created a model juvenile justice system, and paved the way for creating the expansion campus of the University of California, San Francisco, to serve as the anchor of a new development that would position the city as a center for the burgeoning field of biotechnology; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Brown is widely regarded as one of the most influential politicians of the late 20th century, and has been at the center of California politics, government, and civic life for over an astonishing four five decades; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Brown’s career spans the American presidency Presidency from Lyndon Johnson to Barack Obama, and he has and continues to work with every California Governor from Edmund G. “Pat” Brown, Sr., to Gavin Newsom and has left his imprimatur on every aspect of public policy impacting the Golden State and the nation, including civil rights, women’s rights, education, economic development, health care, international trade, LGBTQ rights, and affirmative action; and
WHEREAS, Today, Mr. Brown heads the Willie L. Brown, Jr. Institute on Politics and Public Service, where he shares his vast political knowledge and skills with the next generation of California leaders, and is a journalist, a nationally renowned political commentator, and an extraordinary attorney at law; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the California Legislature takes great honor in recognizing Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. for all of his leadership on critical policy issues and public accomplishments by naming the public street, circle, and plaza at 914 and 915 Capitol Mall in the City of Sacramento as the Willie L. Brown, Jr. Circle and Plaza to honor him and commemorate his 85th birthday and his many positive contributions to California life; and be it further
Resolved, That the Department of General Services is requested to determine the cost of erecting the appropriate signage commemorating this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources, to cover that cost to erect signage; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the Governor, the Speaker of the Assembly, the President pro Tempore of the Senate, the Honorable Chief Justice and Honorable Justices of the California Supreme Court and Honorable Justices of the California 3rd District Court of Appeal, the California State Treasurer, the California State Librarian, the California Legislative Black Caucus, the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, the Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus, the Latino Legislative Caucus, the Legislative Jewish Caucus, the Legislative Women’s Caucus, the Mayor and Members of the Sacramento City Council, the Director of General Services, and to the author for appropriate distribution.