VERNON L. STURGEON
MEMORIAL HWY
"One of the
besetting sins of many of our public servants (and of not a few of our
professional moralists, lay and clerical) is to cloak weakness or
baseness of action behind insincere oratory on behalf of impractical
ideals. The true servant of the people is the man who preaches
realizable ideals; and who then practices what he has preached."
President
Teddy Roosevelt
NEW MEMORIAL HWY SIGN
PIONEER DAY 2006
|
The Sturgeon Family
is very happy to announce the passing of California State Senate
Resolution SCR 72, honoring the
late Senator Vernon L. Sturgeon by naming a portion of Highway 101 (from
Spring Street, Paso Robles to Santa Barbara Road, Atascadero) as the
Senator Vernon L. Sturgeon Memorial
Highway. Signs were installed on Highway 101 on Monday
October 2nd .
Through many
conversations with friends, family and colleagues of my grandfather, as
well as childhood memories & stories told, we feel his contributions
to the City of Paso Robles, County of San Luis Obispo and State of
California are worthy of the
honor of his name being placed here locally on State Highway 101.
A few of the many
contributions made by the late Vernon L. Sturgeon were:
- 1952
– 1960 Served on Paso Robles City Council
- 1957
– 1960 Paso Robles
City Mayor; Police Commissioner
- 1961
– 1966 California Sate Senator, District 29 (carried the
Appropriations Bill for the Highway 46 West project)
- 1966 Campaigned
with Gubernatorial Candidate Ronald Reagan as his Legislative
Advisor
- 1967
– 1969 Legislative Secretary to Gov. Ronald Reagan
- 1967
– 1969 Chief Deputy Director of the Department of Public Works,
overseeing the State’s $1 billion a year highway program.
- 1969
– 1979 Appointed by Govs. Reagan and Brown to Public Utilities
Commission, serving a term as President.
During his tenure in
the Senate, Senator Sturgeon served on the following committees:
Standing
Committees
Interim
Committees
-
Fact
Finding Committee on Labor & Welfare, Chairman
-
Fact
Finding Committee on Agriculture
-
Fact
Finding Committee on Transportation and Public Utilities
A member of a San
Luis Obispo County Pioneer Family, Senator Sturgeon attended Paso Robles
schools and followed in his father’s footsteps as a milk distributor
in San Luis Obispo County. On a more local and personal level, my
grandfather was a philanthropist, benefiting children and young
people of this County:
-
Providing milk to
those who could not afford to pay for it.
-
Playing a significant
role in securing the temporary site for the original Cuesta College.
-
Instrumental in
securing funds for a number of projects & programs at Cal Poly
SLO.
-
Through his efforts
the library at Hearst Castle was made available to UC students for
research & study
Thank you for your
consideration. We are happy to share additional information;
please feel to contact me at
805.226.2081.
You may also visit the
state web site at:
to review the final resolution.
Best Regards,
Lynette
Sonne
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