BILL NUMBER: ACR 73	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Bass and Duvall

                        AUGUST 22, 2007

   Relative to the Nathan Shapell Memorial Highway.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 73, as introduced, Bass. The Nathan Shapell Highway.
   This measure would designate a specified portion of State Highway
Route 405 in the County of Los Angeles as the Nathan Shapell Memorial
Highway. The measure also would request the Department of
Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing
that special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate
sources sufficient to cover the cost, to erect those signs.
   Fiscal committee: yes.



   WHEREAS, Nathan Shapell was a man of integrity and principle, a
builder of lives who was dedicated to helping others less fortunate.
A survivor of the Holocaust, he was determined to not only rebuild
his own life, but to help others rebuild theirs. For more than five
years after World War II, he built a community for thousands of
displaced people and survivors of the camps before immigrating to the
United States in the early 1950s; and
   WHEREAS, Nathan Shapell built a highly successful real estate
development company that is recognized as an industry leader and
highly respected as a role model for corporate philanthropy; and
   WHEREAS, Nathan Shapell dedicated a major portion of his life to
public service. He was a past President and Executive Board Member of
the American Academy of Achievement and served as a Member of
President Reagan's Private Sector Survey on Cost Control. He founded
and cochaired Building a Better Los Angeles, a one-time project that
raised over $1 million for the homeless. In 1987, he accepted the
position of President of D.A.R.E. America, a renowned drug abuse
resistance education program. In 1992, Governor Pete Wilson appointed
him to serve as a member of the California Competitiveness Council
and develop recommendations to revitalize California's economy; and
   WHEREAS, Nathan Shapell's greatest public contributions were made
through his 29 years of service on California's "Little Hoover
Commission." As chairman for an unprecedented 18 years of this
one-of-a-kind commission, he helped save taxpayers billions of
dollars and improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of
Californians in areas that include nursing home operations, children'
s services, property management, transportation, the Medi-Cal
program, and public education; and
   WHEREAS, Nathan Shapell's commitment to service on behalf of the
public was recognized in 1986 when Santa Clara University bestowed
upon him an honorary Doctorate of Public Service degree. In 1987, Tel
Aviv University awarded Mr. Shapell a Doctor Philosophiae Honoris
Causa. He chronicled the early years of his life in his book,
"Witness to the Truth"; and
   WHEREAS, Mr. Shapell lived in Beverly Hills until his death on
March 11, 2007. His daughter and son-in-law, Vera and Paul Guerin,
and his grandchildren, Lisa, Dana, and Michael, live in Los Angeles;
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 405 from Howard Hughes Parkway to
Mulholland Drive in the County of Los Angeles as the Nathan Shapell
Memorial Highway; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested to
determine the cost of appropriate signs, consistent with the signage
requirements for the state highway system, showing this special
designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources
covering the cost, to erect those signs; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the Department of Transportation and to the author
for appropriate distribution.