BILL NUMBER: SCR 37 CHAPTERED BILL TEXT RESOLUTION CHAPTER 96 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE JULY 12, 2007 ADOPTED IN SENATE JULY 9, 2007 ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 3, 2007 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 28, 2007 AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 10, 2007 INTRODUCED BY Senators Simitian and Alquist APRIL 9, 2007 Relative to the Lewis E. Platt Memorial Highway. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SCR 37, Simitian. Lewis E. Platt Memorial Highway. This measure would designate a specified segment of State Highway Route 87 in the City of San Jose as the Lewis E. Platt Memorial Highway. The measure would request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs. WHEREAS, Lewis E. Platt was president and chief executive officer of the Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) from 1992 to 1999, and served as chairman of the board of HP from 1993 to 1999, having been elected to that position by the board to succeed David Packard upon his retirement in 1993; and WHEREAS, Lewis E. Platt was born on April 11, 1941, in Johnson City, New York and received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York; and WHEREAS, Thereafter, Lewis E. Platt earned a master's degree in business administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and received an honorary doctorate in engineering science from Santa Clara University; and WHEREAS, Lewis E. Platt began his employment with HP in 1966, and held a variety of management posts in the company's medical products operations prior to becoming general manager of the Waltham Massachusetts Division in 1974, and, thereafter, served as general manager of HP's analytical group from 1980 to 1984, and was elected a vice president of HP in 1983, managing various aspects of HP's computer business from 1984 to 1988; and WHEREAS, In 1987, Lewis E. Platt was appointed to the Advisory Committee on Trade Policy Negotiations by President Bill Clinton and served as chairman of one of its task forces, the World Trade Organization Task Force; and WHEREAS, In 1996, Lewis E. Platt was elected cochair and a member of the board of directors of Joint Venture Silicon Valley and the Tech Network, formed in 1991, to strengthen the local economy and make the area a better place to live, and he was a member of The Business Council, also serving as a member of the California Business Roundtable from 1993 to 1995; and WHEREAS, Lewis E. Platt always championed the philosophies that set HP apart, particularly its egalitarian work culture, the progressive attention to employees' needs, and a real commitment to the communities where HP is located; and WHEREAS, Lewis E. Platt, while serving as the chief executive officer and chairman of the board of HP, one of the largest high-tech companies in the world, took the time to personally engage in a local transportation measure championed by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group to improve the quality of life and the economic health of Silicon Valley, specifically taking the following steps to promote that measure: (1) Loaning out an HP employee funded by HP for six months to run the countywide campaign for the measure. (2) Serving as fundraising chair for the campaign with Ron Gonzales, who was a supervisor for the County of Santa Clara at that time, serving as his vice chair. (3) Personally raising nearly nine hundred thousand dollars ($900,000) of the one million six hundred thousand dollars ($1,600,000) required to run a competitive campaign for the measure; and through his leadership, HP made a sizable financial contribution, as well as the in-kind contribution of the time and salary of the loaned HP employee. In addition, making fewer than 15 telephone calls, Lewis E. Platt raised the rest of the funds needed for the campaign. (4) Motivating the rest of the fundraising committee through his personal leadership and engagement by chairing meetings of a communitywide committee of 45 diverse leaders. His leadership by example motivated that group to raise the entire one million six hundred thousand dollars ($1,600,000) in less than 90 days; and WHEREAS, The campaign resulted in the voters' approval of Measures A and B at the General Election held on November 5, 1996, with the additional one-half cent sales tax revenue, which terminated on April 1, 2006, funding 19 road and rail-transit improvements, all completed on time and within budget, just as Lewis E. Platt had promised during the campaign for these measures; and WHEREAS, The distinguished life of Lewis E. Platt ended on September 8, 2005; now, therefore, be it Resolved, by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That in recognition of the numerous achievements and contributions of Lewis E. Platt, the Legislature designates the segment of State Highway Route 87 between State Highway Route 280 and the Julian Street/Santa Clara Street exit in the City of San Jose, the Lewis E. Platt 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 the cost, to erect those signs; and be it further Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the Department of Transportation and to the author for appropriate distribution.