BILL ANALYSIS
SCR 30
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 29, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Mike Eng, Chair
SCR 30 (Simitian) - As Amended: May 19, 2009
SENATE VOTE : 39-0
SUBJECT : State Route 82
SUMMARY : Designates a segment of State Route (SR) 82 as the
Betty Meltzer Memorial Highway. Specifically, this bill :
1)Recounts the life and career of Betty Meltzer, a cofounder of
the Trees for El Camino Project in the City of Palo Alto.
2)Designates the segment of SR 82 between Page Mill Road (Post
Mile 24.04) and San Francisquito Creek (Santa Clara/San Mateo
County line Post Mile 26.37) in the City of Palo Alto as the
Betty Meltzer Memorial Highway.
3)Requests the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) 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.
EXISTING LAW : Assigns Caltrans the responsibility to operate
and maintain state highways. This includes the installation and
maintenance of highway signs.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill was withdrawn from the
Senate Appropriations Committee pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8.
COMMENTS : Elizabeth T. (Betty) Meltzer began her community
service in the mid-1980's, co-founding Palo Alto Tomorrow, an
organization that successfully promoted sensible growth in
downtown Palo Alto.
Mrs. Meltzer taught in the Palo Alto Unified School District for
five years. She also taught blind people to read, and for many
years she tutored elementary-school students who had reading
disabilities.
SCR 30
Page 2
Mrs. Meltzer was best known in Palo Alto for her environmental
efforts, which involved co-founding the "Dream of a Thousand
Trees for El Camino Real Project," wherein she tenaciously
worked with Caltrans to have them relax their regulations on the
planting of trees in road medians. The Project aided the City
of Palo Alto in funding hundreds of new trees along 4.3 miles of
El Camino Real.
She also served on the board of the former Peninsula
Conservation Center Foundation, now Acterra, and was especially
active in creating the Business Environmental Network, which
gives awards to businesses that are environmentally outstanding.
The distinguished life of Betty Meltzer ended on September 29,
2008.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093