BILL NUMBER:  SB 539
  VETOED	DATE: 10/11/2015




To the Members of the California State Senate:

I am returning SB 539 without my signature.

This bill would prohibit the naming of any school, park, building or
other public property after certain persons associated with the
Confederate States of America.

Recently we saw a national movement to remove the confederate flag
from State Capitols in the South ? a long overdue action.  This bill,
however, strikes me as different and an issue quintessentially for
local decision makers.

As far as we know, only two schools, and a street in Stockton would
be affected by this law.  Existing local processes provide for the
naming or re-naming of public facilities, and in several cases local
residents have voiced their opposition and have succeeded in
re-naming schools and other public property.

Local governments are laboratories of democracy which, under most
circumstances, are quite capable of deciding for themselves which of
their buildings and parks should be named, and after whom.

Sincerely,



Edmund G. Brown Jr.