BILL NUMBER: ACR 154 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 17, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 5, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Jeffries
( Coauthors: Assembly Members
Garrick and Miller )
( Coauthor: Senator Dutton
)
APRIL 12, 2010
Relative to Yeager Brothers Overpass. the
Yeager Family Interchange.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
ACR 154, as amended, Jeffries. Yeager Brothers Overpass.
Family Interchange.
This measure would designate the overpass
interchange at State Highway Route 60 and State Highway Route
15 , in the County of Riverside,
California, as the Yeager Brothers Overpass
Family Interchange . This measure would also
request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of
appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon
receiving donations from nonstate sources covering those costs, to
erect those signs.
Fiscal committee: yes.
WHEREAS, The Yeager family has been committed to great civic
service and charitable contributions in their community, and has been
involved in major construction projects that have improved
transportation throughout Southern California; and
WHEREAS, In 1918 Ernest Louis Yeager (1893-1979) moved to
Riverside, California from his home in Tomah, Wisconsin and founded
the E.L. Yeager Construction Company, Inc., in 1919; and
WHEREAS, One year later Ernest married Emma Leah Stalder and
raised their three sons, Jacques Stalder Yeager, E. Eugene "Gene"
Yeager, and Richard Allen Yeager; and
WHEREAS, The Yeager brothers grew up in Riverside and
attended Poly High School; and
WHEREAS, The company began by building parking lots and city
streets in San Bernardino and, during the following decades, the
company became one of the state's largest civil engineering firms and
constructed a stretch of Historic Route 66, the road system around
the Hoover Dam, major portions of Interstate 15, and multiple
interchanges on State Highway Route 91; and
WHEREAS, After the two eldest brothers served in World War
II, they returned home to Riverside and joined their father working
in the company, and after completing his service with the United
States Marine Corps, Richard united with his brothers as a part of
the company; and
WHEREAS, In 1952, after suffering from a series of strokes,
Ernest Yeager handed over the company to his sons, and the Yeager
brothers expanded the company to one of the top contractors in the
state; and
WHEREAS, Ernest passed away in 1979 and, later that year,
after working for the company and being involved in a variety of
civic roles including the Republican Central Committee, Richard and
his wife were killed in a car accident; and
WHEREAS, Following the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the
company was given the contract to replace the twin 765 foot bridges
of Interstate 5 near Santa Clarita with only 130 days to complete the
project that would normally take more than a year, and yet the
company finished the project in only 100 days; and
WHEREAS, In 1999, Emma Yeager passed away and is survived by
her two sons Jacques and Gene; and
WHEREAS, When the Yeager Company was sold in 2002, it had
grossed over $285 million the prior year, making it among the state's
top 10 contractors; and
WHEREAS, Beyond construction and development, the Yeager
family has been dedicated to the Inland Empire community; and
WHEREAS, The Yeager family has developed strong relationships
with the University of California, Riverside, through gifts,
service, and partnerships from the university's founding, and in 1957
the Yeager Company donated the concrete that became the "C" that now
marks the University of California, Riverside, above the skyline on
Box Spring Mountain; and
WHEREAS, The Yeager family has served the community through
many charitable and civic organizations including United Way of the
Inland Valleys, the Board of Trustees of the University of
California, Riverside, the Regional Institute of Southern California,
the General George Patton Museum, the Greater Riverside Chambers of
Commerce Monday Morning Group, the Inland Empire Cultural Foundation,
the California Water Resource Administration, the Inland Empire
Economic Partnership, the March Air Field Museum Foundation, the
Raincross Club of Riverside, the Riverside Art Foundation, the
Riverside County Philharmonic Association, the Olive Crest
Foundation, the Riverside Art Museum Julia Morgan Society, the
Mission Inn Foundation, and the California Baptist University; and
WHEREAS, In recognition of the Yeager family's great civic
and charitable contributions and service, as well as their major
construction projects improving the transportation and educational
infrastructure in southern California, it would be a fitting tribute
to designate the interchange at State Highway Route 60 and State
Highway Route 15, in the County of Riverside, as the Yeager Family
Interchange; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED BY THE ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, THE SENATE
THEREOF CONCURRING, That the Legislature hereby designates the
interchange at State Highway Route 60 and State Highway Route 15, in
the County of Riverside, as the Yeager Family Interchange; 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 Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit
copies of this resolution to the Department of Transportation and to
the author for appropriate distribution.
WHEREAS, Jacques Stalder Yeager, Sr., was born in 1921, the eldest
of three children, including E. Eugene "Gene" Yeager who was born in
1924, each in Riverside, California; and
WHEREAS, Their father, Ernest Louis Yeager (1893-1979) founded
E.L. Yeager Construction Company, Inc., in 1919; and
WHEREAS, Jacques graduated from Poly High School in Riverside in
1939, and began his studies at the University of California,
Berkeley; and
WHEREAS, His education was interrupted by his service as a
lieutenant in the SeaBees, the Construction Battalions (CBs) of the
United States Navy, for which he trained at the University of Notre
Dame; and
WHEREAS, In 1945, Jacques returned to the University of
California, Berkeley, where, in 1947, he earned a Bachelor of Science
Degree in Engineering, and he continues to serve on the Steering
Committee for the School of Engineering and the Alumni Association of
that university; and
WHEREAS, Throughout his life, Jacques has taken action to further
economic development in the Inland Empire, higher education, the
arts, culture, and shoring up the infrastructure of southern
California's fastest growing region; and
WHEREAS, Jacques returned to Riverside to work for E.L. Yeager
Construction Company in 1947, became president in 1956, led that
company to become one of the state's largest contractors, completing
nearly $130 million in highway construction projects for Caltrans
from 1984 through 1986, and became chairman and chief executive
officer of the company in 1993; and
WHEREAS, Jacques served on the Riverside County Local Streets and
Highways Needs Assessment Steering Committee and the Riverside County
Transportation Commission from 1984 to 1990, was appointed by
Governor Deukmejian as a regent of the University of California from
1988 to 1994, and was appointed by Governor Wilson as a member of the
California Economic Strategy Panel from 1994 to 1998; and
WHEREAS, After selling the company in 1995, Jacques remained
active in serving various charitable and academic institutions,
including the United Way of the Inland Valleys, the Board of Trustees
of the University of California, Riverside, the Regional Institute
of Southern California, the General George Patton Museum, the Greater
Riverside Chambers of Commerce Monday Morning Group, the Inland
Empire Cultural Foundation, the California Water Resource
Administration, the Inland Empire Economic Partnership, the March Air
Field Museum Foundation, the Raincross Club of Riverside, and the
Riverside Art Foundation; and
WHEREAS, After graduating from Poly High School in 1942, Gene
began studying engineering at the University of California, Berkeley,
enlisted in the Navy in 1943, receiving a fleet appointment to the
United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, and returned to the
University of California, Berkeley, in 1946, where he earned his
Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering in 1948; and
WHEREAS, Gene then joined the family company, and their father
turned the business over to Jacques and Gene in 1952 shortly after
which, they began their longstanding relationship with the University
of California, Riverside, by grading the site and laying down its
first curbs and sidewalks, into which the pioneer student class
engraved their names; and
WHEREAS, Gene has served many charitable and civic organizations,
including the Riverside County Philharmonic Association, the Olive
Crest Foundation, the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce, the
United Way of the Inland Valleys, the Riverside Art Museum Julia
Morgan Society, the Mission Inn Foundation, and the California
Baptist University; has created scholarships at the University of
California, Riverside; has received the Robert Holstein Public
Service and Humanitarian Award from the Children's Spine Foundation;
and was recognized by the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce as
Citizen of the Year 2009; and
WHEREAS, In recognition of the Yeager brothers great civic and
charitable contributions and service, as well as their major
construction projects improving the transportation and educational
infrastructure in southern California, it would be a fitting tribute
to designate the overpass at State Highway Route 60 and State Highway
Route 15, in the City of Riverside, as the Yeager Brothers Overpass;
now, therefore, be it
Resolved, by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the
overpass at State Highway Route 60 and State Highway Route 15, in the
City of Riverside, as the Yeager Brothers Overpass; 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 Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the Department of Transportation and to the author
for appropriate distribution.