BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: ACR 159
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: Chesbro
VERSION: 6/17/14
Analysis by: Nathan Phillips FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: August 12, 2014
SUBJECT:
Deputy Sheriff Deeds Memorial Highway and Deputy Sheriff Del
Fiorentino Memorial Highway
DESCRIPTION:
This resolution designates a portion of State Highway Routes
(SR) 1 and 116 in Sonoma County as the Deputy Sheriff Merrit W.
Deeds Memorial Highway and designates a portion of SR 1 in
Mendocino County as the Deputy Sheriff Ricky Del Fiorentino
Memorial Highway.
ANALYSIS:
The committee has adopted a policy regarding the naming of state
highways or structures. Under the policy, the committee will
consider only those resolutions that meet all of the following
criteria:
The person being honored must have provided extraordinary
public service or some exemplary contribution to the public
good and have a connection to the community where the highway
or structure is located.
The person being honored must be deceased.
The naming must be done without cost to the state. Costs for
signs and plaques must be paid by local or private sources.
The author or co-author of the resolution must represent the
district in which the facility is located, and the resolution
must identify the specific highway segment or structure being
named.
The segment of highway being named must not exceed five miles
in length.
The proposed designation must reflect a community consensus
and be without local opposition.
The proposed designation may not supersede an existing
designation unless the sponsor can document that a good faith
effort has uncovered no opposition to rescinding the prior
ACR 159 (CHESBRO) Page 2
designation.
This resolution designates the portion of SR 1 from Jenner to SR
116 and the portion of SR 116 from SR 1 to the intersection with
Austin Creek Road in Sonoma County as the Deputy Sheriff Merrit
W. Deeds Memorial Highway and designates the portion of SR 1
between milepost markers 62.0 and 65.0 in Mendocino County as
the Deputy Sheriff Ricky Del Fiorentino Memorial Highway. The
resolution further requests that the Department of
Transportation erect appropriate signs upon receiving donations
from non-state sources to cover the costs.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The author introduced this resolution to honor the
life and service of Deputy Sheriff Merrit W. Deeds and Deputy
Sheriff Ricky Del Fiorentino.
2.Background . Deputy Sheriff Deeds was a graduate of Healdsburg
High School and Sacramento State University who served in
Vietnam in the 81st Airborne Infantry Division. He graduated
from the Alaska State Trooper Academy and worked as an Alaska
State Trooper before returning to his native Sonoma County,
where he was hired by the sheriff's office as a summer deputy.
Only hours after learning he was to become a permanent
full-time deputy sheriff for Sonoma County, Deputy Sheriff
Deeds was shot and killed while patrolling SR 116 near Jenner.
He had stopped to talk with three men who were parked on the
side of the road when the driver of the vehicle fired two
shots at him, the second of which was fatal. Reserve Deputy
Rex Nance, who was off duty, stopped to assist, and Deputy
Sheriff Deeds was able to warn him that the driver had a gun,
possibly saving Reserve Deputy Nance's life. Deputy Sheriff
Deeds is survived by his wife and two small daughters.
Deputy Sheriff Ricky Del Fiorentino was a native of Napa who
attended the University of Oklahoma and the Napa Valley
College Policy Academy. He started his law enforcement career
with the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office, serving from 1988
to 1990, and then worked for the Fort Bragg Police Department
from 1990 to 2000. He returned to the Mendocino County
Sheriff's Office in 2000.
ACR 159 (CHESBRO) Page 3
On March 19, 2014, Deputy Sheriff Del Fiorentino responded to
a shooting in Cleone, a small community a few miles north of
Fort Bragg. He spotted the suspect vehicle stopped in the
roadway in a residential area and was immediately ambushed by
the suspect, who fired numerous rifle rounds into Del
Fiorentino's patrol vehicle, killing him. Seconds later the
suspect fired on a Fort Bragg police lieutenant, who then
killed the suspect. Deputy Sherrif Del Fiorentino is survived
by his wife, five children, and three grandchildren.
3.Inconsistent with committee policy . The highway segments
specified for the Deputy Sherriff Deeds Memorial Highway
exceed five miles. The author has agreed to amend this
resolution to specify a single highway segment not exceeding
five miles.
4.Technical Amendment . On page 4, line 10, strike "southbound
and milepost marker 65.0 northbound in the County" and replace
with "and milepost marker 65.0, adjacent to MacKerricher State
Park in the County"
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, August 6,
2014.)
SUPPORT: Mendocino County Sheriff's Office (sponsor)
Sonoma County Sheriff's Office (sponsor)
Counties of Mendocino and Sonoma
OPPOSED: None received.