Senate Concurrent Resolution
No. 64
CHAPTER 7
Relative to the Sergeant Gilbert Cortez and K-9 Mattie Memorial Highway.
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Filed with
Secretary of State
February 06, 2014.
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LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCR 64, Roth.
Sergeant Gilbert Cortez and K-9 Mattie Memorial Highway.
This measure would designate a specified portion of State Highway Route 15 in the County of Riverside as the Sergeant Gilbert Cortez and K-9 Mattie Memorial Highway. The 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 the cost, to erect those signs.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee:
YES WHEREAS, Gilbert Cortez was born on October 4, 1966; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Cortez was raised in the City of Corona and attended Norco High School, where he played baseball; and
WHEREAS, On September 17, 1990, Mr. Cortez began his career with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Cortez was first assigned to the California Institution for Men in Chino and then transferred to Calipatria State Prison on October 29, 1992, where he became part of the Investigative Services Unit; and
WHEREAS, While at Calipatria State Prison, Mr. Cortez was promoted to the rank of sergeant; and
WHEREAS, Sergeant Cortez then transferred to the California Rehabilitation Center on October 29, 2001, to return to his hometown of Corona; and
WHEREAS, Sergeant Cortez held various positions at the California Rehabilitation Center and was able to join the Investigative Services Unit once again as an investigator; and
WHEREAS, In 2011, Sergeant Cortez became a part of the Southern Regional K-9 Unit, partnering with K-9 Mattie, who was certified to search for contraband and narcotics; and
WHEREAS, K-9 Mattie was a Belgian Malinois who was donated by a private citizen in the San Diego area; and
WHEREAS, Sergeant Cortez, at the age of 46, and K-9 Mattie were killed in an automobile accident on State Highway Route 79 near San Felipe Road in the County of San Diego on March 25, 2013; and
WHEREAS, K-9 Mattie died at the scene of the accident, while Sergeant Cortez succumbed to his injuries at a local fire station before an emergency services helicopter could transport him to a trauma center; and
WHEREAS, At the time of the accident, Sergeant Cortez was part of a convoy of state corrections K-9 officers that was en route to inspect the La Cima Conservation Fire Camp, an inmate-staffed firefighting outpost in a rural part of the County of San Diego; and
WHEREAS, Sergeant Cortez was well loved and respected in the Eastvale, Corona, and Norco communities; and
WHEREAS, Sergeant Cortez is survived by his wife, two children, and parents; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the portion of State Highway Route 15 from Second Street in the City of Norco to Limonite Avenue in the City of Eastvale, in the County of Riverside, as the Sergeant Gilbert Cortez and K-9 Mattie 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 Director of Transportation and to the author for appropriate distribution.