John Albert Nejedly (October 22, 1914September 19, 2006) was a district attorney and

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

state senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

who represented

Contra Costa County ) of the San Francisco Bay , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_name1 = California , subdivision_type2 ...

from 1958 to 1980.

Early life

Born in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, Nejedly was raised there while attending public schools. He was a member of the

Boy Scouts Boy Scouts may refer to: * Boy Scout, a participant in the Boy Scout Movement. * Scouting, also known as the Boy Scout Movement. * An organisation in the Scouting Movement, although many of these organizations also have female members. There are ...

and went on to earn the rank of

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Sc ...

. After high school, Nejedly attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, where he received his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

in 1935. In 1938, he purchased a parcel of hillside land in the then-unincorporated area of

Walnut Creek A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, ''Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true bo ...

, which became his lifelong home. He continued with his education and received his

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from the UC Berkeley School of Law in 1941. From 1942 to 1946, Nejedly served with the U.S. Army Air Forces in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as a

Japanese language is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ma ...

officer. He was also the lone survivor of a plane crash during the war.

Professional career

Nejedly became a Deputy District Attorney for Contra Costa County in 1946, and in 1948 took on the additional role as the City Attorney for the City of Walnut Creek, both roles that he held until 1958. While serving as City Attorney, he played a key role in the creation of the Little Master Plan, a land use and public improvement plan that called for the culverting of portions of Walnut, Las Trampas, and San Ramon Creeks within downtown Walnut Creek, for the purpose of flood control and commercial development. This plan, which was adopted by the City in 1956, led to the expansion of Broadway Plaza and the creation of the portion of North Broadway between Lincoln Avenue and Mount Diablo Boulevard. A plaque commemorating the Little Master Plan can be found at the corner of Duncan Street and North Broadway, in downtown Walnut Creek. While working for the city of Walnut Creek, Nejedly engineered the

annexation Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

of the city into the

East Bay Municipal Utility District East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), colloquially referred to as "East Bay Mud", is a public utility district which provides water and sewage treatment services for an area of approximately in the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay.S ...

, thereby providing a more stable source of

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...

(the city has since grown into areas that are served by the

Contra Costa Water District The Contra Costa Water District (CCWD) is an agency that was created in 1936 to supply water for consumers in eastern Contra Costa, California. It is now one of the largest water districts in California, serving about 500,000 people in Central and E ...

). Nejedly was also successful in working to annex the city into the

Central Contra Costa Sanitary District The Central Contra Costa Sanitary District (CCCSD), also called Central San, provides sanitary sewage transport and treatment for the central portion of Contra Costa County, California. The main facility is a per day treatment plant in resident ...

, which allowed the city to close its old sewer farm and to reuse the land for what is now the eastern portion of Civic Park (at the end of Carmel Drive, near the intersection of North Broadway and Civic Drive).

Political career

In 1958, Nejedly was elected to the post of

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

for Contra Costa County, his first elected office and a position he held for the next decade. In the late 1950s and early 1960s Nejedly helped lead attempts by the Contra Costa Park Council to create a park system in Contra Costa County. Ultimately he was a leader with local attorney Hulet Hornbeck in the successful 1964 campaign to expand the

East Bay Regional Park District The East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) is a special district operating in Alameda County and Contra Costa County, California, within the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay Area. It maintains and operates a system of regional parks which ...

to include much of the County. In 1969, Nejedly was elected to the office of State Senator for California State Senate District 7, a seat that was made vacant by the passing of George Miller Jr. Serving Contra Costa County, he went on to hold this position for three consecutive terms, until his retirement in 1980. It was also during this time that Nejedly donated of wilderness land at Hawley Lake in the Sierra Nevadas for use as a summer camp by Boy Scouts of the Mt. Diablo Council and by the Contra Costa Youth Council, a new organization he created for disabled and disadvantaged children. In addition, he funded a scholarship to help minority adults. While in the State Senate, Nejedly gained a reputation as an

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

, and served as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Wildlife. He took an active role in legislation related to water policy and environmental preservation, authoring or co-authoring environmental legislation that included the following: *Solid Waste Management and Resource Recovery Act of 1972 (creating the Solid Waste Management Board, requiring statewide solid waste plans, and encouraging increased recycling). *Forest Protection Act of 1973 (providing for forest resource management that "balances timber production with watershed protection, fisheries and wildlife, and recreational opportunities"). *Suisun Marsh Preservation Act of 1974 (providing for preservation of the

Suisun Marsh Located in northern California, the Suisun Marsh ( ) has been referred to as the largest brackish water marsh on west coast of the United States of America. The marsh land is part of the San Francisco Bay tidal estuary, and subject to tidal ebb a ...

). *Wilderness Act of 1974 (allowing the state legislature to designate state lands as wilderness areas and prohibit mining, logging, or road construction). *Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975 (requiring reclamation plans to minimize environmental impacts and to give "consideration to values relating to recreation, watershed, wildlife, range and forage, and aesthetic enjoyment"). *Urban and Coastal Park Bond Act of 1976 ($280 million bond used to purchase park lands). *Hazardous Substances Information and Training Act of 1980 (establishing an employee's "right to know" about chemical hazards in the workplace). *California Parklands Act of 1980 ($285 million bond used to purchase, rehabilitate, and develop park lands). Nejedly was also active in the area of criminal justice, and authored the

Uniform Determinate Sentencing Act of 1976 The Uniform Determinate Sentencing Act of 1976 was a bill signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown to changes sentencing requirements in the California Penal Code. The act converted most sentences from an "indeterminate" sentence length at the discre ...

, which mandated fixed sentences for most crimes. In 1972, Nejedly authored Senate Bill 25, to authorize the design and construction of the new

Antioch Bridge The Antioch Bridge (officially the Senator John A. Nejedly Bridge) is an automobile, bicycle, and pedestrian bridge in the western United States. Located in northern California, it crosses the San Joaquin River- Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channe ...

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

, which replaced a

vertical lift bridge A vertical-lift bridge or just lift bridge is a type of movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck. The vertical lift offers several benefits over other movable bridges such as the bascule and swin ...

that was constructed in 1926. After its completion, the new bridge was named the "Senator John A. Nejedly Bridge" in his honor. In 1979, nearby land was acquired for the Antioch/Oakley Regional Shoreline with the support of Nejedly, and it was Nejedly's suggestion that some of the old bridge's pillars be used for what is now a fishing pier.

Post-retirement life

After his retirement from the state senate in 1980, Nejedly was active in many community organizations related to the environment, water policy, criminal justice, healthcare, and children's welfare. Throughout the early 1980s, Nejedly fought to prevent the construction of the

Peripheral Canal The Peripheral Canal was a series of proposals starting in the 1940s to divert water from California's Sacramento River, around the periphery of the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta, to uses farther south. The canal would have attempted to resolv ...

, a plan that would have diverted water from

Sacramento River The Sacramento River ( es, Río Sacramento) is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento–S ...

around the

Sacramento River Delta ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

and onwards to southern California. In 1988 Nejedly was co-chairman of the East Bay Regional Park District's successful campaign in favor of Measure AA, a $225 million bond which has resulted in over 30,000 acres (120 km²) being added to the District's land holdings, now totaling almost . In the mid-1980s, Nejedly was actively involved in supporting the construction of the Contra Costa Water District's

Los Vaqueros Reservoir The Los Vaqueros Reservoir and watershed is located in the northern Diablo Range, within northeastern Contra Costa County, northern California. It was completed by the Contra Costa Water District (CCWD) in to improve the quality of drinking water ...

to provide a more reliable source of clean drinking water to portions of central and eastern Contra Costa County. The bond for this project was passed in 1988, and the dam was completed in 1994. In 2004 Nejedly was chairman of the campaign opposing CCWD's Measure N, an advisory measure asking voters for authorization of studies considering tearing down the recently completed Los Vaqueros dam and replacing it with a larger dam and reservoir. A month before his 92nd birthday in 2006, Nejedly died in Walnut Creek, a few days after suffering a massive

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

Honors

In 1978, the replacement Antioch Bridge was named the "Senator John A. Nejedly Bridge" in his honor. In 1983, he was awarded the John Muir Conservation Award by the John Muir Memorial Association, for his efforts in protecting

Mount Diablo Mount Diablo is a mountain of the Diablo Range, in Contra Costa County, California, Contra Costa County of the eastern San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California. It is south of Clayton, California, Clayton and northeast of Danville, Califo ...

. In the early 1990s the East Bay Regional Park District dedicated the Nejedly Staging Area at the new

Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline is a regional park, part of the East Bay Regional Park District system, located in northwestern Contra Costa County, California. Geography The park, which is divided into two sections, that is divided in two s ...

in the retired State Senator's honor. In October 2005 a trail leading from the staging area was named in honor of Hulet Hornbeck, Nejedly's good friend and collaborator in helping to extend the East Bay Regional Park District into Contra Costa County.

References

*Gledhill, Lynda (2006-09-22).
John Nejedly -- environmentalist
', San Francisco, CA: San Francisco Chronicle. *Vorderbrueggen, Lisa (2006-09-20).

', Walnut Creek, CA: Contra Costa Times. *In a Nutshell - Official community newsletter of City of Walnut Creek (December/November, 2006).
Remembering Walnut Creek political icon John A. Nejedly — 1914 - 2006
', Walnut Creek, CA: City of Walnut Creek. *Keeble, Pat (2006-10-31).

', Contra Costa County, CA: Contra Costa Insider.

''californiawatercrisis.org'', retrieved on 2007-01-01.
Award Program - John Muir Association
''johnmuir.org'', retrieved on 2007-01-01.
John A. Nejedly
''joincalifornia.com'', retrieved on 2007-01-01.

''dot.ca.gov'', retrieved on 2011-07-16.
East Bay Regional Park District: Places To Go: Antioch/Oakley Regional Shoreline
''ebparks.org'', retrieved on 2011-07-16.
California Wilderness Coalition: Golden State Wilderness Campaign
''calwild.org'', retrieved on 2007-01-01.
SFBCDC - The Suisun Marsh Preservation Act
''bcdc.ca.gov'', retrieved on 2007-01-01.
California Public Resources Code - Sections 2710-2719
''leginfo.ca.gov'', retrieved on 2007-01-01.
California Public Resources Code - Sections 4511-4517
''leginfo.ca.gov'', retrieved on 2007-01-01.
California Public Resources Code - Sections 5096.141-5096.145
''leginfo.ca.gov'', retrieved on 2007-01-01.

''lib.ca.us'', retrieved on 2007-01-01.
Contra Costa Water District: Los Vaqueros Project History
''ccwater.com'', retrieved on 2007-01-01.
Dam plan ignites water war, Measure N asks voters to approve study for enlarging Los Vaqueros Reservoir, San Francisco Chroicle, February 29, 2004
''sfgate.com'', retrieved on 2007-08-08. *, ''dot.ca.gov'', retrieved on 2007-08-08.

External links

Join California John A. Nejedly
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nejedly, John 1914 births 2006 deaths Nejedly, John A. California Republicans UC Berkeley School of Law alumni Haas School of Business alumni 20th-century American politicians American people of Czech descent United States Army personnel of World War II Politicians from Oakland, California