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Assembly members pay tribute to Leon Williams in adjournments in memory
Summary
California Assembly members delivered tributes on March 17, 2025, honoring Leon L. Williams, a San Diego civic leader, the first Black San Diego City Council member and county supervisor, and a longtime advocate for public transit. The Assembly observed a moment of silence and ordered the requests to be printed in the journal.
Assemblymembers on March 17, 2025, delivered extended tributes to Leon L. Williams, a longtime San Diego civic leader who the floor described as a trailblazer in local government and regional transit.
Assemblymember Sharp Collins led a remembrance that traced Williams’s life from World War II service to his roles as San Diego City Council member and county supervisor. Sharp Collins said Williams "broke barriers" and “fought relentlessly” for housing, transit and civil rights. "Together, we can do more," Sharp Collins recalled Williams saying.
Assemblymember Ward, Assemblymember Borner and Assemblymember Patel also spoke, recounting Williams’s firsts — including purchase of a home in a previously restricted neighborhood, leadership on the region’s transit board and the naming of the San Diego State University trolley station in his honor — and describing the local institutions and commissions that carry forward his work. Ward noted that the county established the Leon L. Williams Human Relations Commission in 2019.
The Assembly observed a moment of silence, and the clerk noted that all requests to adjourn in Williams’s memory would be read and printed in the journal. Members emphasized Williams’s civic legacy, his mentorship of younger leaders and his role in expanding transit and representation in San Diego.
The tributes were ceremonial; members requested the adjournments in memory be entered into the legislative record.
