LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors last week gave staff direction to move, update and maintain a “wall of honor” for local members of the military that’s been on display in the courthouse lobby for more than a decade.
Family members of troops from Lake County had first approached the county in April 2003 about the wall of honor, which displays photos of men and women serving overseas in war zones, according to county documents.
The wall is in the lobby of the first floor of the courthouse, across from the Board of Supervisors’ office.
Last Tuesday, Health Services Director Denise Pomeroy and county Veterans Service Officer Saul Sanabria went to the board to ask for discussion and direction regarding the wall and maintaining it moving forward.
Pomeroy said the wall hasn’t been maintained in some time. It had only been meant to last the duration of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was not meant to be up forever.
She added that the group that originally requested the wall no longer exists.
Pomeroy said she spoke to Veterans Service Office staff and they were willing to move the wall to their office across the street and have it represent all veterans, not just troops currently serving.
Sanabria said they have the space and staff “focus on what the wall represents.”
Pomeroy said other options included leaving the wall where it’s at or to take it down altogether because the purpose has been met. She added that her preferred option was to move it to the Veterans Service Office, where they could extend its purpose and life.
“It was at my urging that we take a look at this,” County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson told the board.
She said she was concerned that the wall had not been maintained, and she also recommended moving it to the Veterans Service Office, where it would receive the tender loving care it needed.
Board Chair Jeff Smith wanted some tribute to the troops to remain in the courthouse lobby.
“You don’t get the public traffic in your office over there that we get here,” he told Sanabria.
Supervisor Tina Scott agreed. “I see many people stopping and looking at that,” she said of the wall.
Supervisor Jim Steele said it belonged at the Veterans Service Office, suggesting a plaque could be placed in the courthouse lobby directing people to its location.
Supervisor Moke Simon also wanted to see it moved to the Veterans Service Office.
Smith wanted to see a larger version of the wall maintained by the Veterans Service Office, and a separate, smaller wall kept in the lobby.
Pomeroy said they could have those two separate walls, which will honor current troops and veterans, with a plaque in the lobby directing people to the main wall at the Veterans Service Office. That ultimately was the board’s consensus.
Huchingson said that with so many things going on with wildland fire recovery, there is a lot of lobby wall space they can be refreshing and using in other ways.
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Supervisors agree to move, maintain ‘wall of honor’ for troops
- Elizabeth Larson
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