Those fallen, injured and impacted by the 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino County are being permanently commemorated through an original oil painting and bronze plaque commissioned by CSAC and the County Administrative Officers Association of California.

A dedication ceremony was held June 16 outside the County Board of Supervisors Chambers, where the painting now hangs. Representing CSAC at the ceremony was First Vice President and Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez. She was joined by San Diego County Chief Administrative Officer Helen Robbins-Meyer, who serves as President of the CAOs’ Association.

To see a video of the part of the ceremony, please click here.

The 4 by 6-foot original oil painting by artist Calvin Canepa is titled “Mountain Tranquility.” Next to the artwork is a plaque that reads: “In honor of those taken from us, those who were wounded, and the countless others affected by the tragedy of December 2, 2015.”

During her comments, Supervisor Perez said, that “the California State Association of Counties, along with our partners in the County Administrators Association of California, is proud to have commissioned this artwork to remember the victims who suffered in this tragedy. … And in their honor, we will all continue to work every day to serve the citizens of this state.”

Robbins-Meyer talked how about San Bernardino County staff responded to the tragedy was an inspiration for all California Counties.

“You showed your courage, your strength and your resilience. That’s a lesson we all have taken away from this. And it’s probably the most important lesson,” she said. “You didn’t allow your hearts to be filled with terror or fear or hatred. Instead you allowed your public servant heart to come forward and live on.”

San Bernardino County Supervisor Robert Lovingood, Chair of the Board, said that “on behalf of the County I’d like to say we are truly blessed for friends like CSAC and the CAOAC.”

“Every day we pass by this painting, we know that the world will never forget,” said County Public Health Director Trudy Raymundo.

And through this tragedy and into the future, the strength of California Counties remains strong.

“As our colleague CSAC Immediate Past President Richard Forster would often say, ‘One Family, 58 Strong’,” Supervisor Perez concluded. “We are strong; we are San Bernardino Strong, We are California County Strong.”