Vice Mayor Bob Gonzales, the city’s former police chief, said “Nils, Carlos and the chief led the charge on this while thing.” Gonzales said he has attended memorial ceremonies “in the nation’s Capitol, Washington, D.C.,” as well as in Sacramento and Ventura, and “A little known fact is one of our former sergeants [Steve Carter] designed the monument at the Ventura County Government Center.”
When it came to the actual dedication, Gonzales said, “I never saw a ceremony as appropriate as the one done in Santa Paula... it was quick, it was to the point, it was information... the memorial was something in the making, something people wanted for years.” Gonzales thanked MacKinnon for his leadership of the ceremony, “second to none” on the national, state and county level, and “I thought it was great.”
Mayor Fred Robinson agreed: “The police memorial was as professional an event as I have ever attended; everyone was on cue, everybody looked sharp, they were timely... it was very, very appropriate.... I was very pleased to have a very, very small part in setting the wreath” at the memorial.
Robinson urged those who have not yet visited the memorial to do so: “Please take an opportunity to stop by and view the new memorial; it is quite impressive.”
The Railroad Plaza area now boasts numerous attractions, including the Farm Workers Monument - the only one in the nation - and The Warning statue, Floating Granite Ball, Gazebo, historic Depot and The Mill, the latter now being readied to hold the Ventura County Agricultural Museum. The plaza area also has the Bear sculpture and is undergoing some construction as part of the Santa Paula Branch Line Bicycle Trail.