https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/11/us/pulse-nightclub-national-memorial-trnd/index.html

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Florida lawmakers want to make the Pulse nightclub site a national memorial

By Scottie Andrew and Dylan Miettinen, CNN

Updated 2:52 PM ET, Tue June 11, 2019

(CNN)In the days ahead of the third anniversary of the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida lawmakers have proposed plans to designate the nightclub a national memorial.

U.S. Reps. Darren Soto and Stephanie Murphy, both from Central Florida, announced their plan to declare Pulse a federal landmark at a service in front of the temporary memorial Monday. The designation, they hope, will nationally honor the 49 victims of the deadliest act of violence against LGBT people in the history of the country.

If passed, the bill would classify the memorial as part of the National Park System but allow local nonprofit OnePulse Foundation to retain control of its construction, Soto said. He plans to pass the legislation by June 2020.

"This will give this hallowed ground the federal recognition it deserves, especially for those who lost everything."

In the early hours of June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen shot and killed 49 people and injured more than 50 others during the club's Latin night, claiming allegiance to ISIS. The incident marked the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. until one year later, when 58 people were murdered at a Las Vegas country music concert.

A temporary memorial at the club opened in May 2018, but club co-owner and foundation CEO Barbara Poma told CNN affiliate WFTV she plans to start building a permanent site by 2021.

As a nationally recognized memorial, the project would be eligible to receive federal and private funding. Poma said the foundation's raised $14 million of its $45 million goal for construction, most of which the county pledged.

"This is an important step to preserve an LGBT historic landmark at a time when many of these sites are being destroyed," Soto said. "The memorial will serve as a reminder of the remarkable way our community came together to heal and overcome hate."

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Chona Sarte, a 32-year-old aide to Gov. Gavin Newsom, died Monday night of natural causes, the governor’s office announced Tuesday.

Sarte, who had a heart condition, served as deputy director of external affairs in the Newsom administration.

Born and raised in Sacramento, Sarte attended Sacramento State for college and UC Davis for her business degree, said Priscilla Cheng, her supervisor in the governor’s office. The only introvert working on team of extroverts, Sarte was a respected and talented colleague, Cheng said.

“She was this smart, intelligent but extremely humble and calming source in the midst of a really busy, high pressure environment,” Cheng said.

In a statement, Newsom described Sarte as a “passionate defender of the environment.” He applauded her work to clean the state’s air and water as a special projects adviser at the California Environmental Protection Agency, where she worked for nine years before joining Newsom’s office.

“We were all fortunate that such a kind and talented colleague was one of the first people that community leaders met when they came to Sacramento,” Newsom said in a statement. “Her colleagues remember this passion, matched only by her generosity as she would happily lend a hand to any teammate in need.”

At CalEPA, she served as assistant to then-Secretary for Environmental Protection Matt Rodriquez, who remembers her as a dedicated public servant with a sense of humor.

Once, he recalled, in Toronto for a meeting, he got lost on his way to a state dinner. Rather than relying on his cab driver, he got out of the car and called Sarte, who successfully directed him to the dinner from thousands of miles away using Google maps.

“She was just a wonderful person, always very calm, always very patient,” Rodriquez said. “I trusted her.”

Sarte orchestrated discussions among the governor’s team, state agencies and outside groups as Newsom shaped his plan to put a moratorium on the death penalty in California, Cheng said.

“She did that with such grace and calmness,” Cheng said. “For such a young person to be able to display that kind of leadership was something I think folks really remember.”

In her application to work in the governor’s office, Sarte said she wanted to help make California a leader for the rest of the country.

“During this uncertain political time at the federal level for policy issues like health care, immigration and environmental protection, the progressive work in California is even more significant,” she wrote.

Her colleagues draped flowers over the bear statue outside the governor’s office in the state Capitol in her memory.