Leonard Myron Salle
Co-Founder of Commonweal Institute
May 15, 1936 -- May 5, 2006

Leonard Myron Salle, 69, passed away as the result of complications of coronary bypass surgery. He is survived by his wife of 16 years, Katherine Alden Forrest; sons William F. Salle and Stephen K. Salle; stepsons Eric John Finseth and Ian Frederick Finseth; brother Donald Arthur Salle; sister-in-law Adele Salle; and six grandchildren.

Leonard was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and attended Wayne State University, graduating as a civil engineer. He moved to San Mateo in 1960, and lived in the Bay Area thereafter. After working in high-level management and executive positions in engineering design and construction firms, his last employer was the County of Santa Clara, where he served in the Environmental Resources Agency, was president of the Santa Clara County Engineers and Architects Association (AFL-CIO), and was the primary organizer of the County Employee Labor Alliance (CELA). He was a Fellow in the American Society of Civil Engineers and a charter member of the Association of Environmental Professionals in California.

In 2001, Leonard co-founded and served as the President of the Commonweal Institute, a think tank that seeks to maximize the visibility and the power of progressive ideas and values, promoting fundamental American ideals of community, responsibility, and fairness. The ideals and mission of the Commonweal Institute were also Leonard’s ideals: commitment to future generations, environmental protection, balance between business and society as a whole, inclusiveness and fairness, separation of church and state, personal choice and privacy, and a comprehensive and nuanced approach to national security. The Commonweal Institute is growing in national recognition and achievement as a leading proponent in the development of progressive marketing and communications infrastructure; in March 2006, it sponsored the Progressive Roundtable, which was attended by leaders from across the country and was directed toward generating specific ideas and concrete results for building progressive infrastructure.

During his engineering career, Leonard advocated incorporating public input into major public and private engineering projects, developed school busing policies in hillside communities, opposed placement of environmentally risky gas lines across farmland, and created one of the first heritage tree ordinances in California.

Leonard will be remembered fondly and with deep respect for his sense of justice, ethics and responsibility toward his community and society as a whole, for his irreverent sense of humor, for his gifted skill as a classical pianist, and for his devotion as a husband, brother, father and grandfather.

A memorial service will be held on May 27, 2006 from 2 to 6 p.m. in the Taube Center on the campus of Notre Dame de Namur University, 1500 Ralston Avenue, Belmont, CA; 650-508-3500.

The family requests that donations be made to the Leonard M. Salle Memorial Education Fund at the Commonweal Institute, 325 Sharon Park Drive, Suite 332, Menlo Park, CA 94025; 650-854-9796. You can also click here to make a contribution.