Why it will take time to erase Cesar Chavez’s name from the streets of California

from Nadia Lathan and Nigel DuaraCalMatters

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As Californians retreat from Cesar Chavez sexual assault allegationscity ​​leaders across the state say they are considering removing his iconography from their cities, renaming streets, libraries and monuments named after the labor rights leader.

From San Francisco to San Diego, local governments said they would support removing statues and renaming everything from parks to libraries after Chavez after prominent activist Dolores Huerta, 95, said Chavez forced himself on her in encounters that led to an unwanted pregnancy.

But the process to rename a street or monument is often slow, bureaucratic and expensive, usually requiring a combination of internal investigations, community input and approval from the City Council. Businesses can also face rising costs from changing the addresses listed on business cards and websites.

In a stunning turn of events for a man whose influence has been a mainstay of Democratic politics for decades, state lawmakers announced Thursday that they will change the holiday honoring Chavez’s birthday to Farmworker Day, more than 25 years after California became the first state to establish March 31 as a day honoring his legacy.

“The farmworkers’ rights movement in California has never been about one man,” assembly speaker Robert Rivas and leader of the Senate Monique Lemon said in a joint statement, and that the Legislature will work with cities and school districts to address the change.

Cities consider removal a legacy

San Diego officials said Wednesday they are reviewing the next steps to possibly rename Cesar Chávez Parkway, a major downtown thoroughfare, and nearly a dozen parks and public buildings named after Chávez.

Just outside the state Capitol in Sacramento, a monument and plaza named after Cesar Chavez will be transformed, City Councilman Eric Guerra told CalMatters.

“The unifying thing that I heard throughout the day, as every Latin American group approached me about this, both as an outlet and as a comfort, is that we have an obligation to continue this work,” Guerra said.

In Fresno, a City Council member who championed Cesar Chavez Boulevard in 2024 called for the street’s original name to be restored.

San Francisco Supervisor Jackie Fielder said she supports removing his name from institutions in the predominantly Latino Mission District.

Meanwhile, members of the California Museum’s Board of Trustees said Wednesday they plan to remove Chavez from the California Hall of Fame for the first time in recent history.

“Our hearts go out to the survivors of abuse from this man who was considered a hero by so many. We also still want to recognize the significant progress the union has made under his leadership,” the board said in a statement.

The National Park Service did not respond to a request for comment on whether they were talking about renaming the Cesar Chavez National Monument near Bakersfield.

Activists in Los Angeles continued to push for authorities to rename the city’s numerous streets dedicated to Chavez instead to honor Huerta, his partner in the labor movement.

“We know that in the Latino community, much of this abuse has been tolerated for generations and our culture has been told to keep quiet,” Raul Claros, a Los Angeles community organizer, said at a news conference.

Renaming costs time and money

The street name change process can move at a glacial pace, even under special circumstances.

In San Diego, changing city road names can be done by petition with unanimous support from affected property and business owners, which can be sent to the city for approval. This option could take months to years and is unlikely to happen because it would require buy-in from owners who would voluntarily take the break of renaming their home or work address.

Another option is for the city council to vote on a street name change. That will happen after the city completes its own report on all affected areas, according to San Diego Logistics Officer Bethany Bezak. The mayor and his team will then coordinate with the city council to bring it up for approval.

City officials could not say how long that process would take.

A review of every road, park and building named after Cesar Chavez is a work in progress and could take weeks to complete, Bezac said.

Changing the names of parks and monuments would also require approval from the city’s 11-member Parks and Recreation Board, which is appointed by the mayor.

“It’s unfortunate when this happens, but there is some precedent” for removing street signs with outdated or offensive words for groups of people, Bezak said, and that they don’t yet know what the total cost of removing and installing new signs will be, but it will depend on the number of intersections with Chavez’s name on them.

“These are very disturbing allegations,” Bezek said. “Ultimately, we want to ensure that neighborhoods reflect our values.”

In Los Angeles, where activists have called for Chavez’s name to be erased from numerous roads, residents can also petition or the City Council can take action, usually in tandem with an investigation.

The process could be long and cumbersome, mostly because it would require changing all the addresses for every property along the way, something many businesses have previously objected to because of the costs involved, said Department of Engineering and Public Works spokeswoman Mary Nemick.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.