United Farm Workers leaders Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez display photos of the conditions that farmworkers endure in San Joaquin Valley farm labor camps at a news conference outside U.S. District Court in Fresno, California, on Nov. 21, 1989. Fresno moved Thursday to remove Chavez’s name from a major boulevard, becoming one of the first major California cities to take formal action against the labor leader’s public legacy since sexual abuse allegations against him surfaced this week.
RICHARD DARBY/Fresno Bee file/TNS
A statue of Cesar Chavez in Cesar E. Chavez Memorial Park on March 17, 2026, in San Fernando, California. Fresno moved Thursday to remove Cesar Chavez’s name from a major boulevard, becoming one of the first major California cities to take formal action against the labor leader’s public legacy.
Kayla Bartkowski/TNS
Fresno moved Thursday to remove Cesar Chavez’s name from a major boulevard, becoming one of the first major California cities to take formal action against the labor leader’s public legacy since sexual abuse allegations against him surfaced this week.
The Fresno City Council voted unanimously to begin restoring the original names of streets that had been consolidated into Cesar Chavez Boulevard — California Avenue, Ventura Street and Kings Canyon Road.
The council wasted no time in moving to erase Chavez’s name from the boulevard, calling for a special meeting that only requires them to give the public 24 hours’ notice before convening. It was the only item on the afternoon agenda.
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The change still requires a second vote before it becomes final, Fresno City Attorney Andrez Janz told the council.
The move followed a New York Times investigation reporting accusations from two women, Ana Murguia and Debra Rojas, who said Chavez sexually abused them when in the 1970s, when they were 13 and 15, respectively. The Times said it found evidence supporting their accounts.
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Dolores Huerta, Chavez’s longtime organizing partner and co-founder of the United Farm Workers, also said this week that Chavez forced himself on her twice in the 1960s.
“I stand in solidarity with Dolores Huerta,” Fresno Councilmember Annalisa Perea said at the meeting. “I do not believe this is an individual who deserves to be plastered along one of the main corridors of our city.”
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The Fresno streets were renamed in 2023, though lawsuits and other opposition delayed full installation of the signs until fall 2024. City officials said most of the old signs remain in storage, reducing the cost of switching them back.
Fresno, in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, has long been tied to the farmworker movement Chavez helped build, making the city’s swift action especially notable.
Renaming streets can be a slow process, often needing community feedback, multiple approvals and coordination with businesses affected by address changes.
At Fresno State, a statue of Chavez was covered with a black tarp and plastic on Wednesday.
The vote came as the repercussions spread quickly across California.
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State legislative leaders announced Thursday that Cesar Chavez Day would be renamed Farmworkers Day. In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass signed a proclamation renaming the city’s Cesar Chavez Day holiday on March 31 as Farmworkers Day.
In San Diego, officials said they are reviewing whether to rename a major parkway and other sites bearing Chavez’s name, while leaders in Sacramento and San Francisco have also begun weighing similar moves.
The California Museum Board of Trustees said it plans to remove Chavez from the California Hall of Fame.
Fresno County supervisors are also expected to consider renaming their local holiday.
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San Francisco’s Cesar Chavez Day Parade has already been renamed the Dolores Huerta Parade and Festival, and officials in several cities are weighing whether streets, schools and monuments bearing Chavez’s name should be changed.