Berkeley to rename Cesar Chavez Park, cover signs honoring him

Berkeley named its 90-acre waterfront park after Cesar Chavez in the 1990s. Credit: Tracey Taylor/Berkeleyside

Update, March 25: The city of Berkeley will soon cover or remove signs mentioning Cesar Chavez at the park named in his honor, and launch a process to pick a new name for the waterfront open space.

The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to adopt a proposal from West Berkeley Councilmember Rashi Kesarwani to remove Chavez’s name from the park immediately. Kesarwani initially suggested the city rename the park after United Farm Workers Association co-founder Dolores Huerta, but changed her proposal to instead launch a public process so that Berkeley can “arrive at a new name as a community.”

Mayor Adena Ishii indicated she will continue to pursue another proposal at the council’s April 14 meeting to rename two features within the park, as well as the city holiday that honors Chavez.

Original story, March 24: Berkeley could soon remove Cesar Chavez’s name from the city park and holiday that honor him, in the wake of a report last week that the revered labor leader sexually assaulted women and girls.

Mayor Adena Ishii said Tuesday that she plans to introduce an item at the City Council’s April 14 meeting directing Berkeley staff and the Parks Commission to develop a plan to rename all city events, locations and holidays that are named for Chavez. Ishii’s proposal asks that staff and the commission return to the council with recommendations for new names “that will continue to honor the legacy of labor organizing and solidarity for farm workers, and recognize farm workers as the backbone of America.”

Meanwhile Councilmember Rashi Kesarwani, whose district includes Cesar Chavez Park, introduced her own item for Tuesday’s council meeting to rename the park for United Farm Workers Association co-founder Dolores Huerta, and direct city officials to “remove all signage bearing the name Cesar Chavez from park property as soon as practicable.”

UC Berkeley, which named a student center at the heart of campus after Chavez, has launched a similar process, and is taking public comments for at least the next two weeks on whether to strip his name from the facility. Chancellor Richard Lyons wrote in a message to the campus Thursday that Cal is also considering proposals for renaming the center.

Officials in Berkeley and across California, where Chavez was an iconic figure for his campaigns to improve pay and working conditions for farm workers, have faced a reckoning since The New York Times reported allegations that he sexually abused girls as young as 12, and raped Huerta. Calls began immediately to remove monuments honoring Chavez and rename countless public facilities throughout the state.

The solar calendar installation at César Chávez Park in Berkeley is a “tribute site” to the activist. Photo: Chris Benton

Berkeley named its 90-acre waterfront park after Chavez in the 1990s, and has commemorated Cesar Chavez Day since 2000. The park contains a memorial installation honoring Chavez, as well as a perimeter path that bears his name. The city has also observed a “Cesar Chavez-Dolores Huerta Commemorative Period,” which runs from the spring equinox through Huerta’s birthday on April 10.

The day after the Times article was published, state lawmakers announced they plan to change California’s Cesar Chavez holiday, held on his birthday, March 31, to “Farmworkers Day.”

Kesarwani’s proposal, which she introduced as an “urgent item” shortly before Tuesday’s meeting, calls for immediately renaming the park after Huerta.

“It would be a fitting tribute to her life and accomplishments to name the park after her to honor both her work and her survivorship,” Kesarwani wrote. “This naming would send a powerful signal to survivors in Berkeley that they are seen and valued while also maintaining the original intent to honor farmworkers and laborers in the state and beyond.”

Ishii’s proposal, which is co-sponsored by council members Cecilia Lunaparra, Mark Humbert and Shoshana O’Keefe, asks the city to work with local community organizations for a renaming process.

“I look forward to beginning a new chapter that reflects our community’s values and continues to bring pride and joy to all,” Ishii wrote in a statement Tuesday.

Melissa Male, a spokesperson for Ishii, said there was not an estimate for how long the process to rename the facilities and holiday might take.

The leadership of the memorial inside Cesar Chavez Park, a solar calendar known as a “tribute site,” wrote in a statement Saturday that they are “appalled” by the allegations and unsure of how they will move forward with the project.

“We do know that we have focused our efforts on the specific virtues of the United Farm Workers movement: hope, determination, courage, and tolerance/non-violence,” wrote project founder Santiago Casal, education director Beatriz Leyva-Cutler and Lupe Gallegos-Diaz, co-chair of the community organizing group Latinos Unidos Berkeley. “We expect to continue to honor those virtues along with honoring Dolores Huerta.”

Berkeley to rename Cesar Chavez Park, cover signs honoring him

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