Delano city leaders are moving to rename city properties that bear the name Cesar Chavez after the city council unanimously approved recommendations during a meeting last night.
Councilman Bryan Osorio, who grew up in Delano and is in his sixth year on the city council after also serving as mayor, said the city has long recognized people who helped shape the community.
“Delano is a relatively small city and you know to pay homage to the icons that have made the city the way it is,” Osorio said.
Osorio, like many in Delano, has an attachment to Chavez, the renowned labor leader who has been accused of alleged sexual abuse. Osorio graduated from Cesar Chavez High School in 2014, and the process has begun to rename the school, where his wife also teaches.
The action follows sexual abuse allegations against Chavez that became public, prompting the Delano Union School District to begin the process of changing the high school’s name. Osorio said he and others on the city’s staff wanted to take similar steps.
“This farmworker movement hasn’t been about one person. It’s been about the countless number of people who have supported advocacy to improve the working conditions of families in Delano, across the Central Valley and across the country,” Osorio said.
Under the recommendations approved by the city council, Cesar Chavez Park would be changed back to Ellington Park, Cesar Chavez Lane would be renamed Chavez Lane, a mural at a community center would be painted over, and the city would contact the artist of another mural to modify it.
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“In terms of timeline, we’re still working those details out, but I hope it’s done in a fair amount of time,” Osorio said.