Residents can submit name suggestions<\/a> through July 7 before city staff review submissions and launch a ranked choice survey at the end of July. The Parks and Recreation Commission is expected to review recommendations Sept. 2 before the City Council makes a final decision in the fall.<\/p>\n Rather than focusing only on potential names, city staff framed Wednesday\u2019s meeting around the plaza\u2019s history and role as one of San Jose\u2019s defining civic spaces.<\/p>\n The site dates back to the founding of the Pueblo de San Jose in 1777. It later served as the city\u2019s civic plaza where it also housed City Hall. It was demolished in the late 1950s and the site became a park. Then in 1993 it was renamed Plaza de C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez.<\/p>\n Ch\u00e1vez called San Jose home<\/a> at various points in his life and has long been celebrated<\/a> in the city.<\/p>\n Andrea Flores-Shelton, an assistant director in the parks department, said the city held two listening sessions earlier this month with about 40 participants before opening the public survey. She said residents consistently described the plaza as a place that brings communities together and emphasized its future name should make people feel represented while honoring the city\u2019s diverse history.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were recurring notions about not erasing history, but using the park as a way to tell a fuller story,\u201d Flores-Shelton said in the meeting.<\/p>\n Proposed names must meet specific criteria to be considered, including reflecting the park\u2019s geographic location, a historical event or honoring someone who has been dead for at least five years and made significant contributions to San Jose.<\/p>\n Ideas for the plaza\u2019s future are already beginning to emerge. Ignacio Ornelas, a local historian whose research focuses on Ch\u00e1vez, Dolores Huerta and the farmworker rights movement, said the renaming process can be used to recognize people whose contributions have helped shape San Jose\u2019s cultural identity.<\/p>\n One name he suggested was Los Tigres del Norte<\/a>, a Grammy-winning band with ties to San Jose. Ornelas said honoring the group would recognize decades of music that has documented the experiences of working-class Latino communities. Even if the plaza isn\u2019t renamed after the band, he said the city should find a way to formally recognize its contributions.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it would be a shame if we just erase the Latino, the Chicano, the Mexican American experience,\u201d Ornelas told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cThey sing about the underdog. They sing about our community.\u201d<\/p>\n Others expressed different ideas, such as one attendee who\u00a0suggested restoring the plaza\u2019s historic name \u201cPlaza San Jose.\u201d Parks\u00a0Director Jon Cicirelli said several residents have proposed returning to Plaza Park or moving away from naming parks after individuals altogether.<\/p>\n \u201cSome people push back about the name,\u201d Cicirelli told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cThis isn\u2019t the first time names have had to change for things that have been named after people.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_1148-1024x768.jpeg\")
Jon Cicirelli, director of San Jose Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services, said the department has been tasked with surveying residents about renaming Plaza de C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez in downtown. Photo by Maryanne Casas-Perez.<\/p>\n![\"In-line](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/interactive-321838904008.png\")
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