{"id":475625,"date":"2026-09-25T19:30:53","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/475625\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T19:30:53","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:30:53","slug":"here-are-san-franciscos-top-picks-to-rename-cesar-chavez-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/475625\/","title":{"rendered":"Here Are San Francisco\u2019s Top Picks to Rename C\u00e9sar Chavez Street"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mayor Daniel Lurie commissioned a working group of neighborhood residents, labor leaders and city officials in the wake of a shocking report about the labor leader. <\/p>\n

Sep 25, 2026<\/p>\n

Updated 11:51 am PT<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Community member Julian Bermudez advocates for more community outreach and more choices at a community meeting on renaming C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez Street at Leonard R. Flynn Elementary School in San Francisco on Sept. 24, 2026. The 3-mile Mission District thoroughfare could become \u201cS\u00ed, Se Puede\u201d or \u201cLas Campesinas.\u201d
\n\u00a0(Nina Glick\/KQED)<\/p>\n

San Francisco officials revealed two possible names Thursday that could replace C\u00e9sar Chavez <\/a>Street, following sexual abuse allegations against the activist earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Street signs along the 3-mile road could soon read: \u201cLas Campesinas,\u201d which means female farmworkers, or \u201cS\u00ed, Se Puede,\u201d a rallying cry of the farmworkers\u2019 movement, meaning \u201cYes, you can.\u201d<\/p>\n

The names were selected by a working group of neighborhood residents, labor leaders and city officials put together by Mayor Daniel Lurie in the wake of a shocking New York Times<\/a> investigation, which accused Chavez of a pattern of sexual misconduct against young girls and women.<\/p>\n

One of his victims was Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers union with Chavez in the 1960s.<\/p>\n

\"\"A street sign on Cesar Chavez Street in San Francisco on March 19, 2026.\u00a0(Martin do Nascimento\/KQED)<\/p>\n

Cities, schools and organizations across the U.S. moved quickly to strip the late labor leader\u2019s name from public view, but in San Francisco, renaming the street carries additional weight for many.<\/p>\n

Former Supervisor Susan Leal, who is co-leading the renaming working group, said she remembers\u00a0 the celebration when she and the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to name the street for Chavez, as well as the backlash that quickly followed.<\/p>\n

\"\"Mary Travis-Allen raises her hand to speak at a community meeting on renaming C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez Street at Leonard R. Flynn Elementary School in San Francisco on Sept. 24, 2026.\u00a0(Nina Glick\/KQED)<\/p>\n

Ultimately, they settled on the two proposed Thursday because of their importance to the farmworker movement as a whole, with a special nod to the women who were involved, and those who were harmed by Chavez\u2019s actions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Among the two dozen or so residents who attended the meeting in Flynn Elementary\u2019s gymnasium, there was fairly broad support for \u201cS\u00ed, Se Puede,\u201d a phrase coined by Huerta.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the biggest [words] that really brings people together, in giving people hope, is \u2018S\u00ed Se Puede,\u2019\u201d said Alicia Bustos Sandoval, who was raised in the Mission and worked for the union for seven years. \u201cIt\u2019s giving them \u2018esperanza.\u2019 It gives them hope that there\u2019s a light at the end of the tunnel. No one can bring you down. No one can tell you no.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the immediate aftermath of Chavez\u2019s scandal, many people suggested renaming many of the monuments honoring him for Huerta. But in the months that have passed, many people have begun to question dedicating spaces to individuals at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs humans, we are fallible and make mistakes and often cause harm, even when we have done some goodness,\u201d said Cynthia Meza, who has taught at Flynn Elementary on Chavez Street for 20 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Leal said in the committee\u2019s deliberations, they considered a slew of individuals\u2019 names, including Huerta\u2019s, but repeatedly came back to the broader movement.<\/p>\n

Many speakers said \u2018S\u00ed, Se Puede\u2019 strikes a balance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Susan Cervantes speaks at a community meeting on renaming C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez Street at Leonard R. Flynn Elementary School in San Francisco on Sept. 24, 2026.\u00a0(Nina Glick\/KQED)<\/p>\n

\u201cIts sort of the rally for all causes,\u201d Susan Cervantes, who is on the renaming working group, said. \u201cI\u2019ve seen Dolores Huerta end many of her rallies with that voice, saying, \u2018S\u00ed, se puede,\u2019 with her fist up. Resistance and resilience.\u201d<\/p>\n

San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Joaqu\u00edn Torres, who is co-leading the committee, said it plans to make a final recommendation on a new name next week. That will then be proposed to the Board of Supervisors in official legislation from Supervisor Jackie Fielder\u2019s office, and undergo a formal public hearing and vote.<\/p>\n

Mois\u00e9s Garc\u00eda, who attended the meeting on behalf of the mayor\u2019s office, said that a new name could be finalized as soon as December.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then, the city will begin replacing street signs and associated etchings in sidewalks. The committee estimates that work will cost $107,000, which will be paid by the city.<\/p>\n

Garcia said the Department of Public Works plans to work with the U.S. Postal Service to update delivery and mapping systems, and the city will support residents and businesses required to change their addresses and associated official documents over time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Daniel Lurie commissioned a working group of neighborhood residents, labor leaders and city officials in the wake…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475626,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-475625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}