About two dozen residents gathered at the Austin Central Library in downtown Tuesday night to help city leaders decide whether they should rename Cesar Chavez Street, and if so, what it should be called.
Gary Moreno, who teaches Latino history at Austin Community College, spoke in support of the change.
“We’re presented with an opportunity here to highlight somebody who can be a role model for our students, and I think that is very important,” Moreno said. “History changes. We need new heroes. And I think this presents the city with an opportunity for a new hero.”
In March, Austin City Council members said they wanted to rename the road after the late labor rights leader Cesar Chavez was accused of sexually assaulting and abusing girls and women, including his longtime confidante Dolores Huerta.
That prompted many cities to explore renaming public spaces and events that bore Chavez’s name.
Austin quickly joined that nationwide effort. A mural that once sat at the corner of East Cesar Chavez and Waller Street was removed, a parade and celebration in Chavez’s honor was canceled and a statue of Chavez that stood on the University of Texas at Austin campus was taken down.
At Tuesday night’s meeting, some residents spoke in support of renaming the road after a local Latino activist like Américo Paredes, a Mexican-American scholar and namesake of a recently shuttered South Austin middle school. Others suggested naming the road after local women leaders or reverting to its previous names like Water Avenue or First Street.
Not all community members agree the street name should be changed.
Marisol Rivera Prins, who grew up in East Austin, said Chavez was not a perfect man, and she acknowledged his faults.
“But the sad reality is we don’t have many Latino leaders,” Rivera Prins said. “Yes, what he did hurts, and there is a lot of victims …. I just wish the City Council wouldn’t have jumped on this bandwagon of canceling and really thought it through.”
The city estimates it could cost up to $1.2 million to rename the road. That would cover the cost of street and highway signs as well as notices to affected homes and businesses. However, private businesses and residents would have to foot the bill for other expenses related to the name change, like updated business cards.
The road, which stretches from MoPac to U.S. 183, has borne Chavez’s name since 1993. Local nonprofit El Concilio Mexican-American Landowners de East Austin pushed to name the road after Chavez to honor his work in the labor movement on behalf of migrant workers, farm workers and working-class Latinos.
Gavino Fernandez Jr., a spokesperson for El Concilio, attended Tuesday’s meeting and said the group supports changing the street name.
Some attendees worried that there has not been enough public engagement, especially from people who live and work in East Austin. Fernandez Jr. and others said it can be difficult for many working families to attend a weeknight meeting.
The city will host two more public meetings on the street’s renaming:
Saturday, Aug. 15, 2–4 p.m.: Sanchez Elementary School, 73 San Marcos St. Tuesday, Aug. 18, 6–8 p.m.: Virtual webinar (register here)
People who cannot attend can still share their opinions through an online survey.
Joseph Allen with Austin’s Equity Office said the city would use the next several days to get the word out and boost engagement.
City staff are set to make recommendations on the name change to the City Council as early as next month.