San José’s Plaza de Cesar Chavez Will Be Renamed Plaza de San José
More than six months after San José put a plan in motion to rename the downtown park and plaza long named for Cesar Chavez, city leaders have made a choice.
The elliptical gathering space in downtown will now be known as Plaza de San José, after a unanimous vote of the City Council on Tuesday afternoon.
Plaza de San José took first place in a ranked-choice survey of five naming options that was put to residents in the summer. With more than 10,500 responses to the survey, it earned more first-choice votes than the second-place and third-place options combined, according to city reports.
“By a fairly resounding margin, the community has made it clear that Plaza de San José is their preferred choice for renaming the plaza,” Councilmember Anthony Tordillos, who represents downtown, said during the meeting.
“I think that this is really a name that speaks to the central role that this park has played in our city’s civic history as the oldest public space in Northern California, as the site of our first State Capitol here in California and as a longtime home to one of our earlier city halls. I think it’s a name that does its part to reflect the legacy and the importance of both the Spanish and the Mexican heritage in our city’s history,” he said.
The decision brings to a close a monthslong process of public engagement spanning community meetings and listening sessions, surveys and voting, which was put into motion after allegations broke that Chavez, long hailed as a unifying labor rights figure, sexually abused women and girls.
A New York Times report in March revealed Chavez’s alleged abuses, including against Dolores Huerta, with whom he co-founded what would become the United Farm Workers union, prompting cities and districts up and down the state to consider renaming the streets, parks, schools and other landmarks titled to honor him.
Mayor Matt Mahan said the result is a “positive outcome” and thanked city staff for doing “a very nice job of navigating an unexpected and sensitive situation” that has been difficult for residents.
While the council ultimately chose Plaza de San José because of the community voting behind it, some residents and Parks and Recreation commissioners pushed for names they said have more audible or cultural heft.
The Parks and Recreation commission, after reviewing community input, earlier this month suggested the council adopt the name, Plaza del Pueblo de San José, a combination of two naming options from public surveys. Commissioner Daisy Barocio said Plaza de San José lacked “richness” and felt “very plain and safe.”
Misrayn Mendoza of community group Amigos de Guadalupe, along with several others, called into the council meeting on Tuesday to suggest renaming the area Plaza de los Inmigrantes, or Immigrants Plaza, noting the city’s population is made up of more than 40% immigrants.
“We cannot take the easy way out and name it just the Plaza of San José,” he said.
The community meetings and surveys yielded more than 600 suggestions for potential names from residents and organizations.
After winnowing down the choices to five options based on what was most frequently suggested, and removing options that didn’t meet the city’s existing criteria for park names, city staff shared five options in a ranked-choice voting survey.
Plaza de San José was the overall leader after the survey, with Farmworkers Plaza the second preferred choice and Plaza del Pueblo the third, followed by Plaza Park and Plaza de Quetzalcoatl.
City staff said the park renaming work will go out to bid later this year and a contract should be completed in the spring.
Plaza de San José’s broad community support “will really set up this next era for the plaza well and help us get on that journey with the right foot,” Tordillos said. “And it will reaffirm that this really is a park that belongs to the people of San José and where everyone in our community is welcome.”