By David Courtland and Carlos Garcia
Oxnard’s city council voted unanimously at its Sept. 15 meeting to rename Cesar Chavez Drive, (Oxnard mayor Luis A. McArthur was absent during this item). The resolution also allows for up to $250 reimbursement for people affected by the change.
The street has been renamed Campesina Place, but a date for the change to go into effect has not been decided yet. Councilmember Gabriela Rodriguez suggested Campesino or Campesina Drive to honor farmworkers.
“It honors folks who are working on the farms, it speaks to the legacy of this being an agricultural area and it’s not specific to anybody’s last name,” Rodriguez said, making a motion to rename the street Campesina Place after some discussion. Councilmember Michaela Perez seconded Rodriguez’ motion.
Many communities began renaming schools and streets named for Chavez, a prominent labor activist who stood up for Latino farmworkers, after a New York Times article in March detailed sexual assault allegations against him from several women.
“This would not even be a discussion if not for the courage of people, and not just one person but multiple people, to come forward,” said Mayor Pro Tem Gabe Teran, who was filling in for Mayor Luis A. McArthur.
Teran’s request at the April 7 meeting led to staff sending out 47 notices to residents and businesses along the street. Fifteen responses were received, including one duplicate, with two suggesting the name not be changed.
Only Councilmember Aaron Starr had reservations about the name change, pointing out that residents were never asked specifically whether they wanted the named changed.
“You know, all heroes we’ve had over the years have flaws,” said Starr. “But we are talking about charges that were never adjudicated, there’s been no court or law that ever decided that this happened.”
Two of the women making allegations against Chavez were aged 13 and 15 at the time in the 1970s, and the third was fellow labor activist Delores Huerta, who cofounded the United Farm Workers with Chavez in 1966.
Huerta claimed Chavez not only forced himself on her twice in the 1960s, but that both encounters led to pregnancies that she hid at the time and didn’t discuss until the New York Times article was published.
“Cesar Chavez was a great man that did for farm workers what no one else have done. He fought for farm workers. We did not have any rights, no one care about us farm workers, everybody abused us. Simple said: We did not exist, we were ghosts in this country before Chavez,” said Miguel Fernandez to VIDA Newspaper.
“Now people say so many things about Chavez, he passed away many years ago, he is not here in this world to defend himself of these accusations, because that is what it is, accusations,” said Maria Jimenez to VIDA Newspaper.
“I get that there’s accusations. I get that they’re probably even credible accusations, but I feel like we’re dragging somebody through the mud by going through this exercise,” Starr continued. “Beyond that I’m not enthused about the hassle that residents will likely have for a long time to come if you make the change.”
But Teran noted that there had been two notices of the pending name change sent out with responses to the staff survey, and City Manager Alex Nguyen said that the city had the authority to make the change without consulting residents.
“In terms of public policy, it’s this body’s role to make the decision on behalf of this City,” said Nguyen, “whether to make the name change in light of the revelations.”
Starr went on to describe possible problems with delivery of mail because of the change.
The street spans slightly less than a mile between Vanita Avenue and Gibraltar Street near St. John’s Hospital. Thirty-nine residences and small businesses along the street will be affected by the change.
Among names that staff approved for recommendation to the council were Queso, Pablo, Plumeria, Porvenir and Querencia.
Community Development Director Jeff Pengilley also read a list of names to the council that had been disqualified, including Paloma, Pico, Pablo Picasso, Palma and Pylar. Pengilley said they had been discounted because they were similar to street names already in use.