Plaza de Cesar Chavez in San Jose is officially renamed

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The name Plaza de Cesar Chavez in San Jose is no more.

On Tuesday, City Council members officially wiped the name of the disgraced labor leader from a downtown park for good — the city’s most significant location named after him — renaming it Plaza de San Jose. The decision comes more than six months after the city began reviewing properties and landmarks to either rename or remove images of Chavez following a New York Times investigative report detailing years of alleged sexual abuse by the late farmworkers movement leader.

The new name received the most support (4,116 votes) and the highest score (3.96) in a ranked-choice survey published last August. The other finalists were Farmworkers Plaza (2.99), Plaza del Pueblo (2.96), Plaza Park (2.72) and Plaza de Quetzalcoatl (2.36).

The unanimous council vote to rename the park capped a process that began in March with listening sessions, public nominations and an online survey.

A day after the meeting, another legendary labor leader, Dolores Huerta, died at age 96. She had been nominated multiple times in the survey, but her name was declined because she was still living at the time, and city rules generally require a person to be deceased for five years before a landmark can be named in their honor.

Although Huerta was not from San Jose, the city maintains strong ties to the farmworker movement that she co-led with Chavez, who lived on the East Side of San Jose in the 1950s. Huerta revealed in that same report that Chavez was the father of two of her children as a result of sexual abuse and coercion.

Situated on Market Street, the 2.3-acre square has long been the heart of downtown, hosting well-attended events like Christmas in the Park, the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest and Music in the Park. Once a town square during California’s Spanish era, it was known as San Jose Plaza and Plaza Park before being named for Chavez in 1993.

In a last-ditch effort to persuade the council to change course, more than a dozen speakers asked the City Council to choose Plaza de los Inmigrantes — or Plaza of the Immigrants — to honor the city’s large immigrant community without naming it after a specific individual.

Community organizer Yolanda Casas spoke in support of the name, noting the social significance of a plaza “where people gather and visitors get their first impressions of who we are.”

“San Jose started as a town and today is a city where more than four out of 10 were born in another country,” Casas said. “Plaza de los Inmigrantes is a name with a history and future. This name recognizes our entire community from Mexico to Vietnam, from Central America to India.”

While not dismissing mixed feelings in the community, councilmembers leaned toward respecting the online survey.

“Residents told us pretty overwhelmingly that they preferred Plaza de San Jose,” Mayor Matt Mahan told this news organization before the vote. “So I am inclined to go with the will of the people. We certainly haven’t come to council because we wanted to have a final check on the process.”

Out of 610 total suggestions, city staff set aside 178 nominations that didn’t follow guidelines and consolidated the remaining 432 into 88 distinct options. More than 10,000 people responded to the English survey, while 229 answered in Spanish and 14 in Filipino.

While the council ultimately went with the survey’s choice, members technically had the authority to select any name. Aside from Plaza de San José, an ode to the park’s original name, the Parks Commission voted earlier this month to suggest Plaza del Pueblo de San José, or the People’s Plaza of San Jose.

During the commission’s Oct. 7 meeting, members weighed public debate over naming civic spaces after specific individuals — whose legacies can prove fallible — against concerns that the survey choice Plaza de San Jose was too generic.

Suggestions included serious nominations, such as late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs or terms honoring Filipino Americans’ role in the farmworkers movement. They also included humorous proposals, such as Parky McParkFace Plaza and Everyone Was Kung Fu Fighting Plaza.

Beyond Plaza de los Inmigrantes, additional community members urged the council to designate the site in honor of the Indigenous Tamien Ohlone tribe, suggesting inclusion of the name Guadalupe — despite the existing Guadalupe River Park nearby — or adopt Hotel Plaza to recognize neighboring downtown accommodations.

Misrayn Mendoza, an organizer with Amigos de Guadalupe, urged council members “not to take the easy way out.”

“We’re asking you to name the plaza ‘immigrant plaza,'” Mendoza said. “Immigrants comprise almost all of who you see in front of you today.”

Council member Anthony Tordillos pointed to the site’s historic role as home to an early state capital and former City Hall.

“The community made it clear that Plaza de San José is their preferred choice,” Tordillos said, also recognizing the staff hours put into including the community in the renaming process. “I think it’s a name that does its part to reflect the legacy and the importance of Spanish and Mexican heritage in our city’s history. It affirms that this park belongs to the people of San Jose and everyone in our community is welcome.”

While a cost estimate has not yet been determined, the department aims to complete updating park signage by fall next year.