UFW march heading to Modesto, but won’t use the park named for its founder. Here’s why
At the age of 74, Maggie Mejia said she is too old to march with the organizers from the United Farm Workers this week, as they walk the 355 miles from Delano to Sacramento in support of AB2183, but she isn’t afraid of a fight.
On Thursday, she wrote an email to the Modesto Mayor Sue Zwahlen and all five council members: “No Tienen Verguenza.” Shame on you.
For the first time she can recall, the city of Modesto wants to charge the UFW to use the public facilities at César E. Chavez Neighborhood Park, named after the co-founder of the UFW.
“When César was alive, when he came, that’s where he would stop and always have rallies,” she said in a phone interview. “There’s never been an issue.”
Now, the city wants to charge the UFW $642 in fees and require up to $1 million general liability insurance for the use of the bathrooms, clean water and other amenities at the park and the Maddux Youth Center. It’s part of a new city policy that “prohibits sponsorship, including the waiver of fees, for events that are religious or political in nature or seek to support or oppose any religious or political viewpoint.”
As a result, the UFW will move its rally, planned for 3 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 18, to the Red Event Center on Eighth Street downtown. The group will be there between 3 and 4 p.m.
The new guidelines went into effect Jan. 14. Before that, there was no policy and decisions were made on a case-by-case basis, said Modesto Public Relations and Legislative Affairs Manager Andrew Gonzales.
As more in-person events started to take place and the city was handling more requests to sponsor those events, officials realized they needed a clear policy. UFW is subject to that policy. “We can’t take sides when it comes to politics,” said Gonzales, “They can still use the park if they agree to the fee.“
Mejia sees it differently. She was one of the leaders who championed to change the name of the park, formerly known as the 4th Street park, to honor the UFW leader. “This is the only city on the route from Delano to Sacramento that is putting all these fees on these poor people that are marching, and there’s less than 35 people,” said Mejia.
To her, Chávez’s work is foremost about his efforts to support farmworkers through the UFW, so the eponymous park is a natural meeting place for marchers.
While Gov. Gavin Newsom was on vacation this year on March 31, César Chavez Day, farmworkers and their advocates rallied in Fresno in favor of AB2183. The bill, which is also the focus of the current 355-mile march, would alter the ways that farmworkers vote in union elections.
Councilman Tony Madrigal represents the district that includes César E. Chavez Neighborhood Park and said he wants the fees waived. He wants the city to revisit the new policy and revert to the old system where an event was evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
“The question is, are we now gonna start charging a fee for other types of marches, like a Labor Day march? If there’s a march or a rally at Martin Luther King Jr. Park, is that too political?”
This story was originally published August 13, 2022 at 6:30 AM.
