Modesto to hold town hall on renaming Chavez Park following abuse allegations
Modesto is hosting a town hall meeting April 9 in collaboration with West Modesto Community Collaborative to discuss renaming Cesar E. Chavez Park.
A civil rights activist, the late Chavez was accused of sexually abusing children and raping his co-founder of the United Farm Workers Dolores Huerta, according to a years-long New York Times investigation.
Since last week, Modesto’s Culture Commission has started collecting suggestions for the park’s new name.
Residents can fill out a form, available in both English and Spanish, and submit it online (tinyurl.com/chavezparkform) or in person at the Parks, Recreation and Neighborhoods Department at Tenth Street Place, 1010 10th St. Hours at the government building are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays.
The deadline to submit a park name is April 24, by the end of the business day.
The commission will then review submissions during its May 6 meeting and determine three names to recommend to the City Council. These names will be discussed by the council either during a special meeting in May or at a regular meeting in June.
At the town hall, city staff will give a presentation on the renaming process and answer questions. Opening remarks will be given by Councilmember Eric Alvarez, who represents District 2, where the park is located.
“It’s important that the community takes ownership of the new name,” Alvarez previously told The Bee. “It’s the community’s park and we want to make sure their voices are heard.”
The town hall will be held at 529 California Ave. in Modesto — WMCC’s temporary location amid construction — on Thursday, April 9 at 6 p.m. WMCC will be available to assist residents with filling out the form.
Residents will have two weeks to ruminate on name ideas after the town hall.
“This is the largest park renovation in the city’s history, so this is a big time for the city,” said city spokesperson Sonya Severo at the Culture Commission meeting on Wednesday. “Although the way that it came about was not favorable … this is an opportunity for our community to kind of grow together from it and move forward.”
The park is undergoing an extensive $17.1 million renovation, which is planned to wrap up this summer. The fence that previously blocked off the Cesar E. Chavez sign has been removed. As of Wednesday, it appeared untarnished.
Director of Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhoods Jeremy Rogers said the city is currently discussing what to do about the now-exposed sign.
In 2002, the park was renamed from 4th Street Park to Cesar E. Chavez Park to honor the 1975 march led by Chavez and the United Farm Workers that ended in front of E.&J. Gallo Winery. UFW organized Gallo workers and boycotted the winery in protest of worker conditions in its vineyards.
Pedro Lopez suggested during public comment that the park be renamed Sí Se Puede Park to maintain the original intent behind the name change and to honor the United Farm Workers movement.
He also questioned if Jefferson Street in Modesto is named after founding father and former president Thomas Jefferson. “In the spirit of correcting names based on serious allegations… Thomas Jefferson did have a handful of children with one of his slaves,” Lopez said. “What about changing that name as well?”
