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The immediate fallout of a New York Times investigation into alleged sexual misconduct by Cesar Chavez rippled through Hollister with the city expected to approve removing his name from city-owned facilities in April.
The Hollister City Council met March 19 in a special meeting where the majority of the council and community members who spoke voiced their concern over honoring the civil rights leader after multiple women, including United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta, accused Chavez of sexual abuse in the 1960s.
The public comments centered on Avenida Cesar Chavez, which is a portion of a street in southeast Hollister the city renamed in 2022 to honor his contributions to the farmworker civil rights movement.
Parks and Recreation Director Charles Wall said the city is constructing a park near the intersection of Avenida Cesar Chavez and Hwy 25, and that a group of community members is advocating for the theme to “carry” part of the farmworker movement.
Among the public speakers was Hollister resident Rose Ortiz, who said Chavez inappropriately touched her when he came down to meet her father, Juventino Ortiz, who ran a labor camp.
“Before my father came out, he was behind me and my sister when we were sitting at a desk and I had a sleeveless top on,” she said. “He put his hand on my shoulder. And pretty soon his big hand was going down into my blouse. I was a child. I was not developed or anything.”
She said her dad told Chavez to leave.
Samuel Ramos was the lone public member who spoke against changing Avenida Cesar Chavez’s name because he helped liberate farmworkers.
“Because of Chavez we were liberated in a big way as being the slaves of campos de algodon [cotton], tomatoes and stuff like that,” he said.
Julio Rodriguez, who serves on the Hollister Planning Commission, said he supported changing the name of the street and that going forward, the city should reconsider its naming of streets after people.
“I think we should not be immortalizing individuals,” he said. “We should find words that immortalize the movement, that immortalize the community. For too long we focused on individuals to represent those movements.”
Other public members and council members supported his recommendation.
While four members of the City Council voiced support for changing the street’s name, Councilmember Rolan Resendiz said that while the city had the power to do so, he preferred to put it to a vote of the people.
“This decision in my opinion is not one that sits with this council,” he said. “It came from the community and it should go back to the community.”
City Clerk Jennifer Woodworth said it was too late to put a measure on the June primary election ballot and that the city could do so in the November general election.
Mayor Roxanne Stephens said she supported changing the street name as a way to honor the victims.
“I, in good conscience, knowing what I know of victims of sexual violence, they should not be driving through there and feel uncomfortable with that,” she said.
Stephens said her primary work as a social worker was supporting victims of sexual abuse.
After a nearly 30-minute discussion on whether the council would follow its policy in taking action or bypassing it, City Manager Ana Cortez said she has the authority to place an action item about changing the street name on the agenda for the next meeting, scheduled for April 6. The city is also expected to take action on the theme of the park.
Council members also voiced interest in reviewing the city’s policy on the naming of facilities at a future meeting.
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