City Council could vote on making a renaming official in May, but leaders are still working to gather feedback.
SAN ANTONIO — The City of San Antonio will hold what it’s calling “community listening sessions” next week as part of its ongoing efforts to collect feedback on what to redesignate roughly five and a half miles of road currently named after Cesar Chavez, the disgraced Latino civil rights leader.
Details of the forums were shared online Thursday, ahead of a survey for businesses and residents along Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard closing at 5 p.m. The April 8 session will take place at Jaime’s Place (1514 W. Commerce St.), with the April 11 session set to take place at Tony G’s Soul Food (915 S. Hackberry St.).
Renaming the boulevard, which was renamed from Durango to honor Chavez in 2011, would cost an estimated $205,000, according to city documents. As part of the process, San Antonio City Council would have to approve a resolution before leaders undergo a technical review and at least one other community meeting in April. The Planning Commission would also have to discuss the item.
Staff have targeted mid-to-late-May as a window for City Council to vote and potentially approve a new name.
What that replacement name will be is the biggest question that must still be ironed out, hence the options for those who live and work along the corridor to offer their input. The Conservation Society of San Antonio, along with a large contingent on social media, is pushing for a return to Durango. Others have offered names with close ties to the Alamo City, like Selena or Gregg Popovich.
Others still – including someone who briefly took matters into their own hands last week in Southtown – believe it would be most appropriate for Chavez’s name on parks, schools and streets across the U.S. to be replaced with that of Dolores Huerta. She, with Chavez, cofounded the United Farm Workers union in 1966 and last month said he sexually assaulted her multiple times.
That allegation came to light the same day a New York Times report alleging Chavez abused multiple other young girls was published, starting a nationwide reckoning over his legacy. Chavez died in 1993.
Within hours of the March 18 report, San Antonio Councilwoman Teri Castillo – whose district includes portions of Cesar Chavez Boulevard – messaged city leaders to push for the start of a renaming effort. In 2011, a different group of City Council members voted 7-4 to rename Durango as Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard.
City staff estimate that 295 current addresses would have to be updated with a name change and also concluded that households would have to pay between $26 and $51 to update IDs and/or other records.