- Salt Lake City plans to rename Cesar Chavez Boulevard after Chavez's accuser, Delores Huerta.
- Signs with Chavez's name have already been removed from city streets; state-owned roads remain unchanged.
- The city council will consider renaming 500 South next week; public feedback is invited.
SALT LAKE CITY – The name of Cesar Chavez is no longer on some street signs in Utah's capital city.
Signs on Salt Lake City-owned streets featuring the labor rights activist's name have been removed after abuse allegations surfaced against him.
His name remains on state-owned roads within the city – for now.
Meanwhile, Salt Lake City leaders are zeroing in on a new name for 500 South, which has been designated as Cesar Chavez Boulevard since 2002.
New name proposal
Alejandro Puy, Salt Lake City Council chair, wants to replace Chavez's name with that of one of his accusers, Delores Huerta.
Huerta, who worked alongside Chavez in the labor rights movement decades ago, came forward last month to accuse him of sexually assaulting her on multiple occasions. Chavez is also accused of abusing other women and girls in the movement.
Chavez, who led the United Farm Workers union, died in 1993.
"The courage of people to come and tell their truth is huge, and we want more of that," said Puy.
He called the allegations against Chavez "incredibly troubling and problematic," while adding that his work as a leader in the labor movement in the 20th century can still be recognized.
"We can still honor his work by highlighting Delores Huerta instead," Puy said.
Signs removed
Within the last 10 days, Salt Lake City has removed signs with Chavez's name from city-owned streets, although his name is still posted on roads controlled by the state such as State Street, Main Street, and 300 West.
The Utah Department of Transportation is willing to change those signs, according to a spokesperson, but only after the city has completed the formal renaming process.
This issue is not just relevant to Salt Lake City. In Ogden, signs with Chavez's name on 30th Street have also been taken down, according to Ogden City Council President Rich Hyer.
The commemorative Cesar Chavez Street designation for 30th Street has not yet been formally rescinded, though, as Ogden city leaders try to decide upon next steps.
"The council is kind of dormant on it at this point," Hyer said, adding he'd like to get more feedback from Jesse Garcia – a former City Council member who was originally involved in approving the designation in the early 2000s – and other community stakeholders on what they'd like to see happen.
Possible action soon
Back in Salt Lake, Puy said the City Council could take action on renaming 500 South as early as next week.
Ahead of that, the City Council is taking feedback on the proposed name change. Comments can be submitted via email to council.comments@slc.gov.
Puy hopes his idea for renaming the street will be well received.
"That's my proposal, to put Delores Huerta and replace Cesar's name for Delores Huerta," Puy said, with the goal of recognizing labor unions and workers and "how they impacted everybody."
Contributing: Tim Vandenack
