San Fernando City Council votes to remove Cesar E. Chavez statue, orders mural covered and review of commemorations

The San Fernando City Council voted unanimously to remove the Cesar E. Chavez statue and plaque and directed staff to cover and fence the mural bearing Chavez’s image while the city evaluates how to modify the artwork and other commemorations.

The decision came during a special meeting called by Mayor Joel Fajardo to consider community reaction to recent allegations tied to Chavez. After extended public comment from survivors and community members — including Astrid Serrano of Somos Familia Valle and survivor-organizer Damiana Cano — the council debated seven staff- and mayor-proposed actions and then took formal direction to begin removal of the monument and to return with a plan.

Why it matters: speakers at the meeting framed the debate as both an accountability issue for survivors and a question of preserving the history and educational value of farmworkers’ organizing. Council members balanced those concerns by ordering removal of Chavez’s statue and plaque while asking staff to consult the original mural artist and the public about how best to re-envision the site.

Council action and immediate next steps City minutes record a motion…