Salinas commission forms subcommittee to lead community process on Cesar Chavez library and park names

The Salinas Library and Community Services Commission voted unanimously at its June meeting to establish a three-member subcommittee to oversee a community-led process for deciding whether to rename the Cesar Chavez Library and Cesar Chavez Park.

Director Lundquist told commissioners that a March New York Times article alleging abuse involving Cesar Chavez prompted the mayor to refer the matter to the commission for review. "Following these accusations, many local jurisdictions, school districts, and college campuses began to rename facilities," Lundquist said, and staff proposed a timeline and public-nomination plan for the two city facilities.

The commission asked staff to run bilingual outreach and nominations, including online and paper forms, pop-up outreach at the library and park, and listening sessions. The staff timeline presented to the commission called for nominations in late June through July, staff review and analysis in August, commission review in September, and potential city council consideration in October or November. Director Lundquist and commissioners emphasized the need for a clear evaluation matrix and a fiscal-impact assessment of signage and other costs before the commission makes a recommendation.

Commissioner Tafoya outlined several naming options he said should be considered: retain the existing names; restore the original names (the library’s original name was noted as Santa Lucia Library and the park as Hebron Community Park); neighborhood-based names such as East Salinas Library; heritage-based names such as Farmworker Heritage Library or Salinas Valley Heritage Park; value-based names like Opportunity Library or Unity Park; or indigenous names developed with tribal consultation. Tafoya stressed the importance of objective evaluation criteria and said names should "unite rather than divide the community." "We don't wanna name it after another individual in the community and later learn that they also misbehaved," he said, urging careful vetting.

During public comment, one resident cautioned that the proposed timeline felt short for meaningful engagement and urged consistency with other local places named for Chavez. Magdalena Coito, an adult services librarian with Salinas Public Libraries, offered library staff support for community outreach. Director Lundquist reiterated that the city only has jurisdiction over its own facilities and that other local bodies (for example, the Alisal Union School District) may be conducting separate processes for schools or other sites.

Commissioner Jolie Martinez moved to appoint three named commissioners to the renaming subcommittee; the motion passed unanimously. The commission named Commissioner Tafoya, Commissioner Martinez and Commissioner Castillo to the subcommittee, with Commissioner Cervantes as an alternate. With the subcommittee in place, the commission did not take a separate motion to rename the facilities at the meeting; staff and the subcommittee will carry out the nomination, outreach and evaluation process and return a recommendation to the full commission.

Other items at the meeting included approval of the April 8, 2026 minutes (with a clerical correction to the spelling of Closter Park) and brief commissioner reports on local projects, summer programming and community events. The commission set its next regular meeting for Wednesday, July 8 at 6 p.m.

The subcommittee is expected to work with staff on bilingual outreach, nomination intake, development of objective evaluation criteria, a fiscal-impact summary, and a recommended shortlist of names for the commission to consider.