Fresno Does a U-Turn on Naming Street for Chavez : Government: City Council vote to reverse decision on honoring the labor leader sparks a passionate debate.

Even after his death, farm labor leader Cesar Chavez continues to stir controversy in the farmlands of Central California.

At a rancorous meeting that attracted nearly 1,500 people Tuesday night, the Fresno City Council voted 4 to 3 to reverse its earlier decision to rename parts of three streets for Chavez. But city workers are waiting a few days to let heads cool before they start taking down temporary street signs honoring the labor leader.

And while police say they are not sure it is connected to the meeting, someone fired gunshots into City Hall about 2 a.m. Wednesday, causing some damage to city vehicles and to the building. No one was injured.

The council’s reversal came less than two weeks after an estimated 5,000 supporters of Chavez marched along what had been Cesar Chavez Boulevard in celebration of the name change. Fresno is believed to be the first city to back away from honoring the founder of the United Farm Workers union.

First-term Councilman Robert C. Smith, who voted for the name change Oct. 12, cast the deciding vote Tuesday, saying that his constituents opposed naming the streets for Chavez and that the original vote came before residents had sufficient opportunity to be heard on the issue.

“The issue really was due process,” Smith said Wednesday.

Karen Musson, president of Fresno Citizens for Due Process, a group opposed to the name change, said the designation of the streets may have violated the state’s open-meeting laws.

“The City Council, in our opinion, violated (the law) by not legally notifying homeowners on the affected streets and not giving 72 hours notice of the hearing,” she said. “We do not want to get into a political debate about the man; we are simply opposed to (having) those specific streets named after anybody.”

Venancio Gaona, chairman of the Cesar Chavez Committee, said Wednesday that the flip-flop by the council showed poor leadership and insensitivity to the Latino community. “We had to go three times to bat in order to obtain something that had already been achieved under the proper process,” Gaona said. “This is going to have a long-lasting negative impact on the community.”

Chavez supporters said they will continue to fight to have a Fresno street named in his honor. Smith said that if the request for the name change goes through the proper hearings, the temporary street signs could go back up.

“In no way was I saying let’s not honor Cesar Chavez or that the streets selected were not appropriate,” he said. “That possibility still exists if it’s done properly.”

But Smith acknowledged that opposition to the change is strong.

“This is a big agricultural community,” he said. “Cesar Chavez was a great man, but the movement he had upset some folks.”

UFW President Arturo Rodriguez, who became head of the union after Chavez’s death earlier this year, said he was disappointed but not totally surprised by the decision. “This demonstrates the strength that agribusiness has in the San Joaquin Valley,” he said. “That is very sad.”

The debate over the name change began after the City Council invoked a little-used procedure allowing it to change the name of a street without a public hearing or referring the matter to the Planning Commission if the change honored someone deceased.

But after residents complained that the action was taken without their input, Mayor Jim Patterson held a public hearing Oct. 28.

After nearly four hours of an evenly divided debate, none of the four council members who voted for the name change would ask for another vote, which left the Chavez signs in place.

But the debate in the community continued, leading to Tuesday night’s vote.

Fresno Bee columnist Eli Setencich said the debate reflects the community’s conservative bent.

“I think this is Old Fresno, reluctant to change,” he said. “They see all these new people coming in . . . and they don’t want to share the pie. We’re still a redneck city. We’re not Mississippi, but we’re not too far removed.

Times staff writer Mark Arax in Fresno contributed to this story. Moran reported from Los Angeles.