OXNARD : City to Study Naming Street for Chavez

The city of Oxnard will study changing the name of Garfield Avenue in La Colonia to honor Cesar Chavez, the late farm labor organizer who once lived on the street.

Acting on a motion by Mayor Manuel Lopez, the council agreed Tuesday to delay action on a staff proposal to name one of three streets in the yet-to-be-built Northeast Community after Chavez.

Lopez said Garfield Avenue was a better choice because the Chavez family twice lived in residences on the street when they stayed in Oxnard to work on area farms. Chavez began his career as an activist in Oxnard when he helped start a community group.

City staff did not evaluate Garfield Avenue for the name change because of the difficulty of changing the name of existing streets, Lopez said. But he added that no more than 30 to 40 residents live on Garfield.

“It seems to me the people who live there would not object to the name change,” Lopez said. “I think this is the way to go.”

Martin Vasquez, a member of the United Farm Workers union that Chavez founded in 1968, invited the council to a March 26 procession in honor of Chavez that will go through Oxnard.

The parade, which will begin at 8 a.m. at Harbor Boulevard and Gonzales Avenue, will wind through the city before arriving at 1 p.m. at the newly renamed Cesar Chavez School in La Colonia, where a statue of Chavez will be dedicated.