SAN FERNANDO : ‘Chavez Street’ Plan Sent to Committee

The San Fernando City Council has referred to a committee a volatile proposal to change the name of Kalisher Street to Cesar Chavez Street.

Two weeks ago, the council proposed the name change to honor the late champion of farm workers’ rights, sparking a heated debate in the community.

When the motion was introduced by Councilwoman Rosa Chacon on March 6, all five council members supported it, but only if the change was acceptable to residents. On Monday, after two hours of public comments that ranged from eloquent declarations of support to incendiary reproach, it became apparent that the proposal does not enjoy universal support.

Several residents said that they do not object to the idea of changing a street name to honor Chavez but criticized council members for not seeking the public’s input before trying to pass the motion.

“Two weeks ago, we didn’t know anything . . . about what was going on,” said Salvador Ponce, a Kalisher Street resident and former City Council member. “Don’t we notify people what we’re going to do? Cesar Chavez would go and talk to the people. Some of you (council members) are not doing that.”

Others criticized the proposal because they said it would be tantamount to erasing part of the tiny town’s history, although nobody at the meeting--not even Bonnie Kalisher, a North Hollywood woman in attendance--appeared to know who Kalisher was or why the street had his name.

Opponents of the measure included Arturo Chacon, owner of a business on Kalisher, a street that runs through the heart of the city’s barrio. Chacon, who grew up on Kalisher, said his family’s memories always would be associated with the street. He later presented the council with a petition that included 500 signatures of people opposed to the change.

But those in favor of the renaming were just as fervent, and presented a petition of their own. Augie Maldonado, the leader of an anti-gang youth group based on Kalisher, said the name change would help alter the image of the area, the site of drug-dealing and gang violence over the years.

Ruben Rodriguez said he grew up “hanging out” on Kalisher and nearby Kewen Street. “I believe (the council) did not intend to inconvenience anyone,” Rodriguez said. “But this has to do more with the consciousness of our people and . . . self-determination. Our community needs heroes. We should consider it an honor that this street would be named” after Chavez.

Richard Chavez, Cesar’s brother, showed up at the meeting and briefly addressed the council, countering the claims of several who said Cesar Chavez never had anything to do with the city of San Fernando. “We did live here for 3 1/2 months in 1940, when this area was full of farmland,” Chavez said.

When the public comment period finally ended, council members thanked the crowd for participating and quickly moved to appoint a five-member committee to study the issue.

“The community is divided, but that was never the intent,” said Councilman Doude Wysbeek, who added that the scope of the committee should be left “wide open,” to allow appointees to recommend renaming Kalisher, some other street, or even a ball field or a park after Chavez.

The committee’s recommendation will be made to the council next month, officials said.