Albuquerque Debates Renaming Avenida Cesar Chavez
City leaders pledged in March to rename the street after allegations against the labor organizer surfaced, but no bill has reached the City Council.
By Talia Bennett ·
Mayor Tim Keller and other Albuquerque officials announced in March they would rename Avenida Cesar Chavez after credible allegations emerged that the labor organizer sexually abused girls and women in the United Farm Workers movement, including fellow organizer Dolores Huerta. Six months later, no legislation to change the name has appeared before City Council.
The street runs east-west from Yale Boulevard across the Rio Grande into the South Valley. Traveling west, the segment carries Chavez's name until Fourth Street, where it becomes Avenida Dolores Huerta.
City spokesperson Dan Mayfield said staff collected public input over the past six months through emails and in-person comments at two public meetings. Suggestions included renaming the full street for Huerta or restoring earlier names such as Stadium or Bridge. One family proposed naming it for Andres Arellanes, who in 2007 was shocked between six and 18 times with a stun gun by Albuquerque Police Department officers. His father, Ralph Arellanes, said his son's subsequent advocacy against police brutality changed stun gun policy and design, a reform that saved "countless lives."
The city posted those options in an online poll on its website, and Mayfield said Stadium drew the most votes. In a letter to media and city leadership, Ralph Arellanes questioned whether the poll fairly represented community views. "Comparing the name 'Stadium Boulevard,' which has no cultural value to New Mexico and New Mexicans, to Andres Marcello Arellanes is like comparing a plastic bag to red and green chile served at the Santuario de Chimayo during Lent," he said.
The City Engineer's Office is preparing recommendations for City Council, according to staff. A council member would then need to sponsor any legislation, which may or may not follow the engineer's input. The public gets another chance to comment when a proposal reaches council. Councilors did not respond to requests for comment Thursday, and no date has been set for debate.
