And now comes the hard part: Identifying exactly where César Chávez Street will go

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) – Some might have assumed that the hard part about naming a street after César Chávez would be finding a consensus among the political officials. Well, it turns out the hard part might be just the nuts and bolts of what it takes to change a street name.

And that is what lies ahead for the City of Bakersfield, which, thanks to referrals made at Wednesday night’s city council meeting by members Manpreet Kaur and Eric Arias, will investigate where and how it might change the name of a prominent street to honor Chavez, the visionary civil rights leader who, as president of the United Farm Workers union he co-founded with Dolores Huerta, vastly improved the pay and working conditions of millions from his base here in Kern County.

Cities across U.S. honor César Chávez, but Bakersfield is not one of them

At least 35 U.S. cities have streets, boulevards, avenues or highways named after Chávez. Bakersfield is not one of them — not yet.

Andrae Gonzales’s city council ward includes much of downtown Bakersfield, which is among the areas that might be considered.

“I would really like us to form a committee to help us inform, in a very organized way, what street we should choose,” Gonzales said.

Some early possibilities informing the debate: South H Street, Q Street, R Street, S Street, and Panama Lane.

Wherever, changing addresses won’t be easy or cheap but Gonzales said he intends to add a grant program to next year’s city budget to repay property owners a portion of their costs.

City spokesman Joe Conroy says the process of renaming a street could take as long as a year-and-a-half.

Council considers renaming Bakersfield street to honor César Chávez

“Most typical name changes take maybe one to two months just to get to the planning commission,” he said. “In this case staff still needs to identify an appropriate street. They don’t want a road that’s tucked away somewhere that nobody’s ever going to see.”

The long-overdue change came about after Connie Perez-Andreesen’s husband Joel read her a newspaper column calling on the council to address the slight. She called Kaur and Arias — the youngest members of the seven-person city council who are about the age Chávez and Huerta were when they started the UFW. Perez-Andreseen shared the newspaper column, never expecting anything more to come of it.

Now she’s hoping the newly renamed street, wherever it may be, will inherit a freeway ramp and accompanying sign.

“That would be, I think, a positive thing,” she said. “To be able to see the name ‘César Chávez Boulevard,’ ‘Avenue,’ whatever it ends up being, off the 99. While people are driving through on their way to Northern California, that they can see that, Oh, Kern County has a César Chávez street.”

First step in the process? A $1,500 application fee. Next step? Approval by affected property owners, 50% plus 1. Final step? Approval by the Planning Commission, and ultimately the City Council.

It’s not like Bakersfield hasn’t done this before. The city’s main drag, Chester Avenue, should be J Street, owing to the fact that it lies between K and Eye streets. But it’s named for 19th century newspaper publisher Julius Chester.

Coming to a Bakersfield street near you (maybe): Excessive-speed warning message boards

Pierce Road, named for 19th century landowner Charles Pierce, who once fancied himself founder of a town called Piercedale, is now famously Buck Owens Boulevard.

Clay Patrick Farr Way, near the Northwest Promenade, honors the local soldier killed in 2006 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Hayes Street is now Tyree Toliver Street, and a portion of S Street, near the Amtrak Station, is now Merle Haggard Way.

Then there’s the street originally known as Railroad Avenue: Truxtun Avenue. Thank you, Truxtun Beale, for your contributions to Bakersfield.

And thank you, César Chávez, for yours.

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