Miguel Arias, member of the Fresno City Council, speaks at a news conference at Fresno City Hall on Wednesday, March 18, 2026. Photo by Ben Hensley

Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias held an impromptu news conference on Wednesday, March 18, announcing he will pursue the removal of Cesar Chavez’s name from a Fresno street following newly released public allegations Arias described as “devastating and heartbreaking.”

The councilmember said the decision comes after a statement released by United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta and news reporting tied to an upcoming investigation. The allegations of sexual abuse, including of minors, left him shaken, he said.

“It turned my stomach. I think I got lightheaded.”

Arias, who worked in the fields in his youth, acknowledged Chavez’s historic role in improving conditions for farmworkers, leading civil rights activism that included implementing restrooms, lunch breaks, overtime pay and basic protections to farmworkers in the Valley and across the country.

“He’s been an idol to us as a community.”

But Arias said the new information shifts how the city must respond, regardless of Chavez’s legacy.

“When the facts change…our decision should also change.”

A reversal years in the making
In 2023, then-District 5 Councilmember Luis Chavez had advocated for renaming the street in Chavez’s honor, joined at the time by fellow council members Arias and Nelson Esparza. Wednesday’s announcement marks a sharp reversal of that position.

Arias said the logistics of reversing the street naming would be relatively simple — the original signage is still available, and the change can be completed at minimal cost. He has begun outreach to community leaders, including West Fresno African American leadership groups and Latino elders, to discuss proposals moving forward.

Arias framed the move as a values-based decision rather than a political one, though he acknowledged similar allegations have surfaced involving other prominent figures.

“There’s plenty of national leaders that have this history.”

He also said Huerta’s account alone is sufficient justification for reconsidering the honor.

“We don’t need a newspaper exposé to confirm that we need to eliminate the name from the street.”

Arias urged the Latino community to confront difficult conversations, particularly around protecting vulnerable individuals. If approved, he said the change would signal that Fresno will not honor individuals accused of causing harm, regardless of historical impact.

Elected officials respond
The announcement comes amid a wave of statements from elected officials responding to the broader allegations — many of whom expressed both personal grief and a sense of civic obligation.

“I am heartbroken to read about the deeply troubling allegations involving Cesar Chavez,” wrote California District 27 Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria, who formerly served on the Fresno City Council. “As the daughter of immigrant farmworker parents from Mexico, this is deeply personal.”

Tucson Mayor Regina Romero also issued a statement saying she is “personally devastated” by the news. “My parents and other farm-working families in Somerton and across California and Arizona participated in the United Farm Workers’ fight for fair wages and better, safer working conditions in the fields,” Romero wrote Tuesday. “Those changes significantly improved the conditions we experienced and made a difference to me, my family and so many others.”

Fresno’s recent history of renaming
Chavez’s name would not be the first to be removed from a Fresno institution after past actions came to light. In 2020, Fresno City College renamed its baseball park, which had been named after John Euless — a founding member of the Fresno Cardinals who was discovered to have had past involvement with the Ku Klux Klan. In 2022, the California State University Board of Trustees voted to remove Henry Madden’s name from the Fresno State library after the former academic was found to have held antisemitic views and Nazi sympathies.