Five finalists for renaming downtown San Jose plaza

San Jose residents suggested more than 600 new names for one of the city’s oldest public spaces. City officials have narrowed the final choices down to five.

Officials are asking residents to fill out an online survey ranking the five potential new names for Plaza de César Chávez in downtown. The options are Plaza de San Jose, Plaza del Pueblo, Farmworkers Plaza, Plaza de Quetzalcoatl and Plaza Park. The city’s ranked-choice survey opened Friday and will remain available until midnight Aug. 3. From there, the Parks and Recreation Commission on Sept. 2 will weigh the rankings before making a recommendation to the City Council, which will make the final decision.

Of the more than 600 suggestions submitted by residents, the city deemed roughly 178 ineligible under San Jose’s naming guidelines.

Ed Bautista, spokesperson for Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services, said many of the ineligible suggestions didn’t qualify because the plaza can’t be named after living people, and others lacked a connection to San Jose. After removing those suggestions, the city largely relied on the number of times names were repeatedly suggested to narrow the list.

“While many thoughtful ideas were received, the ranked choice survey could not include every submission,” Bautista told San José Spotlight. “The survey was designed to feature the eligible names that received the greatest level of support during the name suggestion phase. This approach ensured the survey remained manageable while reflecting the names that resonated most strongly with participants.”

The survey is the latest step in San Jose’s effort to rename the nearly 250-year-old downtown gathering place following community listening sessions and a suggested name submission period. The process comes months after councilmembers voted earlier this year to begin removing César Chávez’s name from city-owned sites following allegations that the late labor leader sexually abused women and children. Chávez called San Jose home at various points in his life and has long been celebrated in the city.

The five finalists offer different approaches to the plaza’s identity, from names tied to San Jose to those referencing cultural and agricultural history. Quetzalcoatl, known as the “Feathered Serpent,” is an ancient Mesoamerican god associated with wind, learning and creation. There is a statue of his image at the plaza, called “Plumed Serpent.”

The plaza has served as a civic gathering place since the Pueblo de San Jose was established in 1777. The site has gone through several names over its history before being renamed Plaza de César Chávez in 1993 in honor of the labor leader and United Farm Workers co-founder.

Local artist Yonex Jones was at the plaza Monday helping clean up after a weekend concert. He opposes renaming the plaza and said removing Chávez’s name discounts the labor leader’s contributions.

“I personally just think the cancel culture is crazy,” he told San José Spotlight. “We pick and choose who we want to cancel out.”

Carlos Jimenez, an East Palo Alto educator who has lived in San Jose for 26 years, supports changing the name and would like the space to be called Plaza de Quetzalcoatl.

“I’m Mexican and very connected to the pre-Columbian history, so I love that Quetzal is an option,” Jimenez told San José Spotlight. “I don’t know how people who don’t speak Spanish will pronounce it, though. I think it needs to be something that represents San Jose.”

Contact Maryanne Casas-Perez at [email protected] or @CasasPerezRed.