CITY OF FRESNO
Office of Councilmember Esmeralda Soria
__________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ESMERALDA SORIA, Councilmember, District 1 JERRY DYER, Honorable Mayor
__________________________________________ ____________________________________________ MIKE KARBASSI, Councilmember, District 2 LUIS CHAVEZ, Councilmember, District 5
___________________________________________ ____________________________________________ MIGUEL ARIAS, Councilmember, District 3 GARRY BREDEFELD, Councilmember, District 6
___________________________________________ ____________________________________________ TYLER MAXWELL, Council Vice President, District 4 NELSON ESPARZA, Council President, District 7
Is hereby presented in honor of:
Cesar Chavez
WHEREAS, Interest in and recognition of Cesar Chavez’s legacy has grown in the nearly 29 years since the farm labor and civil rights leader passed away in 1993. Countless streets, schools, libraries, buildings, and other public places have been named in his honor. Eleven states—starting with California—now have official holidays on his March 31st birthday—and thousands of commemorations and observances are held annually in communities across America; and
WHEREAS, Fresno is one of the places where Cesar Chavez’s life and work has had a profound impact.
Fresno also played crucial roles in the early history of Chavez and the farm worker movement . The founding convention of what became the United Farm Workers took place when 200 delegates from farming communities in the Central Valley gathered in Downtown Fresno on September 30, 1962. Jesus Gaona and Sal Gonzalez Sr. were among the pioneering delegates at that convention; and
WHEREAS, Part of Cesar’s enduring legacy was his vision that it would take more than a union to help workers and the poor overcome the crippling dilemmas they endured after leaving the job site and returning to their communities. It would take a movement. So, among other things, today’s Cesar Chavez Foundation builds and manages high -quality affordable housing for families and seniors across the Southwest, including several in Fresno and its surrounding area; and
WHEREAS, The street considered to be named for Cesar Chavez in Fresno would pass by the Cesar Chavez Foundation’s latest state-of-the-art affordable housing community, Las Palmas de Sal Gonzalez, a multi-generational project with 135 units for families and seniors . The Cesar Chavez Foundation’s Housing and Economic Development Fund has built five affordable housing communities consisting of more than 600 units, housing thousands of Fresno residents and their families; and
WHEREAS, The Cesar Chavez Foundation has collaborated with Fresno Unified and Central Unified, and is currently operating five community service sites and bi-lingual radio stations to continue encouraging inclusion and providing continuous education through culturally responsive, diverse products; and
WHEREAS, These Si Se Puede Learning and Senior Centers provide a safe environment for students and seniors creating lasting, transformational, and positive change in their communities.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the City of Fresno Mayor and City Council hereby proclaims March 24, 2022 to be:
“Cesar Chavez Day”
in the City of Fresno
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we have hereunto set our hands and affixed the seal of the City of Fresno, California, this 24
th
day of March 2022.