Santa Maria City Councilman To Meet With Residents of Cesar Chavez Drive

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) - A city councilman is scheduled to meet with residents of Cesar Chavez Drive in North Santa Maria this evening.

Richard Batalla, recently appointed to represent District 1, has agreed to discuss the issue with residents in person.

In March of this year, accusations against the late farmworker rights champion came to light involving sexual misconduct.

Ever since, communities across the nation have been changing street names, school titles, and other monikers originally dubbed in his honor.

The city council voted unanimously in June to fund an initiative to rename the street, which holds no more than sixty homes.

Residents of the small street adjacent to Tommie Kunst Junior High School are protesting the change.

They say the $26,000 estimated to cover the name change will be added to their taxes, adding strain to already stretched budgets.

Their suggestion is to apply the funds to safety enhancements on streets surrounding the junior high school.

Santa Maria city officials have said they are making every effort to minimize financial impact of this change, but that it's going to happen.

The city council is in agreement that the culture surrounding the accusations against Chavez must change, and they don't want recent news to go without consequence.

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