Santa Maria city leaders are asking residents to weigh in on a potential name change for Cesar E. Chavez Drive.
This comes after recent sexual abuse allegations against the late farm labor rights leader.
Residents had the chance to meet with the Santa Maria Public Works Department and newly appointed District 1 Council Member Ricardo Batalla at Grogan Park on Wednesday to discuss the potential change.
Ahead of the meeting, Public Works sent a survey to the 60 homes that would be impacted if the street is renamed. The survey included a list of potential new names that could be chosen.
The small group of residents who showed up to the meeting largely opposed the change.
Zoe Glick, Senior Civil Engineer at the City of Santa Maria Public Works, said residents expressed concerns about the potential impact this change could have on personal documents.
"Most of the input was from people that are not in favor of changing the name of Cesar Chavez Drive due to the consequences of changing that name and how that affects certain documents, such as their driver's license," Glick said.
Batalla said residents are worried about the financial burden of updating their personal documents.
"They're afraid of it because of the potential cost of changing their passports, driver's license, anything that has their old address," Batalla said.
Several of those who spoke shared that they did not believe the allegations brought up against Cesar Chavez, asking why they were brought up decades later. Others said not everyone impacted was aware of the survey that was sent out.
Because of that concern, Public Works extended the survey deadline.
Brett Fulgoni, Director of Public Works, said the department wants to make sure all voices are heard.
"Sounds like there are others that want to provide us with some feedback," Fulgoni said. "So we went ahead and extended that deadline until the 28th of May."
Public Works plans to bring the data gathered from the survey to the City Council on June 2.
