A Portland city councilor wants to change the name of César E. Chávez Boulevard after a news report detailed sexual assault allegations against the iconic farmworker union leader.

Candace Avalos, who represents east Portland, wrote on social media Wednesday that she would seek to rename the key eastside thoroughfare after Dolores Huerta, who told the New York Times that Chávez raped her decades ago.

“I have begun looking into the process and talking with community leaders about renaming Cesar Chavez blvd to Dolores Huerta blvd,” Avalos wrote on Bluesky. “Per city code, one of the first steps is a petition with 2500 signatures. Stay tuned for ways to be involved in this effort.”

Huerta’s allegations added to those of other victims whose accounts were detailed in the story. They included women who said they were 13 and 15 when they said they were assaulted by Chávez.

Chávez “used some of his great leadership to abuse women and children — it’s really awful,” Huerta told the Times.

Huerta co-founded the United Farm Workers and was Chávez’s longtime ally. She came public after 60 years of silence. According to the Times, Huerta had two children as a result of two unwanted sexual encounters with Chávez, the latter of which she described as a rape. She hid the pregnancies, and the children were raised by other families.

Chávez died in 1993.

Speaking with OPB at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said he wasn’t aware of the New York Times investigation.

“We haven’t had a chance to fully discuss it,” said Wilson’s Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Zajonc. “But it’s a chance to have a community conversation.”

The city changed 39th Avenue to César E. Chávez Boulevard in 2009.

Alex Zielinski contributed reporting.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/03/18/portland-oregon-cesar-chavez-boulevard-allegations/