From serious proposals like Steve Jobs Plaza to more comedic takes like Parky McParkFace, hundreds of ideas missed the final cut as the San Jose City Council prepares to rebrand its prominent downtown plaza.
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The city is set to select a new name Tuesday to replace late labor icon César Chávez, following an investigation earlier this year detailing years of sexual abuse.
The council has the final say on what happens next. It can go with the public’s favorite, “Plaza de San Jose,” or an alternative pitched by the Parks and Recreation Commission — “Plaza del Pueblo de San Jose.” Or it can come up with a new name entirely.
During the commission’s Oct. 7 meeting, members weighed public anxiety over naming civic spaces after specific individuals — whose legacies can prove fallible — against concerns that the staff-recommended Plaza de San Jose was too “vanilla” and culturally bland.
The commission voted unanimously for “Plaza del Pueblo de San Jose,” attempting to capture both broad inclusivity and community identity.
Tuesday’s vote on the park’s new name will cap off a process began in March, with community listening sessions taking place over the summer, and culminating in a ranked-choice survey that wrapped up in August. Out of 610 total suggestions, city staff set aside 178 nominations that didn’t follow guidelines and consolidated the remaining 432 into 88 distinct options. More than 10,000 people responded to the English survey, while 229 answered in Spanish and 14 in Filipino.
Many of the other public nominations were… interesting.
Internet culture was on full display in the nominations. Aside from “Parky McParkFace,” there was “Plaza McPlazaface,” which also lacked a clear connection to San Jose — as did “Every One was Kung Fu Fighting Park.” Meanwhile, entries like “Donald J. Trump Legacy Park” also failed to qualify.
While “California ground squirrel” may be a valid choice for animal lovers, why “Julius Caesar” was relevant to San Jose was just as unclear.
There were also pop-culture nods to K-pop act BTS through “Bangtan Park” and 23-year-old pop singer “JoJo Siwa.”
City rules require honorees to be deceased for at least five years, leading to several notable disqualifications. Steve Wozniak was scrapped. While the contributions of norteño band Los Tigres del Norte to music are undeniable, they are very much alive and did not fit the criteria.
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Legendary singer Dionne Warwick, who famously sang about needing to find her way to San Jose in a 1960s hit record, made the list alongside former President Barack Obama, but both were disqualified because they, as well, are still living.
Fellow labor icon Dolores Huerta — who recent reports revealed had two children with Chavez — received more than 50 submissions across various spellings, but was disqualified for the same reason. Blanca Alvarado Park, in honor of San Jose’s first Latina councilmember, who is still living and in her 90s, received three nominations.
Several ideas were rejected due to geographic conflicts — like “San Jose Central Park” and “Tamien Ohlone Plaza” — while “Delano Manongs Park” was nominated but already matches an existing park name in the city.
Meanwhile, tributes to New York activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera lacked the necessary local ties.
Even among the eligible names, dozens of serious contenders failed to make the final ballot, falling short of the numbers required to make the top five list. Notable runners-up included a tribute to Filipino labor organizer Larry Itliong with 19 votes, Bank of Italy founder A.P. Giannini and “Isang Bagsak Plaza” — after a famous Filipino farmworker protest cry meaning “one fall” — with 12 votes each, and lower-tier pitches like “Silicon Valley Plaza,” which received just four votes.
Ultimately, the top five most popular names advanced to a ranked-choice survey. “Plaza de San Jose” finished in first place after leading the initial round with 90 nominations. It was followed by “Farmworkers Plaza,” “Plaza del Pueblo” and “Plaza Park” — all broadly tied to the farmworker movement or local history — and “Plaza de Quetzalcoatl,” named after a feathered serpent in Mexican mythology.
Situated on Market Street, the 2.3-acre square has long been the heart of downtown, hosting well-attended events like Christmas in the Park, the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest, and Music in the Park.
Once a town square during California’s Spanish era, it was known as San Jose Plaza and Plaza Park before being named for Chávez in 1993.
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See the full list of nominees here.
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