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RENO (Nevada) GAZETTE-JOURNAL March 14, 2009
Reno
activist seeks 'Cesar Chavez Day' Gilbert Cortez, a Reno businessman and activist who organized immigration awareness marches in Reno over the past few years, made the request before the Reno City Council this week. Cortez said he and others are asking that the day be recognized each year as an unofficial holiday, meaning that city workers wouldn't have the day off but that the date, Chavez's birthday, would remain on the city calendar. "I don't think that just issuing a (mayoral) proclamation is enough," Cortez said. "So many people, even Hispanic people, don't know who he was. I want us to give the man recognition here in Reno and maybe in a year or two ask the state to put the day on their calendar." He said Mayor Bob Cashell said he'd be willing to talk to him about it. Cashell could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon. Chavez, who died in 1993, was a Mexican-American farm worker and labor organizer. He co-founded the National Farm Workers Association which later became the United Farm Workers. In the 1970s the group organized strikes and boycotts to win better conditions for farm laborers. Cortez said recognizing Chavez's contributions would increase awareness of the labor leader. Cesar Chavez Day is an official state holiday in California, where state offices and state schools are closed, and has been recognized as an "optional" state holiday in Texas, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Michigan and Wisconsin, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
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