By Sharon Weissman
Chief of Staff
Assemblymember Tony Mendoza
On March 31, Cesar Chavez’s birthday, the City of Long Beach named the community center at Cesar E. Chavez Park after the late Senator Jenny Oropeza.
Jenny was always so very proud of the park. In fact, she considered it one of her most important achievements. The photo collage of the opening hung in her office first as a councilmember, then as an assemblymember and during her time in the Senate.
When Jenny took office as the 1st District councilmember, building the park was one of her highest priorities. The 1st District had very little park land and places for young people to play. Recreation opportunities and places to hold events were in very short supply. When the park opened, it was the first new park in Long Beach in 22 years. To name the community center after Jenny in a park named after one of her heroes, Cesar Chavez, is to truly honor her. It was so important to her to name the park after Cesar Chavez because she felt it would help the city “remember the theme that guided this man’s life.” “He was about non-violent social change,” she went on to say. “I think it’s so important for our young people to see that if they don’t like things, they can confront it without doing it in a violent way.”
But the reason to name the community center after Jenny is not only because Cesar Chavez Park is there because of her; it is also because she is worthy of remembering.
Jenny dedicated her life to public service and giving a voice to those who needed representation the most. She believed that government should serve the residents in its jurisdiction and that those who were the most disadvantaged should be those who got the most assistance. Public service was a calling for her. She truly believed that she and her staff were honored to be able to spend their time serving the people of Long Beach and, during her time in the Legislature, the people of California.
Her dedication to others, her drive to make Long Beach and California better places to live, her success in working to protect our children and our environment are admirable. She fought for equality, for better health care, for fair elections, for clean air and public transportation.
The tribute in the program at Jenny’s funeral included the following: “Jenny’s life can be found in a hundred places. Cesar E. Chavez Park in Long Beach is the embodiment of her passion. She championed the park in a poor section of the city. And her legacy lives in the children at play, the families enjoying a picnic in the park or seniors playing bingo in the community center.”
Jenny always believed that if you had hope, you had the most important thing you needed. Her life brings hope to anyone who starts in humble circumstances yet dreams they can do great things— that they can spend their life in service to others and make our community a better place.
By naming the community center after Jenny Oropeza, the city of Long Beach honors not only her, but everyone who admires the great works of others and chooses to live their life by practicing their heroes’ values and principles.
