4:28pm | Just a few months after her untimely passing, late State Senator Jenny Oropeza could see her legacy live on forever in Long Beach.
Councilmember Robert Garcia will propose naming the community center at Cesar Chavez Park after Oropeza, who fought for the creation of the park when she served in the 1st District seat that Garcia currently holds. Oropeza would eventually move on to the State Assembly and then State Senate. She died at the age of 53 in October 2010, after winning a long battle with cancer but developing a blood clot in her abdomen.
“I can’t think of a more fitting way to remember Jenny than to honor her at a park that she and her neighbors worked so hard to create,” said Garcia. “She told me once that Cesar Chavez Park was her proudest accomplishment.”
Garcia will propose the motion during the February 1 City Council meeting. The center at 4th and Golden would officially be called the Jenny Oropeza Community Center. Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal and 9th District Councilmember Steve Neal are co-sponsoring the motion. Community leader Ann Salas-Rock, who worked with Oropeza to create Cesar Chavez Park as a member of the West End Community Association, brought the idea to Garcia.
“I’m very grateful to Robert for bringing this forward,” said Tom Mullins, the Senator’s husband. “Jenny would surely be moved and very happy. She was so proud of this park.”
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