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West Jordan • Civil-rights activists Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta would likely be proud of the fight being waged by community members to save a mural featuring the civil-rights leaders' faces from being painted over by order of the city.
The mural, which covers the exterior of the Azteca De Oro Taqueria, was painted as a community project — then came under fire for violating the city's sign law. About 200 people rallied around the mural Thursday night to voice pride in their diverse community and support the values that the mural stands for: change, art, education and more.
"Everybody should have a hero who looks like them," said restaurant owner Miguel Dominquez, standing in front of the mural to address the growing semicircle of people.
He's lived in West Jordan for eight years, but he said that Thursday night was the first time he's felt represented. "… It has nothing to do with my business. It has to do with our culture."
Jennifer Mayer-Glenn, a Glendale teacher and president of the Utah Coalition of La Raza, is also excited to see "something that all of our children are able to hold onto and to finally see something that is relevant to them."
The rally drew other activists, including longtime civil-rights activist Robert "Archie" Archuleta, and local political leaders such as West Jordan City Councilman Chris McConnehey, both of whom echoed a call that rang throughout the rally: the importance of being heard, particularly through voting.
Dominquez passed around his iPad for people to register and provided sign-up sheets to learn more about the voting process.
"It doesn't matter how much noise you make here. It doesn't matter how much you 'like' on Facebook," Dominquez said. He encouraged people to tell their representatives that "we are here and I want you to represent me."
City-ordinance-enforcement officers, acting on a complaint, told Dominquez to remove the painting because it violated the city's sign law. Dominquez faced a $100 daily fine for failure to comply — a penalty he said he couldn't afford.
Miguel Galaz, an artist and educator who created the mural with the help of more than 100 youngsters and community members, was stunned. "The first reaction was, 'what am I going to tell the kids?' " Galaz said in an interview Thursday. "They worked on it so hard and now they've got to take it down."
One wall of the multi-wall mural is covered with the giant images of Chavez and Huerta, co-founders of the National Farm Workers Association, known for society-changing civil-rights and labor activism. Chavez died in 1993; Huerta, now 85, still works as an activist.
"They've been a big influence in my life and in many other people's lives and I just wanted people to not forget about history. I wanted to create awareness of who they were and who they are, because Dolores is still around," Galaz said. "My intention as an artist is to create awareness."
That goal has been accomplishedwith the fight with City Hall, which has entered a 30-day ceasefire after the dispute blew up on social media and in the news media.
Acting City Manager Bryce Haderlie, Mayor Kim Rolfe and members of the City Council on Wednesday night all expressed an eagerness to work out a solution with Dominquez and Galaz and their supporters.
"We're more than willing to work with them," Haderlie said, acknowledging the public-relations firestorm. "We are doing our best as a staff to work cooperatively within the legal" restraints.
Dominquez thanked city leaders for their newfound commitment to resolution, adding, "We love to work with the city, we follow the rules."
He said the spirit of cooperation is a sharp contrast to the original hard line, when the city's attitude was: "erase everything, paint over it, we're done."
Michael Clara, a Salt Lake City School Board member who got involved in the dust-up through social-media postings, showed up at Wednesday night's council meeting ready for a confrontation.
But when he heard city leaders express commitment to working together, he ended up commending them. "At the end of the day, this is going to impact a certain ethnic group, and they seem sensitive to that. I was very impressed," Clara said.
He said the issue is an important one.
"I recognize the need for youth, our Hispanic youth who feel marginalized for many reasons, that we allow them to recognize that there are heroes in their community."