Political leaders across San Jose say the time to honor Janet Gray Hayes, the city’s first woman mayor, is long overdue — and she deserves a building to carry her name alongside Silicon Valley’s most influential changemakers.
Hayes was the first woman mayor of a major American city when she was elected in 1974, when San Jose had a population hovering around half a million. She succeeded future Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and helped lead San Jose away from the old guard into an era of community and neighborhood advocacy, said San Jose State political science professor emeritus Terry Christensen. Now the legacy of Hayes could be reflected at the City Hall rotunda.
A coalition of current and former San Jose leaders including Christensen are lobbying city officials to name the City Hall rotunda “The Janet Gray Hayes Rotunda.” Advocates are supporting the Aug. 7 Rules Committee-backed proposal that the San Jose City Council will review tomorrow, with the 50th anniversary of Hayes’ November 1974 election fast approaching.