Joe Serna Jr.

Joe Serna, Jr. (1939 - November 7 1999) was a civil rights activist and mayor of Sacramento, California from 1992 until his death.

Serna was born in Stockton, the son of migrant farm workers. He was raised in labor camps near Lodi and worked with his family in the fields at a young age.

He would grow up to becoming a vigorous supporter of the United Farm Workers and worked with Cesar Chavez. Serna organized clothing and food drives for striking farm workers in the 1960s and was one of the UFW's main Sacramento leaders for close to 30 years.

Serna became the first Latino mayor of Sacramento Before becoming mayor, Serna had served 18 years on the Sacramento City Council. He also served in the Peace Corps and was a professor at California State University Sacramento.

As mayor, Serna helped revitalize Sacramento's downtown area and pushed through initiatives to honor Cesar Chavez when the legendary civil rights leader died in 1993. Serna organized a caravan from Sacramento to march in Chavez's funeral and renamed a park in front of City Hall to Cesar Chavez Plaza. Furthermore, Sacramento became the first city in the United States to honor Chavez with a holiday.

Serna died in office on November 7, 1999 in Sacramento, California; Jimmie R. Yee presided over the remainder of his term. Serna is buried at East Lawn Cemetery, and his funeral was attended by many of his fellow UFW activists.

Serna was honored in 2001 with a brand-new, 25-story, 900,000-square-foot skyscraper named after him. The Joe Serna EPA Building (near City Hall in downtown Sacramento) has been named the most energy-efficient high rise in the United States by Energy Star. Many California universities and organizations have also established scholarships and grants in Joe Serna's name.

Sacramento City Unified School District honored Serna by naming their new headquarters, residing on 47th Avenue, after him.