Proposal to rename Spring Street to honor Pedie Perez, fatally shot by police in 2014
Patricia Perez says her family is grateful for any reminders they can have of her grandson Pedie around the south Richmond neighborhood, which is home to the family business and where they lost Pedie almost ten years ago, an event Perez said changed their family forever.
This Tuesday night, the city council will hear a proposal to rename Spring Street in honor of Richard "Pedie" Perez III, who a Richmond Police officer fatally shot in September of 2014.
Councilmember Soheila Bana, who is proposing the project, said it has been in the works for a while, but due to Pedie’s mother’s poor health, it’s essential to move the project forward now.
“This project to memorialize Pedie has progressed smoothly with active support from the city manager, public works, and parks and recreation,” Bana said. "It seems the entire community, including the city administration, has been seeking closure after years of hearing the Perez family at the city council meetings every Tuesday.”
Soren Hemmila
Julie Perez, Pedie’s mother, said her son was well-regarded in the neighborhood where the family has operated a recycling business for the last 50 years. After graduating from Pinole Valley High School in 2008, Pedie joined his family business at 33rd and Spring Street, just off Cutting Boulevard. Perez says her son enjoyed visiting the shops and chatting with people and felt at home there.
“Pedie didn’t judge,” Perez said. “He didn’t see color, just saw people for who they are. People have told us they never heard anyone say even one bad thing about our son.”
Patricia Perez, Pedie's grandmother, feels that renaming the street is a positive effort by the city and will help keep Pedie’s memory alive.
“Our workyard is at the corner of 33rd and Spring, so we think it’s wonderful to rename that street, Perez said. “it means a lot more people will see Pedie.”
Linda Hemmila
Last May, an art installation was placed in front of Uncle Sam’s Liquor Store on Cutting Boulevard, just around the corner from the Perez family business. It’s also the location of the shooting that took Pedie's life and where a yearly gathering in his memory takes place.
Perez says that the city, particularly Mayor Eduardo Martinez and Councilmember Bana, has been instrumental in commemorating Pedie’s life and providing a sense of closure, a word the family struggles with.
“It’s all because of Soheila. It all started to happen because of her, but Eduardo has been wonderful, too,” Perez said. “Something had to be done for closure – that word people say it, but they need to think about that word. How do we reach that?”
The proposal for the street renaming will be heard at this week’s council meeting and then returned to the agenda on September 24 for a final vote. The family will hold a public commemoration once the proposal is adopted and the new street sign is in place.
“We always do it publicly Perez said. “next week, it will be ten years since we lost Pedie, and we will have our gathering this year just like we have done every year since he was taken from us.”
The Perez family is releasing a video documentary produced by Tom Herriman describing their decade-long struggle for justice, the support they have received from the community, and the progress they have made in changing police department policies that led to Pedie’s death.
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