Santa Clara leaders Tuesday night praised the City Council for voting to ditch Columbus Day and instead celebrate a day that highlights indigenous people and cultures. “We’re particularly happy and proud that our task force was able to make this recommendation while also acknowledging another thing that we saw in our surveys,” said Neil Datar, chair of the city’s Task Force on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, “which is the role Columbus Day plays in terms of Italian American heritage.”

The Santa Clara City Council voted unanimously in December to approve a recommendation to observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead of Columbus Day on Oct. 2 based on a recommendation from the city’s Task Force on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The task force’s recommendation to the council was unanimous and came on the heels of a city-sponsored survey that found 54% of respondents supported swapping out Columbus Day for Indigenous Peoples’ Day.