FROM KATU:
PORTLAND, Ore. - Neither North Interstate Avenue nor Southwest Fourth Avenue in Portland will be renamed Cesar Chavez Boulevard, the City Council decided Wednesday morning.
Instead the Council voted to table any decision on naming a street after Chavez, the late labor rights leader. And they are not going to make any decision on where to honor Chavez at this time.
"The decision was what we asked for," said Multnomah County Commissioner Maria Rojo de Steffey. "The Chinese-American community and the Hispanic community both asked that the City Council withdraw or table the Fourth Avenue recommendation and vote on the Interstate (proposal). They did that today."
Mayor Tom Potter and the Council agreed everyone in the city needed time to heal from the whole re-naming process, which garnered plenty of criticism and outcry.
It started when a local Latino group approached businesses and the mayor's office this summer to ask for their support to re-name north Portland's Interstate Avenue after Chavez. But the idea riled many, especially some business owners who claimed the change would possibly cost them thousands to change their business names, letterhead, advertisements and other facets of their business identities.
The issue got so heated that Mayor Potter walked out on a City Council meeting when it appeared a vote would be delayed on the issue.
Last week, in an unexpected move, the Council turned to the idea of re-naming Southwest Fourth Avenue in downtown Portland, which runs through the heart of the community's historic Chinatown area. That choice upset members of the Chinese-American community, who believed the Council made the decision without considering them.
It was unclear Wednesday what is the next step for those who support honoring Chavez in Portland.
7 comments:
Mz Victoria, please don't get caught with your rose colored glasses on. The buffoons ensconced in city hall are going to pander, come hell or high water. Some major thoroughfare SHALL be renamed for some socialist puke. These idiots never intended to supplant 4th Ave. for our compadre cesar. My money is still on Interstate, but with the new "laws" the incompetent commissioners intend to implement, the public shall have no input. Period.
It was unclear Wednesday what is the next step for those who support honoring " HUGO" Chavez in Portland.
Ps: HAPPY THANKSGIVING, but
please don't tell the
Seattle School District
Socialists that I said this.
I suspect Cesar Chavez signs are already being printed. They'll be put up on some major street without warning, and we'll just wake up one morning to a fait accompli.... as usual.
By the way, why is it all these civil rights honorees get ALL their names on street signs? Why isn't it Parks Way, King Boulevard, etc? Can we retroactivally change all the other named streets in town to follow suit?
According to Tom Potter anyone who wonders about the wisdom of renaming major thoroughfares like N Interstate or SW 4th for Chavez is questioning it because they're a racist. Isn't that just special?
Brainstorm!
Instead of a street, let's have a Cesar Chavez Day where the customary way to celebrate is by recreating Chavez's "Wet Line."
To be historically accurate, we all line up at a border, and beat anyone who tries to sneak through with sticks.
Bear,
I won't get caught with my rose colored glasses on.
Eddie, You're probably right, they are printing those signs.
Why not rename Portland?
Here's a suggestion: Potterville.
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