Congratulations! Now Keep the Pressure on to DO IT RIGHT!

November 21, 2007

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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.

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