Not that I loved César less
A big episode in the César Chávez Boulevard Sóap Ópera is in the offing today. The Portland Planning Commission is meeting this afternoon to consider the three streets that have been placed in the renaming ring: Broadway, Grand Avenue, and 39th Avenue. It's not exactly a fair contest among those three any more -- the city's history panel has pretty much tied 39th's arms and legs up, and it's writhing on the deck as the city presses the button to open the gates for the lions.
There's a story in the O today suggesting that there could be trouble for the renaming proponents over the wording of the city code, but we're skeptical. It wouldn't be the first time that our moribund local daily paper attempted to play a note of uncertainty about a train that's already started to leave the station. At least one street is going to get the green light as the planning board makes its recommendation to the City Council.
Of course, there will be lots of hemming and hawing -- there always is when neighborhoods are getting trampled. One idea being floated last night was that, in the spirit of compromise, Commissioner Randy Leonard would agree to have his Caesar Salad recipe (coincidentally posted on the Water Bureau blog yesterday) relabeled "39th Salad" as part of a package deal. Esparza's Restaurant would also be renamed, "Bob's Steak House." Alternatively, there is talk of giving everyone who owns property on the new Chávez Boulevard two free tickets to a Tuesday night Portland Beavers game next April.
| Posted at 9:54 AM | Permalink |
|
Comments (8)
How can a PDF file be "printed on recycled paper?"
Posted by Anthony | May 12, 2009 11:21 AM
Why don't they name the proposed Thomas Cully Park, Cesar Chavez park? We have one of the denser populations of Latinos in Cully. No money for new signs needed.
Posted by laurelann | May 12, 2009 11:32 AM
The article continues to call the deciders on the committee, "historians" while none of three serving on the committee hold any such credentials. I have no idea why these people were chosen over any of a number who are better qualified.
Posted by NW Portlander | May 12, 2009 2:42 PM
If they're like most Portland advisory groups, they were selected on the basis of the likelihood of telling the politicians what they want to hear.
Posted by Jack Bog | May 12, 2009 2:56 PM
Hand-picked . . . like rotten fruit.
Jack, they are apparently so incompetent that the city hired a consultant to "assist" them:
(from Oregonian article, April 28th, "Renaming 39th Avenue for Chavez would cost city $86,000")
"The city has allocated $150,000 to cover the city renaming costs, including $35,000 to hire a consultant to assist the historian panel and to make recommendations about code changes for future renaming efforts."
Re. the title of the article:
" . . . the 7.22 miles of 39th Avenue have 172 intersections, and would require 242 Chavez signs. The figure includes the cost of installing the new signs and removing the existing signs and a 20 percent contingency. Both street name signs remain up for five years."
The figure doesn't include the cost of the consultant, the mediator's fee, the time spent by the City Council in special hearings and regular meetings and the cost to businesses and individuals along the route. If these figures were added to the cost, it would be far higher than most people imagine.
But it's shovel ready and is creating a handful of jobs!
Posted by NW Portlander | May 12, 2009 3:10 PM
From a recent Oregonian blog:
"The head of the "Historian" panel making the recommendation to the planning commission has a direct connection to the UFW and Cesar Chavez.
"Gilbert Paul Carrasco wrote Everyday Law for Latinos. Dolores Huerta-the co-founder of the UFW and sister-in-law to Cesar Chavez endorsed Mr. Carrasco's book."
The other two members are a woman from a N Portland neighborhood association (?) and an Oregon National Guard officer.
Why not appoint people like Dr. Robert Hadlow, Senior Historian, ODOT Region 1 (Portland) or Lewis McArthur, who (with his father) is a proven local geographic historian specializing in Oregon place names and has been responsible for continuing the publication of OREGON GEOGRAPHIC NAMES which first appeared in 1928. McArthur lives in Portland. McArthur's appointment to the Oregon Geographic Names Board in 1959 initiated his work in this field.
If I know about these two outstanding resources, and more, it's hard to believe that the Mayor of Portland wouldn't have aimed a little higher unless he was trying to weight the roulette wheel in favor of a particular decision.
Posted by NW Portlander | May 12, 2009 4:05 PM
Re: "it's hard to believe that the Mayor of Portland wouldn't have aimed a little higher"
NW Portlander, the mayor's office is an integrity-free zone.
Is there an Hispanic term for "mau-mauing," which is how Tom Wolfe described how things were done against the white power structure in NYC during the '60s and '70s?
The entire effort by the proponents of this vexing matter would certainly have embarrassed César Chávez. There appears to be little capacity for shame among those who are pushing this and those allowing themselves to be pushed.
Posted by Gardiner Menefree | May 12, 2009 5:02 PM
I live just a few houses off of 39th. You cannot imagine my husband's and my rage about this ridiculous plan. To have these morons on the Planning Commission play the race card by equating Abraham Lincoln with Cesar Chavez is frankly more than I can handle. Chavez is fine...he's not Abraham Lincoln and let's stop pretending that he his. I am not a racist because I want my street not to be renamed. It is inconvenient and annoying. Both the initial commission and the Planning Commission are stacked with biased individuals who don't give a rat's (*@ what the people of Portland actually want.
My question to every City Commissioner and the Mayor will be...why not a street, any street, on the west side? Why not the street you all live on? Why not every street you live on? How about NW 23rd if numbered streets don't matter? Can you think of a more well known numbered street in Portland???
This is a democracy. The opinion of the people must matter. THE PEOPLE DO NOT WANT THIS!! None of them and especially the people who live on the street. Any commissioner who ignores the will of the people ought to be tossed out on his or her ear.
Posted by Kim | May 13, 2009 9:53 PM