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Portland Planning Commission supports Chavez street name change
As the city moved a step closer Tuesday to renaming 39th Avenue for
farmworker leader Cesar Chavez, a leading opponent has launched an
effort to rename a park instead.
Although not completely comfortable with the plan, Portland Planning
Commission members voted 7-1 to forward 39th Avenue to the City Council
for consideration.
Several commissioners said they didn't like the process that brought the
issue to them, but others enthusiastically endorsed renaming 39th.
"This change is really for the children and future generations of
Portlanders," Commissioner Irma Valdez said. "We're in the position of
doing the right thing for future generations."
If the discussion had been about naming a street for Abraham Lincoln, no
one would object, Valdez said. Her comment brought cries of "No! No!"
from people in the audience who took exception to her comment.
Commissioner Lai-Lani Ovalles described Chavez as a "nonviolent civil
rights warrior" who had the courage to stand up for what he believed.
The planning commission should have the courage to support the change,
she said. "We have to make decisions that will hurt people emotionally,"
Ovalles said.
Despite the civil tone of most people who oppose renaming 39th, Ovalles
said she has heard "subtle racism" in the community over the issue. "I
heard people say why are we doing this for brown people," she said.
Commissioner Howard Shapiro said he came to the meeting prepared to vote
no, given the cost to the city to replace the signs and the costs for
businesses to change stationery and business cards. But the discussion
changed his mind.
Commissioner Amy Cortese cast the sole dissenting vote. Cortese cited a
section of the city code that bans renaming a street that is
"significant in its own right."
The avenue is a major north-south artery that helps people navigate the
east side and is an important locational device for businesses, she
said.
"I may be navigationally challenged, but I think that's important,"
Cortese said. "I do feel there's value in that."
Don Hanson, president of the planning commission, turned the argument
around. "Because it is significant in its own right makes me want to
rename it," he said, because it would be a fitting honor for Chavez.
Commissioners also discussed potential changes to the city's street
renaming code, such as broadening the discussion beyond one street to
other public structures such as bridges or parks and clarifying what the
code means by "best interest of the city" and "significant in its own
right."
In the meantime, William Schneider, a chiropractor whose clinic is on
Northeast 39th Avenue, said he has researched how to go about renaming a
city park for Chavez and has gathered about 1,000 signatures on a
petition to rename Delta Park. He doesn't like the 39th idea because of
its potential effect on his business.
The North Portland park is built on the Columbia River site of Vanport,
destroyed by a flood in 1948. Before its destruction, Vanport was the
second-largest city in Oregon. It was built to house the thousands of
wartime shipbuilders recruited by Henry Kaiser Industries.
Schneider said he has spoken with Chavez-renaming supporters about the
compromise but has received no commitment from them.
Marta Guembes, co-chair of the Chavez renaming committee, said the group
has heard the park suggestion before and isn't interested. "No, we are
in the process for a street, not for anything else but a street," she
said.
Schneider said freeway signs would make the park name highly visible.
And the name would be appropriate because many Latinos play soccer
there, he said.
City policy allows, but generally discourages, renaming parks. Names
"that have become widely accepted by the community will not be abandoned
unless there are compelling reasons and strong public sentiment from the
broader community for doing so," the policy states.
Priority in renaming a park for a person goes to those who have made a
lasting contribution to the park system, followed by contributions to
the city, state and nation, according to the policy.
Schneider said he'll keep trying to build support for the Delta Park
idea before the issue reaches the City Council.
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