The opposition for Grand and Broadway was insurmountable so they move to 39th but failed to do their homework or anticipate the continued opposition. The rules for renaming a street require that it start and stop inside the city. 39th goes into Milwaukie dispite that fact that there is a break it is still the same street. The rules for petition signers is very questionable and makes me wonder who the signers were, where they live and are they registered voters/property owners or even citizens of the state/country.

It also appears that the city is making up the rules as they go along and changing them to fit the needs of the chavez group while disregarding the overwhelming wishes of the citizens. 80 to 90% of the people in the city are against the renaming. I smell a fraud and don’t believe that future generations will judge us harshly for wanting to maintain historical names to streets in the city.

I have wondered about Marta Guembes a co founder of the chavez group and believe that her purpose in the renaming is more of a racial issue than not. She was stopped by PPB while driving around a neighbourhood slowly. She was not cited, however she filed a complaint against the officer saying that she was the victim of “racial profiling”. PPB went thru the IPR and internal investigation and found Guembes complaint unfounded.

Guembes actions speak volumes to me and others about the true intentions/motivations of her and the organisation.

Only legal citizens of Portland, the State of Oregon and the United States should have a say in how this City does business.

We’ve heard all the arguments against it, and we’ve seen the outright ugliness when the majority shouts down the minority at community meetings.

The Latino community in Portland has always been marginalized, but it’s not just about that.

Chavez is a working class hero and a symbol of the power of collective action against entrenched corporate power. If you want to ghettoize his memory on a street or memorial “related to… farm workers or Hispanics,” you betray your extraordinarily limited perspective (to put it as politely as possible).

History will not judge Portland kindly on its opposition to something many less-progressive cities have done as a matter of course.

“This might include the creation of a non-profit educational organization designed to do nothing less than promote the work of Chavez and the United Farm Workers of America in public schools”

During the 2007 Interstate process, Chavez committee member Sonny Montes spoke to residents and businesses around Interstate and said this The reason I’m here tonight is because of our young people. We’ve got a very diverse community in North Portland. Chavez can be that unifying person that brings us together. We feel this will motivate our young people. We’re not going to stop there. One of the ideas for down the road is to secure private funding for a cultural center.

It’s been two years – where are the plans to fund a cultural center? Was that lip service?

What, I have to move now? I’m Hispanic, I live on 39th…