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Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard Committee
ˇJuntos Podemos! November 27, 2007
Together we can...the Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard Committee remains committed to obtaining our goal of honoring an American hero, Cesar E. Chavez. Earlier this year a group of North Portland residents, Latino leaders, and community volunteers came together to work towards honoring Cesar and recognizing the contributions of Latinos to our community. This was a long time coming, with no visible or permanent monuments in the City Portland, naming a street for Cesar E. Chavez was and is the right thing to do.
We followed a process that was based on a commitment to inform the public of our efforts and to reach out to the community. After researching possible streets and learning about the street naming requirements we selected Interstate Avenue. We sought support for our efforts by attending North Portland Neighborhood Association meetings, community events, and talking with businesses and individuals on Interstate Avenue. Regardless of whether we agreed or disagreed, out of respect to our neighbors, we believed the community should be informed.
We consulted with Portland City Council, we received guidance from the Mayor’s office, a resolution was unanimously passed which officially recognized our community efforts and described a public comment period. Two city-sponsored public meetings, extensive outreach activities, thirty-seven letters of support from businesses, leaders, and organizations and over twenty-five hundred signatures – there was no question about our commitment and the support for our cause.
On Wednesday, November 21st, City Council ultimately took a vote on whether to rename Interstate Avenue to Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard. The week prior, council had not taken a vote and instead passed a resolution renaming 4th Avenue to Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard. This was done without any consultation with the committee or the community members directly impacted by this change. This was a “fix” supported by Commissioners Saltzman, Leonard, Sten, and Adams.
On the morning of the 21st, before the city council meeting, Co-Chairs Marta Guembes and Jose Romero, joined representatives from the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association and Multnomah County Commissioner Maria Rojo de Steffey requesting city council to change their decision for renaming 4th Avenue to Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard and to take a vote on Interstate Avenue.
It was clear, city councils “fix” would not only hurt the Latino Community and Chinese Community, but also disrespect the intent of honoring Cesar. E. Chavez. Disagreement and opposition is appropriate, but an action forced upon another community without any public process is unacceptable. In the end, council changed their vote on renaming 4th avenue to Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard and voted not to rename Interstate Avenue. We are disappointed but we are not defeated.
Throughout these past months we heard, time and time again, the strong support for recognizing Cesar E. Chavez. His life and legacy is an inspiration and people were in an agreement – Cesar E. Chavez deserves to be honored. Also during these past months, issues of race and class came up, time and time again. Individuals on both sides of the issue felt disrespected, hurt and insulted. It is clear that as a community we still need to learn better ways of listening and treating each other.
We remain committed to moving forward. At the start of the New Year, we will regroup and we welcome others to join our efforts. Please visit our website www.cesarechavezboulevard.com for updates and new information.
As Cesar E. Chavez said, "There's no turning back...We will win. We are winning because ours is a revolution of mind and heart..."
Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard Committee Cesar E Chavez Boulevard Community Update — November 20, 2007 Last Thursday, was a difficult day for our community and the Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard Committee efforts. Commissioners Randy Leonard, Sam Adams, Dan Saltzman, and Erik Sten demonstrated by their actions, they have no interest in listening or even responding to the Latino Community. Even though, as a community, we did what we were told, we followed directions and a process each of them supported, it was not enough. In the end, Portland City Council did not vote on renaming Interstate Avenue. Instead, the commissioners introduced a new resolution. Commissioner Randy Leonard, Sam Adams, Dan Saltzman, and Erik Sten introduced and passed their own resolution, supporting the renaming of Fourth Avenue to Cesar E Chavez Boulevard. They did not provide us with the respect of simply acknowledging our months of work with a vote on Interstate Avenue; they took it upon themselves to name a street for Cesar E. Chavez, a street of their choosing and their liking. They stated, time and time again, how they believed, 4th avenue would be a fitting tribute. Even thought it was not what the Latino community asked for, these four city commissioners believe they know better. They know better than our community, the 2500+ signatures of supporters we gathered, and they know better than the Chinese Community. As a committee our goal is to honor an American Hero, Cesar E Chavez. The process we followed was based on our commitment to inform the public of our efforts and reach out to the community it directly impacted. For us, it meant attending North Portland Neighborhood Association meetings, community events, and talking with businesses and individuals on Interstate Avenue. Regardless of whether we agreed or disagreed, out of respect to our neighbors, we believed the individuals who are directly impacted should be informed. Like many of us, the Chinese Community learned of the renaming of 4th Avenue to Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard by reading it in the paper and by watching the news. They found out that China Town, an area which celebrates and recognizes the historic presence of the Chinese Community, a part of town they’ve worked tirelessly to strengthen and preserve will now have a major street renamed. The four city commissioners, who introduced and passed their own resolution, did not contact them; ask for their opinion, input or thoughts. The four city commissioners simply did it. The way our community has been treated is shameful. The way council is now treating the Chinese Community is shameful. A press conference will be held Wednesday, November 21st, 8:45am at the corner of NW 4th and NW Davis, in the heart of China Town. We will stand along side the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association and Multnomah County Commissioner Maria Rojo de Steffey. We will stand in solidarity and let the public know of our mistreatment and disrespect by Portland City Council Following the press conference, at 9:30am, City Council is scheduled to vote on an ordinance that will lay out the street renaming process, provide step by step instructions on how street naming will be done in our city. New rules have been developed, rules nobody had a say in writing other than the commissioners themselves. Please join us for the press conference and the City Council meeting. Our struggle continues and together we will move forward to realizing our ultimate goal of honoring an American Hero, Cesar E. Chavez. ˇSI SE PUEDE!
We stand firm and committed to our effort to rename Interstate Avenue to Cesar E. Chavez Blvd. Regardless of what you have may have seen or heard in the media about the recent city council proceeding, as supporters to this cause, we want to assure you we are moving forward. At the October 25th City Council meeting, a resolution sponsored by Commissioners Sam Adams and Randy Leonard to dismiss the months of work we have done and institute a new complicated process, was deliberated. During this meeting, negotiating was taking place and statements such as “City Council needs to own this process”, “This is a dysfunctional process”, and “We need to form a new committee” were stated. In the end Mayor Tom Potter refused to be a part of this obvious attempt to hijack a community driven effort and took himself out of the situation. He once again demonstrated integrity and courage, regardless of the impact to his position, Mayor Potter is standing with us in our struggle. Council has postponed deliberations of the Leonard and Adams resolution to Wednesday, November 14th. This is the day before the Mayor was scheduled to bring his resolution forward asking council to vote on renaming Interstate Avenue to Cesar E. Chavez Blvd. From this latest development, questions arise - The process we have taken is based on the city’s current street re-naming policy and discussions with each of the city council members, what did we do wrong? How did our work and effort become so devalued and insignificant to council? What do we do now? The answers are clear, we did not do anything wrong, our work and efforts are significant, valuable, and our next course of action is to demand that our work be recognized by a council vote on renaming Interstate Avenue to Cesar E. Chavez Blvd. The deliberations on the Leonard and Adams resolution are scheduled to continue on November 14th. We have been assured by the Mayor’s Office - he plans to bring his resolution asking for a council vote on Interstate Avenue on November 15th. There are discussions happening in City Hall to have both resolutions take place on the same day. The committee has sent an official request to Commissioner Adams and Commissioner Leonard to withdraw their resolution. We have two challenges before us: A VOTE on renaming Interstate Avenue to Cesar E. Chavez Blvd Rename Interstate Avenue to Cesar E. Chavez Blvd.
Let them know, we deserve a vote and Interstate Avenue should be renamed Cesar E. Chavez Blvd. We will keep you updated on the progress, please share this information with others thank you for your support. In the words of Cesar E. Chavez, ˇSi Se Puede! Marta Guembes, Co-Chair Jose Romero, Co Chair Thank you for your involvement and support of our efforts to rename Interstate Avenue to Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard. Our work to honor Cesar E. Chavez continues to move forward and with your support, we believe we will be successful. There has been a lot happening and we want to keep you informed of the progress. In addition to the committee’s continued efforts to meet with the neighborhood associations, businesses, and groups in the local area, two city sponsored public hearings were held on October 3rd and October 9th. There was a lot of attention in the media about the heated discussions and passionate views that were shared. Through it all we remained strong and committed to our goal. We know that renaming Interstate Avenue to Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard is the right thing to do. We know there are people in North, NE, SE, NW and SW Portland that agree. We know we have supporters outside the city of Portland who see the significance of renaming Interstate Avenue to Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard. And finally, we know that “now” is the time for this to happen. The latest development in our struggle has to do with questions regarding the process. To date the steps we have taken have been based on the city’s current street re-naming policy. In our discussions with each of the city council members we have taken their recommendations and feedback and incorporated them in our efforts. This Thursday, October 25th City Council will discuss a resolution sponsored by Commissioners Sam Adams and Randy Leonard to disregard the months of work we have done, time and energy we have spent, and essentially start a new complicated process. We know that doing the right thing can be difficult for some leaders. Instead of energizing efforts to oppose this resolution we have decided to focus and remain committed to our goal. On Thursday, November 15th Mayor Tom Potter is scheduled to bring forward a resolution requesting a vote by council to rename Interstate Avenue to Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard. We will notify you of the time it is scheduled to be deliberated. November 15th is the day we need everyone to show their support and attend the council hearing. Leading up to this date, we ask each of you to contact the city commissioners: Mayor Tom Potter, (503)823-4127, mayorpotter@ci.portland.or.us Commissioner Sam Adams, (503)823-3008, samadams@ci.portland.or.us Commissioner Randy Leonard, (503)823-4682, rleonard@ci.portland.or.us Commissioner Dan Saltzman, (503)823-4151, dansaltzman@ci.portland.or.us Commissioner Erik Sten, (503)823-3589, esten@ci.portland.or.us They need to hear from each of you and know there is broad community support. As our work continues, we should be proud to know that more and more people are learning about Cesar E. Chavez. Many of us are familiar with his quotes some of us were fortunate to work along side him. There is no Cesar quote more appropriate at this time for us to remember and keep in our hearts, ˇSi Se Puede! Marta Guembes, Co-Chair
— Jose Romero,
Co Chair First Community Update — Overview & Timeline César E. Chávez Blvd Update In early April 2007, Portland area Latinos and community members came together with the intent of renaming a street in Portland after the late civil rights leader and community servant, César E. Chávez, a true American hero. The street the César E. Chávez Blvd. Committee (CECBC) selected is Interstate Ave. The State of Oregon and the City of Portland have a long history of employing Latino and immigrant service workers, many of whom have experienced first hand the social and cultural inequities that Mr. Chávez and others fought hard to eliminate. Using the principles of non-violence, civic involvement, and social change, he successfully raised national awareness of the injustices and deplorable living and working conditions that workers endured while working in the fields to bring food to our tables. A street named in honor of César E. Chávez would recognize the work of a man who dedicated his life to the service of others. Moreover, it would encourage the larger community to learn and acknowledge the tremendous social, cultural, economic, and environmental contributions Latinos have made in the history of our City and State. Latinos in Oregon comprise 12 percent of the state’s population. One in every seven new students enrolling in our area schools is Latino. In the Portland metropolitan area alone, Latinos represent 4.2 billion in purchasing power. Despite the incredible figures, there are currently no existing public tributes to American Latino leaders in the Portland area. To date, members of the CECBC have met with Mayor Tom Potter, public service and transportation officials, neighborhood associations, religious groups, businesses, community agencies and individual advocates to ensure an inclusive and comprehensive process. We are working hard to keep all stakeholders informed and involved. Over the next two months, CECBC members plan to circulate petitions, acquire support letters from individuals and agencies, and continue the dialogue with elected officials. We will continue to meet with media, businesses, and civic groups to garner their support. A tentative timeline for upcoming events includes the following: • Meetings with City and County Commissioners. August 9-14. • CECBC meetings @ Historic Kenton Firehouse. August 8 and 22. • Press Conference @ site TBD in north Portland. August/September • Arbor Lodge Community Fair. August 16. • Arbor Lodge Park Oregon Symphony Concert August 25. • Public Hearing @ IFCC. Sept/October • City Council vote on Resolution October/November • Fundraising and networking throughout the summer. • We welcome and appreciate your support. ˇSi Se Puede! |
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Cesar E Chavez Boulevard Committee 2007 |