The Bananaverse

…so here’s the letter I wrote to all the members of Portland’s City Council who voted unanimously to rename SE 39th Ave to Cesar Chavez Blvd.

Commissioners:

I am disappointed you did not take the wishes of the residents of 39th Avenue into account when you voted yes. Why not a compromise on a new building someplace? Or the new Interstate Bridge? And on more practical matters, renaming streets isn’t cheap for anyone, so in an environment already not conducive to small businesses you are making it more expensive for those on 39th now that they have change their address or move away, and I’m willing to bet some of those businesses will leave Portland altogether.

I am not opposed to a tribute to Cesar Chavez, I am more than happy for something in tribute to him to exist in Portland. But why not a Farmer’s Market? Or a school? Because the committee who wanted a street said they’d get one by hook or by crook? They put enough money into their campaign to get attention? After enough unsuccessful tries they had finally pestered this into being?

As a child in rural Oregon, I went to Sam Boardman Elementary School. As a result I spent a bit of time each year learning about Sam Boardman. He was the first State Parks Superintendent, and he did a lot to preserve parts of Oregon by turning them into parks. That is more than I was ever taught about Cesar Chavez, and I lived in a part of Oregon where as a white person I was a minority in my high school for about half the school year as a result of the influx of students due to migrant seasonal workers.

I use 39th Avenue. One of the fundamental ways I was able to find my way around Portland when I first moved to Portland (I lived on SE 36th) was to use the existing grid system that included numbered streets such as 39th. That ease of navigation is diminished when that navigation now has to come with an exception. There are a lot of other ways honoring Cesar Chavez could have been handled that would have made a lot more Portlanders happy. I also don’t appreciate that the process to get a street renamed never takes the wishes of that street’s residents into account. I find it shameful that in a representative democracy, those representatives are clearly not voting according to the wishes of those they represent.

And I will be frank here: Right now the Council doesn’t need another black mark. Between the recall in the works for our Mayor, a contentious Major League Soccer bid, and a new baseball stadium, there is a lot of money being spent or being committed to be spent. And yet in my neighborhood entire blocks are nothing but potholes held together with pavement and there wasn’t enough money to keep a police precinct open in southeast Portland.

I know that this is only one person’s opinion and you have made it abundantly clear you are not interested in one opinion let alone the opinions of many many people, but since I already contacted the Council with my stance on this I felt it necessary to follow up and let you know how disappointed I am in this decision. There are better ways to honor Cesar Chavez. I wish the City Council was more concerned about doing what their constituency wants them to and less concerned with what “looks good” for Portland.

Sincerely,
Miss Kelly
Southeast Portland