Down on the boulevard, they take it hard

Life along the bustling "boulevard."

Well, it appears that old César Chávez had some awful skeletons in his closet, and so the poor people who live on the "boulevard" named after him on the east side of Portland are about to have their addresses changed yet again.

The predecessor of this blog covered the controversy in 2007 through 2009 when 39th Avenue was rechristened, at significant expense, public and private, after then-Saint Chávez. The residents and businesses along all of the streets being considered for this dubious honor were overwhelmingly opposed, and even people who knew Chávez said he would have hated the idea. But no, a vocal group of "activists," many of whom were not even from Portland, wouldn't shut up about it, and eventually they talked the City Council into it. It was the heyday of the Sam Rand Twins, Adams and Leonard. They loved flexing on the little people. Their colleagues went along, including the late Nick "Jelly" Fish, who lived on the street.

If you want to see some of the history, this search will turn up a bit. One unforgettable moment was when the congregation of the Polish church on North Interstate Avenue, Saint Stanislaus, interjected their vocal objection to Interstate becoming Chávez. They suggested that if Interstate was going to be renamed after someone, it should be Lech Walesa, the Polish freedom fighter of the 1980s. That was actually a cool idea, but of course, it went nowhere.

The smart thing for the city to do now would be to let the name revert to 39th Avenue, which is what many, many people still call it to this day. But that probably won't happen. The Dirty Dozen will all see an opportunity to score political points, and insist on honoring some champion of liberalism or socialism.

I never really understood the city rules for the street name change game, but wouldn't it be something if some folks who want the name 39th back could collect signatures and force the council to vote that proposition up or down?

To me, the worst part of the Chávez renaming was that creepy César had little or nothing to do with Portland. If you're going to trample on residents' and businesses' feelings, at least do it to recognize someone with a strong local connection. Since the taxpayers are about to hand nine figures to the billionaire owners of the Blazers, how about Bill Walton? 

It has a nice ring to it.

UPDATE, Thursday afternoon: Somebody's started an unofficial petition in favor of the Walton idea. It's here.