Bill Mildenberger Jr., manager of the Nite Hawk Café &
Lounge on N Interstate, was “completely shocked” when he first heard
about the proposal to rename Interstate Avenue after César E.
Chávez.
Having first heard the idea less than two months ago, he called
around the city, and found out that officials were “going to try to
deflect the effort to honor Chávez by renaming a school or a
park—move the effort from Interstate to a different venue,”
Mildenberger says. He then went on vacation for a week.
When he returned, “the momentum had changed,” he says, and the move
to rename Interstate was moving forward. One possible reason? New
Seasons Market—one of the biggest businesses on Interstate, with
a store across the street from the Nite Hawk—threw its support
behind the proposal in a July 19 letter to Mayor Tom Potter.
“New Seasons Market looks to its neighbors for guidance on questions
such as this and it is my understanding that all the adjacent
neighborhood associations have expressed their support for this
proposal,” CEO Brian Rohter wrote. “We would be very honored to tell
our customers that they could find us at 6400 N César E.
Chávez Boulevard, especially since we could also tell them that
we’re located at the corner of Rosa Parks [Way] and César E.
Chávez Boulevard. What a great way for Portland to recognize
these two outstanding American role models!”
“That’s why this has gained the momentum,” Mildenberger says.
“Politically, New Seasons is in support of it.” The Chávez
committee, he says, had told Rohter that the neighborhood supported the
idea, and “he took it at face value.” Rohter declined to comment. Jose
Romero, chair of the Chávez Committee, says Jose Romero, chair of the Chavéz committee, says Rohter’s letter “is based on what we told him.”
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The problem is, the neighborhood associations along Interstate have
yet to throw their support behind the proposal. Of the three
neighborhood associations that line Interstate—Kenton, Arbor
Lodge, and Overlook—only one has weighed in so far, to a very
limited degree. The board of the Kenton Neighborhood Association (KNA),
speaking only for themselves, wrote a letter of support in July.
“It is with great pleasure that I write this letter on behalf of the
board of the Kenton Neighborhood Association in support of the
committee working to rename Interstate Ave. to César E.
Chávez Blvd.” wrote KNA board member Doretta Schrock—a
woman who also sits on the Chávez committee.
Penny Schumacher, a Kenton resident, attended the September 12 KNA
board meeting to inquire about the letter. “I just wanted to go to find
out what really was behind it, and if they were willing to clarify that
they weren’t speaking for the neighborhood, they were only speaking for
themselves,” Schumacher says. “They weren’t willing to do that.”
KNA Chair Aaron Gray says the letter only represents how the board
feels about the proposal. The board, however, will not be formally
seeking the rest of Kenton’s input. “The Kenton Neighborhood
Association has decided not to try and support a full neighborhood
process because our position is the city should be supporting a full
neighborhood process,” an effort that Gray says involves the expense of
a mailed notification. He’s been pointing any residents that call him
about the issue toward forthcoming October forums the city and the
Chávez committee are organizing.
Meanwhile, Overlook and Arbor Lodge’s neighborhood associations are
holding meetings on September 18 and 20 respectively, to decide whether
or not to support the proposal. Word has gotten around those
neighborhoods, and residents are anticipating packed meetings.
“No one supports it,” says Mildenberger, who plans to attend the
meetings. “Of all the businesses I’ve called—which I can’t even
count on my fingers and toes—one is in support, the rest
aren’t.”
Schumacher and other neighbors say the majority of residents don’t
support the proposal either, and would rather see Chávez honored
with a public building, or a new street. “For almost 100 years it’s
been Interstate,” Schumacher says. “There’s businesses named after it,
we call it the Interstate Corridor, the MAX is named for it. It’s a
bigger thing than just changing the name, it’s changing the whole
community.”
Rohter, at New Seasons, posted a note to the company’s blog on
September 5, tempering the store’s support: “We think on issues like
this our role is to support the desires of our neighbors who live in
the community. If the neighborhood associations endorse this proposal
we’ll get behind it too. We hope they do, because we feel that
local recognition for the great civil rights work that César
Chávez did is overdue.”
Mildenberger, for his part, says that if Arbor Lodge and Overlook
decide to oppose the rename this week, he’ll ask New Seasons to “please
reverse your position and please do it in a public way, and we’ll go
from there.” Meanwhile, Romero of the Chavéz committee says he hopes the opposite will happen—that the neighborhoods will sign on, and New Seasons will support the project. Plus, he says, Rohter “promised that when it was all said and done we’re going to have a big party in his parking lot,” Romero says.