Tom has made this the defining moment of his career because:

- He sees ANY opposition to "Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard" as racism, pure and simple (his comments tonight made that clear), and thus beneath him in terms of argument;

- He knows he's out of reach of the voters -- on either side of the issue -- so he feels free to emote uncontrollably on something he feels strongly about.

good points

Dang, I was waiting for him to take his shoe off and pound it on the table.....
Ivancie walked out of council all the time and only when there would not be a quarum in his absence.
Just a little historical perspective.
later,

Bet Mayor McYesterday gets a good drunk on tonight.

Shit, tell you what Potter, polish off a fifth tonight, call in sick tomorrow, go back for a couple more rounds Friday and Saturday, sleep it off for a couple of days, and then shave, shit and shower, put on that suit, drive to work AND TRY TO MAKE SOME FUCKING SENSE FOR THE REST OF US OUT OF THIS MARVELOUS MOVE!!

Thing is, this douchesack has all the qualities of a guy who could never, never ever just come clean and say 'Yeah, I screwed the fucking pooch on this one'.

"I should probably shut up."- actual quote from Serena Cruz, this afternoon.

Damn. I missed the walkout, but boy were the drunks at Marie's in St. John's amused by the above quote, as well as her demurral that recent pregnancy was to blame for her tears, and by the way...

She was acting like anything less than that particular street being renamed was something tantamount to the failure of everything good in the world, which is silly and overwrought to be kind about it. This thing has spiralled so ridiculously out of control that-for some reason-compromise is no longer available.

Bullshit. Stop, think about it...Then name a park for Chavez. It's far more respectful than a street.

He knows he's out of reach of the voters -- on either side of the issue -- so he feels free to emote uncontrollably on something he feels strongly about.

May I be the first to dub Tom Potter "EmoMayor."

I said it before and I'll say it again:

This whole damn to-do is yet another example of something that makes some of us scratch our heads and ask,"There are adults involved here?" Not that this is anything rare when it comes to the human race. How about naming it Fuck All Avenue or Shit Blvd, wonder that it is to look at? Or just un-name it all together and get this ridiculous charade over with.

Like Chavez fucking cares.

Uh, Commissioner Leonard,

Do you recall your last session as a legislator? There were about 25 of you who walked out because you were on the losing side of redistricting (don't get me wrong, we love ya for it!).

Yeah...that is true...but that was a strategic move designed to deny the republicans a quorum thereby denying them the legal ability to adopt their plan.

I am not sure what the strategic goal was in the Mayor's walk out today.

How about we rename Interstate after Brett Jarolimek? (And Burnside for Tracey Sparling?)

And Peninsula Park for Chavez? I'm actually pretty serious. It's an awesome park, with all the roses and a huge playground filled with kids of all races, and a few picnic shelters that, in the summer, often seem to host big La Quinceanera parties. The name Peninsula Park isn't anything special.

Potter seems like he's backed himself into a corner, but there's more than one solution for everything.

What about Foster from where it starts at Powell, and run it out either to where the City stops, or at minimum the 30-odd blocks to 82nd? That's also a concentration of Latino residents, right? I mean, what's the line between ghettoization of memorials (ie, keeping heroes race-specific rather than mainstreamed) and honoring a place where the memorial is most meaningful? Just a thought, and of course the people living and working along Foster would have to be cool with it overall.

torridjoe,

What would be a good street in YOUR neighborhood to rename? (It's pretty clear from your comments that you don't know the neighborhood around Foster very well.) I think there are probably streets in our neighborhood that could be renamed but Foster neighbors and businesses have worked really hard to build a sense of pride and identity around the street

I would be proud to have Chavez street in my neighborhood

Why is no one looking to the west side or to Broadway or a numbered street?

He's just trying to copy Kulongoski. He's a whiskey-nosed copycat.

often seem to host big La Quinceanera parties.

Ha, ha, ha. Do any of you gueros even know what that is ?

Wake up and smell the enchiladas. Latinos will be the majority in this country is less than two generations, 35 years, give or take. Take a good, hard look at the birthrates of the Master Race (La Raza) compared to just about everyone else.

Like kissing their asses now is going to guarantee that they give your children a fairer deal than their forefathers were given.

The oppressed imitating the oppressor is such a depressing theme that just repeats itself down through the ages, in a seamless loop.

Some good ideas, but I'm still holding out for Fuck All Ave. and/or Shit Blvd., because, ultimately, that's HOW MUCH IT FUCKING MATTERS.

Sorry to yell.

What would be a good street in YOUR neighborhood to rename?

A Avenue, downtown Lake Oswego. I'll take nominations.

Commissioner Leonard,

My comment was in direct response to this quote from you:

“In all my years in politics, I’ve never seen anyone walk out because they perceive themselves to be on the losing side,” says Leonard.

It was for a strategic reason, yes. But for the redistricting plan to have become law, it would have required the Governor's signature, which the resolution circumvented, and the House D's were indeed on the losing side of. That means the whole thing was a show. But a really great show. And unlike Potter's tantrum yesterday, it was well planned and well executed.

The committee told neighbors at one meeting that they looked at Lombard, Killingsworth, Interstate, 33rd or 39th (I can't remember which) and Foster. Foster doesn't work because it goes past the city limits. Lombard does not work for a variety of reasons. 33/39th isn't as prominent as Interstate (no disreguard meant to 33/39th.)
What the commissioners could do is look at the real reasons for picking Interstate and see if any other major streets meet those criteria.
The belief that the citizens of Portland would refuse to name any street after Senor Chavez is an affront to all of us.
If it had been handled better, my bet is they could have gotten Interstate.
Oh, well

The political reality is that Randy, Sam and Erik have hot-boxed Potter with a good cop, bad cop strategy for the last several months and have gone out of their way to make his life miserable. They wanted to make sure he didn't run for another term (because he would have won easily). I think Potter finally just hit the wall.

When Potter was elected mayor he didn't realize he was entering a den of professional political knife fighters. They've cut his throat at every turn. He'll be lucky to escape with his balls intact.

If I were him, I'd tell those guys to fuck off and stay home for the rest of my term. They can't cut off his salary unless he gets recalled.

I live 3 blocks from Interstate. Rename any street in my neighborhood to Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard. I'd say it's not the renaming that's gotten most of NoPo upset, it's the lack of process and the fact that we just had a renaming less than a year ago.

Re #19 - I believe the reason they may be doing that is because Potter has pretty consistently failed to provide give and take in council discussions. The mayor does not seem to understand that he is not in charge of a para-military organization any longer, where as COP his word was law.

Anon 19, our City Commissioners are not the bad guys here. They are listening to the people, and the people say they were steamrolled in this process (or lack thereof), but the Mayor doesn't give a rat's ass.

I personally was in favor of renaming Interstate to Chavez, but hearing my neighbors complain first about the lack of process, then about the mayor's unwillingness to listen to them, then with the lecturing, all of this has placed me firmly in the other corner. Who would want a hero to be "honored" under such virulent circumstances?

I like the Penninsula Park idea! But I also think Jefferson High should be torn down and Chavez High built in its place.

Whoa there Jeff.
Don't be messing with my mater. Jefferson can fail just fine by itself without any help for outsiders.

The City Commissioners and the Mayor are to blame. They ignored the law and its process, kowtowed to interests from outside of their city, and behaved like spoiled brats.

There is No Good way we can honor Chavez now, whatever we do it will be rewarding childish behavior. They all need to apologize, admit their mistakes, start over, and pass an Ordinance that states they have to follow the law.

I wasted my vote on these guys, but never again.

I was for honoring Cesar Chavez, now I am against naming anything for anyone - our city government has no honor, so it can't give it to anyone.

So how, exactly, do we "recall" the mayor?

can we rename division from 33rd to 35th "Lindo Michoacan" after that burrito cart? and while we're at it, rename powell around safari and the car battery shop "torres y morelos"? both, really great burrito carts. i would totally visit them more if they had streets named after them.

Matt at #25,

Here is the link to info about how you go about recalling an elected city official:
http://www.portlandonline.com/auditor/index.cfm?c=27131&a=4909

How quickly Potter has changed his tune! From his Oct 16 message supporting the rename process:

"No matter what side our opinions fall on, there is a place for us all in this city. Let’s dialogue with respect and strive for greater understanding. I, for one, will continue to evaluate the proposal before us using the values of integrity and inclusion as a guide. I hope that when considering what is best for our city in the long run, others too will do the same."

Looks like he's done evaluating with integrity and inclusion.

http://www.portlandonline.com/mayor/index.cfm?c=38500&a=171713