HispanicBusiness

Ending a two-year debate, the Portland City Council renamed a street after Cesar Chavez yesterday over the objections of the city's residents, who were heavily against it in polls.

The vote in the mostly white but politically liberal city to rename 39th Avenue "Cesar Chavez Boulevard" ended a clash that at times touched on the thorny topic of race.

In the mind of activists, it came not a moment too early in a city that has named two streets after African American heroes -- Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks -- but none after a Hispanic icon. Portland's Hispanic population, while small, is the city's fastest-growing group.

But in the mind of opponents, it was a case of political correctness run amok.

A city survey showed residents opposed the change 694-91, according to the Associated Press.

Also, business owners on 39th Avenue complained the move will burden their already-strained budgets with the cost of changing stationary and advertising. And residents on the street chafed at the suggestion that 39th Avenue is devoid of historic significance. One of them even threatened to send a petition around to name trendy Northwest 23rd Avenue after Richard Nixon, the AP reported.

None of the neighborhoods through which the street runs is heavily Hispanic.