“If I ever come home and I said ‘I want to start a restaurant or a bar,’ divorce me,” Boris “Bo” Wiedenfeld-Needham always told his wife years ago. The latter did not happen, but he did open a bar in February.
A couple years ago, he was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer. “It really changed the way I see my life,” he says. He says that the bar will not pay the bills nor make a big profit, but it was something he always wanted to do — have a place where he can sit at night.
Wiedenfeld is a longtime wine merchant, a bar owner and now an activist and aspiring politician. He has been involved in organizing recent political protests against President Donald Trump, and now has declared his intention to run for Congress.
A wine bar with the highest quality jazz music — “I thought I created this,” Wiedenfeld says of his idea. However, his filmmaker friend who travels the world told him that Japan already has a similar phenomenon.
In Japan, jazz started to become popular in the 1920s when most people did not have a gramophone. After WW ll, most people could not afford live music nor recorders, then jazz kissa, meaning jazz café, came to life, with recorded jazz music and tea or whiskey to sip. At Nero, Wiedenfeld-Needham brought wine.
On the side of the building, there is a colorful, high-quality picture painted by Jai Love, an artist originally from Eugene. Love first did some graffiti on the wall, which Wiedenfeld-Needham was not happy about. Love then repainted the wall featuring the concepts of jazz, wine and Japanese jazz kissa style. Love’s other painted works are displayed inside the bar as well, contributing to the jazzy atmosphere.
Nero is located in the Whiteaker neighborhood, surrounded by food trucks. Customers bring in food from food carts or from home to enjoy at the bar — “basically picnic,” Wiedenfeld-Needham says — but with the best audio. He has received a warm reception from the neighborhood as he welcomes some regulars whom he has known for years from his wine retail store, Bo’s Wine Depot.
Alongside his wine business, Wiedenfeld-Needham has been actively involved and taking leadership in 50501 Eugene, a chapter of the nation-wide grassroots organization. “Right now, we are a fascist regime, and we need people to be fighters, to stand up,” Wiedenfeld-Needham says.
Now, after it was suggested by his friends, he plans on running for the Congress for primary election as a Democrat. Currently, Rep. Val Hoyle — who Wiedenfeld-Needham says he voted for in the last election — holds Oregon’s Fourth Congressional District seat.
Wiedenfeld sees Hoyle as an establishment Democrat who is not progressive enough in Congress. “If I see something that needs to be fixed, then I gotta do it, I can’t just see and do nothing,” he says.
If elected, he says, on top of his list is “tax the rich.” Wiedenfeld’s father was wealthy and paid over 60 percent in taxes in Europe. Wiedenfeld recalls his father’s comment on taxes: “I paid so much tax over the years, but people like me should. How can you have a just society when people like me don’t share or pay?”
“That really impressed me,” he says. He points out that both Republicans and Democrats tend to avoid this topic, since many of their donors are rich people. Wiedenfeld seeks to raise the income tax rate above $10,000,000 to 50 percent.
With the funding from taxing the rich, he wants to have whole years of community college free for qualified students and provide Medicaid for everyone so that the country will not rely on private health insurance.
He also believes there should be term limits for politicians and Supreme Court justices: a three-term limit for senators, a five-term limit for the House of Representatives, and a 12-year term limit for Supreme Court justices.
Wiedenfeld says his policies are similar to Democrats on issues such as climate policy, immigration and borders and foreign affairs, including ending military aid for Israel.
“I feel like you can’t just complain about politicians, you need to go run and do something,” he says.
Nero is open Thursday 6 pm to 9 pm, Friday 6 pm to 10 pm, Saturday noon to 10 pm. It is located at 245 Van Buren Street.