Careful, this could be a trap. The scandal is offered up as a diversion while the plotters proceed undetected. All this fretting about the lost possibilities, just means they have an excuse to fail so they can be even more reckless. I don't sense they're really contemplating a retreat here.

It's reminiscent of the fake drama Sam went through deciding to - sob - find the strength to remain on as Mayor. I didn't buy that either.

I've got a new name for the convention project: How about Hotel Blight.

Look I just wanted to drop you a quick note.

Everyone keeps saying how Sam Adams is making Portland look bad. And I have to tell you for those of us OUTSIDE Portland its the people who are being so loud about recalling him BEFORE an investigation is complete that keep bringing it to attention and now making it look like a witchunt and in tuen making Portland look worse.

Wait till AFTER the investigation to go all crazy. because if it turns out that he's cleared you are all going to look really bad. And so much hammering before the investigation is finished is just really looking like a lynch mob.

People outside Portland are looking at this now like the recallers are like "rightwing nuts"

Just wait till the investigation is over.

And about Jasun Wurster its going to come out soon that Jason had some issues with Sam BEFORE this whole mess having to do The Bridge over the Columbia and the Urban Renewal Areas.

Just let the investigation take its course right now or else this is truly going to blow up in Portlands face and make it more of a joke as it is. (And people aren't laughing at Sam anymore. Its the Oregonian, and the crazed recallers)

if it turns out that he's cleared you are all going to look really bad

Adams has already admitted to several offenses for which he should be removed from office, and there is clear evidence of others. Even if John Kroger finds that no crime was committed (more likely he'd say there is insufficient evidence to prosecute), Adams should be recalled for having sex with an 18-year-old, using a City Hall restroom as a makeout locale with a 17-year-old, stealing an election by lying, assassinating a political opponent with lies, hiring unqualified staff who have damaging information about him, and paying people for "work" that has no credible connection to city business.

There's nothing to wait for except the July 1 start date. Kroger's report will not save Adams, and of course, it might put him out of his misery.

I have already expressed my skepticism that Jasun Wurster is going to be the leader of a successful recall. But he is not alone, and there are still 131 days before the signature-gathering can even begin.

Wurster's small-scale interview in the Tribune came off pretty well. It is the first professional-looking publicity from the Adams opposition that I have seen -- and hopefully is a sign of things to come.

http://portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=123499511689776100

Its not against the law to have Adams should be recalled for having sex with an 18-year-old.

and 2 kisses does not make a scandal. No matter ow hard you try. THATS why the recall effort this early is coming off so bad.

The only thing that all thgis bitching about Sam is doing id distracting him and his team from doing any work and making it harder for them.

So he made some mistakes. BIG DEAL. If he has to step down after the investigation yea you win. If he doesn;t just deal and wait till the next election and voye him out.

But for gods sake if you care about the way others see your city PULL BACK because right now the only ones who are looking bad are the recallers who are going crazy.

Gen. Ambrose Burnside, Ret it only looks good to those who are local and want to see him recalled. To others outside of Portland it looks like a witchhunt.

Be careful

I'm with Jack.

Adams lied to win an election. Period. End of story.

I don't give a lusty crap if he was having sex with a baboon on a ferris wheel. What I object to is his blind political ambition that causes him to do or say anything to achieve his goals.

He destroyed Bob Ball, when Ball was right.

He tied up the public funding of the Dozono campaign through legal maneuvers until it was too late in the game for Sho to mount an effective campaign. With the help of other members of the council he made Tom Potter's existence so miserable that he would not run for a second term, a term which I think he could have won easily. He started campaigning for the mayor's office the day after he was sworn in as a commissioner. He has a huge staff of highly paid cronies who are entirely without qualifications, except that they helped him win the election.

The guy is Richard Nixon all over again.

Heck, "Winning" Mark Weiner, Adams political advisor in the race and the local kingmaker, called him an "effing moron" in Newsweek.

What more do you want?

Sounds like a new bumper sticker to me:

Keep Mayor Creepy!

I certainly would never dispute that this entire situation is a blight on the good name of this city, in certain respects.

The nature of the Adams opposition itself certainly has an ugly side, being as it is a malformed coalition of the man's political enemies from across the spectrum, ranging from "Living Leviticus" old school homophobic bigots, to people whom Adams has slighted or crushed in his rise to the top of the monkey cage, to people who don't like having their public transit services slashed to support trolleys for the few baby boomers retiring to the SoWhat district, people who have the slightest skills at assessing fiscal activity, people who don't like his constant reliance on symbol over substance . . . his political enemies are legion.

However, the few pieces that I have encountered from the national press in coverage of the story seem to have benefited from their distance from our little burg, and do not, in my view, present any worse of a PR scene than we would get from, say, having one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation.

And I most certainly would agree with our host that distractions for Sam and his merry band of (possibly) well-intentioned band of philosophy baccalaureates is a good thing for this city, especially considering that the "mayor," in our form of government, is really just another commissioner, with a few additional excutive powers, certainly, along with ceremonial trappings; so the government itself will survive this little distraction.

If it makes you feel any better (and it does make the Sam supporters that I know and love feel better), I would still give Adams a 60% chance of completing his term at this point. Even in his weakened state, he still has considerable political assets, and an unparalleled will to power.

Cheers!

Hey Will, you got a mouse in your pocket? Cuz I don't live in Portland and I agree 100% with Jack and others here who think Adams should get out. Please don't presume to think you speak for all of "those of us OUTSIDE Portland."

General,

You say "unparalleled will to power" as if it were a desirable trait.

In fact, this very thirst for power prompted Sam's undoing. The same power lust that made a 17 year old intern an appropriate object of his sexual desire. He's no different than Goldschmidt, except he (says) he was able to "wait" for two weeks until Beau reached the age of consent. Then he accused a representative of HIS LARGEST PAC DONOR (the Victory Fund) of attempting to rape Beau Breedlove. Y'all ever heard of projection?

The possibility that he may not have violated the law doesn't mean he is fit to serve as Mayor. The standard we hold our public servants to should be higher than "not indicted". Portland deserves better than that, irrespective of what Sam's lackeys would have us believe.

I live "outside" Portland too.
Mayor Creepy should go, but not before the hotel is history, and perhaps some fiscal sanity can be restored, even if it is by benign neglect.
As for Sam's 'innocence', ...
ain't nuttin' innocent about that boy!

Sorry to have given that impression, Mr. Tee, I was just playing the psychiatric nurse cum amateur political analyst for a moment.

Not a desirable trait in the least, in my view. But it is what will drive him to keep clawing and biting to hold on to his office, at any cost to the city.

The recall movement will be an uphill battle, to say the least (300 - 400 signatures a day for 90 days, ouch), and Adams has enough wits to realize that. It is, however, a movement that I fully support.

"The only thing that all thgis bitching about Sam is doing id distracting him and his team from doing any work and making it harder for them."

Good. Their "work" seems to be blowing through OUR money as fast as possible. If this is slowing that down, then by God, we should be doing everything we can to "distract" them from it, and make it harder for them.

Interesting tidbit of information: When the Burnside Bridge was built, the public learned that the contract was not given to the lowest bidder, and three county commissioners were successfully recalled because of it. Can we follow their lead on the next borrow-and-spend project to clean out some of these dimbulbs we have in city government?

I am a former Portland resident who now lives outside of Portland on the East Coast. I have not weighed in because as a former resident, the situation has no immediate bearing on me. I have been following this matter from afar, however, and I can assure you that there are plenty of folks on this coast who are indeed laughing at this situation and believe that the mayor is embarrassing the City of Portland.

Although I know why my mayor was not on the list of mayors who will be meeting with Obama today to discuss the stimulus bill (a 12-count indictment on corruption charges), I wonder if there is a reason why Mayor Sam is not listed on the press release listing attendees for the event from the US Conference of Mayors. Perhaps it is because of a scheduling conflict or some other innocent reason, but could it have something to do with Mayor Sam's problems back home?