Tram Boy says it wasn't his idea. And if Sam says so, it could be true.

You're not going to ask the future mayor for a sworn affidavit, are you?

Where's the trust? How do you expect Sam to lead us to greenie righteousness and progressive low carbon footprint living if you won't believe he is honest and truthful?

Come on guys thanks to Portland voters Bureau heads no longer have civil service protection. She is an at will political appointee. What do you think is going to be her first priority, the public good?

Greg C

"i used my job to publicly promote my boss's career, so i could get a raise."

now that's quality civic leadership.

Speaking of trams, looks like one east coast city without any real problems to address is considering a new tram: http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-bz.gondola12mar12,0,256421.story.

Having relocated to Baltimore after 8 years in Portland, I've often remarked that, although the two cities are about the same size, there's not much more that the cities share. Now they may have a tram boondoggle in common. For all of the dysfunction of the city government here, however, at least the Baltimore tram would be privately funded.

Greg C, the problem is even worse now. Bureau heads have been at-will for some time, but one of the charter reforms last year extended that designation down two or three layers into upper management. You can expect a lot of more of this in the future. Thanks, Portland voters!

Miles,

I agree 100%. The last I heard they hadn't finished the list yet but included in the proposal to be made a political appointee was the City Treasurer who manages millions in Portland's debt. These guys who think that Portland has been corrupt in the past haven't seen real corruption yet.

I know there has been political pressure in the past for the Treasurer to invest the money only with the "right" people. but thanks to civil service protection he has been able to go tell them to stuff themselves. Once the Mayor can fire an honest Treasurer and appoint whoever he feels in there you have the recipe for a San Diego style bankruptcy. Boy were the people stupid to vote in that Charter change.

Greg C

"Boy were the people stupid to vote in that Charter change.

Greg C"

And that was exactly what Tom Potter intended with his "charter reform" crap. People are infinitely more stupid now than they were when Teddy Roosevelt was promoting civil service reform a century ago.

So Sam the Tram claims "it wasn't my idea" that his staff promotes his image and candidacy-"I'm good, I've done nothing wrong, I didn't know." But when someone polls to see how Sho might fare if he ran against Sam, without Sho knowing, well then that Sho is a criminal.

Sho should file a formal complaint or legal action against Sam for misuse of public funds in promoting his candidacy. It is his bureau that he micro-manages.