My guess he has frequent bouts of the 100-proof flu.

Hangover!

He says that he works himself to the point of being sick. I feel sick when he's working too. Maybe he could resign and then we'd all feel better!

The unexplained absences are, in my opinion, a much stronger basis upon which to build a recall effort. Can any of you for one moment imagine being a consistent no-show at important meetings and presentations, especially when traveling to attend them, and simply telling your boss you don't recall why you didn't make it?

This is especially galling considering our city slogan. This may be "the city that works" but the mayor certainly doesn't.

It seems these days that any irresponsible incompetent can run for office and win. Adams, Palin, Bush. And the list goes on and on...

"And if the O is asking the hard questions, you know the problem must be both serious and obvious."
===

I agree. The news is not that Adams is a flaky, creepy, idiot mayor.

The news is that the Oregonian, and in particular, Bragdon is actually questioning the mayor. Bragdon carried water, and dodged questions, around Mayor & Gov Goldy with his obvious and serious problems, but it wasn't the Oregonian asking those questions.

If Bragdon finally is claiming the emperor has no clothes then somebody must be waiting in the wings. Something is happening.

Who? And why now? What is the new road map politically for Stumptown?

And could the shake up provide an avenue for a certain tax lawyer blogger to be dragged, screaming and kicking, to return some adult supervision and cost controls to City Hall?

reported Adams had an "apparent bout with food poisoning." - right, *food* poisoning.

And you gotta just love this:

A modern mayor "doesn't just go on trips for the purpose of raising the city's visibility," Adams said. "I try to sell locally made products, big products that put people to work."

****

Portland real estate investor Randy Miller, who organized the visit, called Adams "one of the best salespeople I could have."

Adams' staff couldn't produce records to explain who paid his expenses. But Randy Miller said Adams' travel would have been covered by private contributions managed by the city's urban-renewal agency.

I don't agree with that comment about the Oregonian. If only it were true that our local news media springs into action when something is "serious and obvious." If only they had a threshold like that. I think Harry is right to wonder what the real reasons are. These are the people who took 30-years to get around to the Neil Goldschmidt "affair".

The "Bad Sports" author was in town last night, and in 90 seconds, he said more about the obvious craziness of forking over money to Merritt Paulson for this soccer deal, than our media types have said since it all started. But wait, this isn't that serious of a matter, is it? Well, the national plundering of America by Wall Street sure is a serious story and I have yet to see a single mention of this soccer deal in the context of Timbers minority owner Henry Paulson's complicity in the financial crisis - a crisis that threatens the economic future of the greatest country on earth.

How about the Chasse story? This blog had the "serious and obvious" truth on that within days, while our local media was stuck in the polite, fluff zone for years. The official story couldn't have been true. Nobody could have put up a fight after breaking that many ribs in a fall. The broken bones had to have been inflicted after the fall. A first week reporter for a high school paper could have seen through that, but our people wandered around in a deliberate haze. In my opinion, if you don't do your job in the 4th Estate, and just carry water for the powers that be, at some point you're complicit in what happened. You're certainly morally accountable for letting it happen again.

Hearing the "Bad Sports" guy comment on KGW last night was embarrassing. Why should a city this size need to have an outsider come in and say something our local media types should have been on from day one? The host of the show then talked about how interesting the comments had been, like we were stuck in a Brigadoon time warp and our news people are zombies who only come to life when they take their paychecks to the bank.

So now they're getting around to reporting that are Mayor is unreliable and flakey in the most basic of job requirements: The act of showing up. When I was in the hotel business and someone had a few no call-no shows we fired their ass. Shouldn't the Mayor of Portland at least be more accountable than a banquet waiter? Isn't the Oregonian a little embarrassed to begin their story with something from 2008? That means we won't hear what's happening this week 'til 2012.
That means if the Mayans are right, someday in 2014 the Oregonian will report that the world actually ended 2 years before and humanity is now extinct.

Portland's Media: Criminally Polite and Stuck On Stupid

Drug test all sworn officers twice a month. Let the Police Commissioner lead by example. Nobody has anything to hide, right?

Public service is a privilege, not a right. We simply can't afford to have people in positions of responsibility while using illegal narcotics.

You would think given the state of the three major Portland papers that a new paper based on facts and truth, no matter what, would have quite the niche. I sure wish I had the resources to put something like that together.

Check the restrooms.

That article clearly hints that there is something else going on in Sam Adams life. My guess is that the reporter exactly what it is, he just can't prove it.

I'll believe the Oregonian is really going after the Mayor when they publish exactly "why" Adams flakes out on all these public speaking opportunities.

knows. My guess is that the reporter knows exactly what it is, he just can't prove it.

Sigh. I'm am the worst proof-reader.

But Randy Miller said Adams' travel would have been covered by private contributions managed by the city's urban-renewal agency.

This raises soooo many questions.

According to PDC's 2008-09 adopted budget and its 2009-10 proposed budget, these private contributions are part of the "Ambassador Program."*

Ambassador Program – Funds accounts for economic development outreach activities with funding from other governmental jurisdictions and private businesses.

Hmm. I wonder who ran the Ambassador Program? Could it be ... Randy Miller? (Answer: Yes.)

But, here's where things get real interesting:

Private Funding - Private Funding for FY 2008-09 is currently budgeted at $0. This category usually includes funding for revenue associated with grants received by the Ambassador program. The Ambassador program is being transferred from PDC to an external organization in FY 2008-09 and no new proceeds are planned.

In January 2007, the Ambassador Program got rolled into the "Four County Economic Development Corporation."

In July 2007, that group became "Greenlight Greater Portland," with Randy Miller as a "gold" investor.

For someone in the loop for much of this, Randy Miller sure seems to be playing dumb.

*For some reason, PDC does not have its 2009-10 adopted budget on its website.

PS: Why is "Lindsay Desrochers from Portland State University using tuition money to pad her own community service resume?

Probably just a misunderstanding...

He thought he was going to get "entertainment services" as part of the travel "arrangements".

Didn't happen, got pissed, decided to no show in protest...

Bill McDonald mentions the book "Bad Sports," by Dave Zirin. And for those who are interested, if you go to Amazon you can actually read the entire chapter on the Paulsons and Portland. Just go to the "search inside this book" heading, and then click on the book's "table of contents" heading. Scroll down to the chapter heading on the Paulsons. Click on that, and you're there.

Train wreck. It's drinking, drugs or serious depression.

I agree that the Oregonian seems to be warming up an offensive against City Hall and the mayor in particular. Duin and Griffen regularly launch broadsides in their columns these days. Hurray for that!

The same Griffen who bravely came forth to announce that the Paulsons are exactly the type of people we should be in business with?
Launching real broadsides or just waiting 'til it's safe and they're given permission to continue?
You could see the Oregonian's story as covering their rears now that the information can't affect anything.

I don't think the Oregonian is particularly courageous, but it is still the most visible medium in town. So putting things like this on the front page isn't just "covering their rears". I point to the following recent column from Griffin:

"Sam Adams takes credit for a Sellwood Bridge mess he created"

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/anna_griffin/index.ssf/2010/10/sam_adams_takes_credit_for_a_s.html

Duin this morning:

"And when you call the mayor, who oversees this bureau, to complain, all you get -- for the first time in all the years I've covered politics -- is a recording because Sam Adams and his staff are very selective about who they are willing to talk to."

I would recommend reading Anna's piece called, "Merritt Paulson: A Man to Play Ball With"
I found it insulting that she could examine the Timbers and skip the fact that Henry Paulson is one of the owners. Oh, I understand it. Why try to explain why we are committing funds to the actual guy who was chairman of Goldman Sachs and lobbied hard for some of the changes that led to this recession and multi-trillion dollar meltdown? A crisis that is increasingly threatening to destroy the dollar and drag America into hyper-inflation or bankruptcy. Not much of a story, is it?
Anna touches on dear old Dad in her piece but without saying that dear old Dad is now part owner of the Timbers. She just enters the fluff zone and says, "Put plainly: This town needs more people like Merritt Paulson."
What about Hank, Anna? Do we need Henry Paulson sinking his tentacles into the Rose City? Thanks for looking out for us. Thank God the 4th Estate is on our side!
What does Anna recommend next? Bringing Dick Cheney and his daughter here to run something else into the ground?
Maybe he could head the Water Boarding Bureau.

"I don't recall the specifics, but something pulled me away."

Is this some sort of double entendre on the part of McCreepy? Does the man realize what comes out of his mouth is certainly reflective of his mental and leadership capacitites? He trivializes at every turn and makes a mockery of the citiizens of Portland. My favorite of the summer is his overly long winded press response to the shooting on June 21st in New Columbia when he outlined his well thought out gang response,
"If you see a gun, call 911" Thank God we are paying for such a visionary to lead our city.

The Mayor's response that he is over-scheduled and other things get in the way really begs the question of what has happened to him on these trips. As one who has participated in these in the past, and knows very well how they are put together, I can tell you that they are rigidly scheduled, participants are tightly controlled and the leader is always reachable. The fact that the Mayor's own staff did not know where he was and could not get in touch with him is exceedingly strange. It strongly suggests that something is very seriously wrong with the Mayor.

Maybe he's "hiking the Pacific Crest Trail."

Hey, at least Travelin' Sam didn't say "something yanked me away."

Elizabeth is spot on in her description of how governmental trips are organized. While in service of the state I travelled to Japan with 3 governors, one mayor (Bud Clark), numerous city councilmen, Secretary of State and numurous heads of departments etc. Never did anyone miss an appointment, speach or reception on any of these trips (Japan and Korea). One gentleman made it to meetings via subway and walking despite fighting off a nasty attack of MS. There is definitely something WAY OFF about Sam Adams.

X-A-N-A-X. It's very hard to straighten out once your hooked, and it turns you to kelp. And makes you very relaxed about things like whether you actually need to be there, or not. Please let this Oregonian story be the foreshadowing of a near-term quiet political demise, please....

On a funner topic, I socialized with Beau recently. He is a fabulous cook. His pear caramel lollipops are to die for. I world will benefit if he devotes his life to the creation of fabulous foods, because he has all the makings of a creative master of gastronomique, if that's a word....

I remember that Griffin said all Adams does is work and garden.

So if he wasn't showing up for work meetings in Stockholm he must have been, um, gardening.

Let's take the Portland crew at their word. As such, how could his Chief of Staff double (triple?) book the mayor for foreign trips and still keep his job?

Everyone knows that responsible people show up for their important engagements, and call to cancel or, if possible, reschedule if something unexpected prevents that. So the inference is obvious. Sam Adams has a large, well-paid staff who look after his scheduling and his calendar. Obviously, they are feeding him bogus information about his schedule in an effort to undermine him. And, generous and charitable person that he is, he continues to cover for them.

Maybe it's all for the good. Two years ago I attended an award event back east, where I was seated next to an international chamber of commerce type person. After I said I was from Portland, this person asked me what I thought of our then mayor-elect. When I asked why, I was told that, earlier in the year on a trade mission trip, Adams as one of the participants had distinguished himself by being self-absorbed, demanding, petulant, impatient, ostentatiously bored with the program events he attended, and generally interested only in expensive restaurants and hotels. If that's how he behaves as our "ambassador" overseas it's just as well, in my book, that he not show up.

Nothing in Portland, short of a tsunami, should be important enough to interrupt a meeting with a major foreign public figure or a planned presentation where one is a keynote speaker. Methinks he doth protest too much (when he remembers where he was).

I'd like to think that Sam was just sick a lot. I'd rather think that, than that he was sleeping off a bender or cruising Stockholm on my dime.

"...self-absorbed...and generally interested only in expensive restaurants and hotels..."

That makes him an excellent ambassador for Portland!

"pear caramel lollipops..."???

Is that what the kids are calling it now?

"...cruising Stockholm on my dime"

That's exactly what he was doing. He probably showed up disheveled, drinking a latte at 11 am the next morning too.

...an excellent ambassador for Portland, I'd say.

I would be willing to bet that Mayor Creepy has an alcohol and drug problem. Booze and pain killers is what I am thinking. Have you all noticed how he has balloned up over the past two years and from what I have heard he hardly ever rides his bicycle anymore.

Probably just choked on some pretzels.

If we return back to the Griffin article and someone thinking that she knows something about who is going to throw their hat into the ring for mayor in a couple of years....
I'd say don't bank on it. She is trying to sell papers after all. Michael Crichton's State of Fear I believe could have had a mayor such as McCreepy as a character that the press should be using to whip us up into a more heightened State of Fear....make that City of Fear.

I am totally embarrassed to say I am from Portland.
When we are asked where we live, we name the small town where we have our home, NOT the bigger city near by!
The so called planners could learn a great deal by studying other cities around the nation. Portland isn't all that great.

So he's tardy all the time, is frequently disheveled, and is putting on weight. My guess is there's a drinking problem.

The fact that no one will talk about what goes on in city hall is scary. The people I know who have worked for the city of Portland report that Adams is a vicious, vindictive bully. If Adams is crossed, the offender either risks his/her job or Adams makes their life miserable. If only Bragdon, who is now safely away in DC is willing to talk, how can the O do its job? Sad state of affairs. Speaking of affairs...

Flash forward to Randy driving Sam in a white ford Bronco down I-5, Sam lying in the backseat with a hazel hoe to his own head...

and I used to think New Orleans had a mayor problem...

Kind of surprised that nobody has mentioned that his boyfriend is a reporter for the Oregonian...

Posted by Portland Native...traveling the USA:
I am totally embarrassed to say I am from Portland.
When we are asked where we live, we name the small town where we have our home, NOT the bigger city near by! . . .

This past year when we were asked where we were from and we said Portland, the response was a sincere, sympathetic "I'm so sorry."

Someone needs to catch Adams on video that would document this behavior. Youtube is a powerful thing. There must be people that are willing and able to arrange this.