Well the mayor is sure effective at getting people to quit.

So when someone quits their city hall job because they've been offered a promotion and higher salary, you think they made their decision because of the sex scandal? Really?

I know the recall folks are desperate to do anything they can to keep the scandal in the media as long as possible, but right now they've got more in common with penis enlargement spam than with a credible political campaign.

How exactly does a non-binding "vote of confidence" end any kind of "madness"?

Do no other commissioners have the ability to place items on the regular agenda? Why is Amanda being specifically targeted for this phone and email campaign?

And why would having such a vote, prior to the completion of an ongoing investigation by the Attorney General, prove anything?

Did I miss where it says the job is a promotion and a pay raise?

Stategies?

What is a stategies?

It sounds magical.

Well the good news is that Sam supporters think that he is the only capable one for the job...lets see if he can do it by himself!

jasun-

why don't we just let the publicly elected AG do his job and accept the results? From what I've read the AG has put together a team that sam should be sweating over. when i read/hear you all i can think of is ken starr and the fraud and waste that took place during his "investigations".

"Yesterday I did an interview with a magazine in Italy about the recall effort. I mention this because Portland is becoming not only a national, but an international joke." - Jasun Wurster

So Mr Wurster, are you proud of your hard work to make Portland an "international joke"?

So Jasun.... you want the City Council to have a non-binding vote because the Mayor broke a non-binding code of ethics. And you want them to do this because it will provide you with more sound bites to help your goal of recalling Sam Adams.

Am I right?

So how about this, can you explain how this vote will assist with the actual running of the city? Not how it will further your goals of having a recall vote on Sam Adams. Those are two different subjects.

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Jasun -

Thank you for the lengthy reply. I also clicked through to read the response you posted on the Oregonian blog.

However, despite the verbosity, it doesn't really give an answer to my primary question: How does a non-binding "vote of no confidence" resolve any "madness"?

As I understand it -

1. People have occasionally been speaking out, prominently, at city council meetings without any need to have a "vote of confidence" placed on the agenda. Lars Larson and John Acree come to mind.

2. A recall effort is underway (that's you and your associates). If you get enough signatures there will be a recall election, and the matter will be settled by the voters

That should be sufficient.

It sounds to me that you want to go beyond that and have a non-binding vote based on potential ethics violations which carry no penalty -- again, what would that accomplish in the "madness"-ending department?

You seem confident that Adams would not survive such a vote, otherwise, why push for one?

But, at the same time, over on the Oregonian blog, you argue that Amanda Fritz should be the one to bring this because she is the most powerful of the commissioners and won't face retaliation from Adams.

How can Adams, even after losing your proposed Vote of Confidence and presumably having all his alleged ethical violations proven by your campaign before the council, "retaliate" in any substantive way against Fish, Saltzman, and Leonard?

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An open comment to Jasun Wurster:

I am writing as a person who did not support Sam Adams in the election, is divided on whether he should step down, and only supported Amanda Fritz in her campaign because the alternative struck me as an even poorer choice than her.

The tenor of your organization's recall effort is becoming alarmingly fanatical - almost obsessive. There's something very "Salem Witch Trial" about it, like anyone who doesn't meet your expectations of righteous outrage is a traitor to Portland.

Take Amanda Fritz. You strongly suggest that if she doesn't put a confidence vote on the agenda, she is a failure as a commissioner. But that position simply dismisses all views but your own, and doesn't accept that City Council leaders have to make complicated decisions that factor in many possibilities. Nothing is as black and white as you think it is. That said, I agree that Council should put a confidence vote on the agenda*. But why pick on Amanda Fritz? There are others on Council who are saying just as little or as much as she is. They've all made the same commitment as she has. Considering that you used to work for her, your tirades don't look smart or bold, they look personal. And stupid.

Portland isn't an international "joke" because the fucking Italians interviewed you! (let me put the "international relevance" in perspective for you: if you type "Recall Sam Adams" into Google, all but one of the hits is about the Sam Adams brewing company recalling bottles more than a year ago). Italians don't care who Sam Adams is, most of them can't find Portland on a map to save their lives - the only thing Italians care about is SEX! That's why they'll dedicate a little ink to Sam Adams, who they'll forget the next morning.

Maybe there's an idea dancing in your head: you on the front page of a glossy magazine, your arms crossed and your eyes defiant, with the caption: "The Man who Brought Down a Mayor". Never gonna happen. You're only playing an inevitable role - a mantle someone else would wear if you didn't. There's nothing wrong with that, just as long as you keep your ego out of the mix. When I survey the recall effort now, all I see is "Jasun Wurster's Recall Effort".

If you want to spend your local fifteen minutes of fame foaming at the mouth, be my guest. But unless some intelligent, well-reasoned leadership comes to this recall effort, I can promise you that on-the-fence people like me won't sign your petition to save our lives.

* to answer Bob's question: I think a confidence vote will put the Commissioners on record clarifying whether they feel they can work with Adams - which is a factor in how people will/are going to make the decision whether they should support him. That's open to interpretation and I know some will disagree, but I couldn't care less. I think it's a good idea.

GODDAMIT I NEED TO KNOW WHAT A STATEGIES IS!!!

I'm scared it's a shapeshifter or something.

(kiala, that was the first blogtown comment that made me actually lol all week. thank you)

Jasun - you might want to learn something from Sho Dozono's mayoral campaign. As in, look at what they did, and do the exact opposite, because it drove potential supporters and voters away in droves.

In particular, their constant spamming of every news blog in town making the same points over and over, regardless of relevance and absent of objectivity.

Of course, that might be hard if the marked similarities are due to Sho campaign veterans being involved in your campaign. Just reading between the lines a bit...

Gee and a game it really has become with you huh. This posting was about someone leaving for a better job...however, when city hall is mention your head starts a spinning. Trust me, Portland is not a laughing stock - a few more things have happened in the nation and the world since the story broke.

Kiala - stategies is a condition that diminishes thinking human beings into annoyingly obsessive life forms.

Jasun:
"Sam Adams will be recalled because he deliberately lied [agreed], then orchestrated an elaborate cover-up [agreed] that resulted in him stealing the 2008 mayoral election [disagree] whilst abusing his power [disagree]."

Maybe I just have more faith in humanity than you, but I still firmly believe Sam would have won the election if he'd admitted to things. Because I don't think voters are that stupid (and because Sho's trust fund issues would have prevented him taking advantage of the situation). Therefore, I disagree with the statement that he stole the election.

In the heat of the moment, Sam decided otherwise - he thought it would cost him the election. Unfortunate and (in retrospect) unwise, but understandable.

Of course, we'll never know (asking people "would you have voted for him if you'd known?" isn't going to produce reliable results, hindsight is always 20-20).

As for the last allegation you make, that he abused his power - you have yet to come up with any logic behind that one. Beau didn't work for Sam, or even for the same employers, so there was no power to abuse.

If you're going to convince thousands of people to spend the city's scarce money on a recall election, in this of all years, you're going to have to make a much better logical (objective, non-reactionary) argument than you have to date. You've got five months to go away and come up with a strategy. Just shoving the same allegations down people's throats might work for the less intelligent / short attention span types, but Portlanders are smarter than you seem to give them credit for.

For those of you wondering, "Why Amanda Fritz?" let me translate for Jasun.

From the Oregonian post he's so proud of:

"6) She is the most vocal supporter of Mayor Adams behavior. This is symbolic that she supports the lies he told...."

Fritz is Adams' best friend on the Council. If she calls for a vote of confidence, she subjects him to endless vituperation by Jasun's flying monkeys. If she DOESN'T call for a vote of confidence, Jasun/monkeys can go after her credibility -- they can say, among other things, that Fritz must not support Adams all that much. They win either way; Fritz loses either way.

They put her in an interesting bind. Lovely political tactic. Just pure, cynical, nut-cutting politics.

Jason: Here is the deal, 30% of the city voted for the other guy in the last election. They didn't like Sam then, and chances are good that they still don't like him. Your next step is to get some of those people to sign a petition to recall him, if I were you, I'd be thinking that that shouldn't even be that hard, just need to do it...

And yet, you only have 250 people signed on on your website. What is wrong with you? Maybe if you hit places actually in the city, (instead of Italy!) with your limited PR time you might stand a chance. But seriously, you seem to be about as qualified to run a compaign as Sho was.

Jasun, your inclusion of the voter percentages from Washington and Clackamas counties are very very disingenuous. There were more votes for Christopher Rich (he came in seventh) in Multnomah than total votes for all candidates in those two counties combined.

Those two counties have no statistical importance in this matter.

Jasun,

For clarification, I have no problem with your qualifications (or Amy J. Ruiz's). There's more to life than one's resume, particularly in volunteer activism. I think you've picked an unfortunate cause, but there's no shame in betting on a bad horse now & then. Bet on a few bad ones myself. You broke with a potentially valuable mentor on a point of principle, & I respect that.

Now that you've had a taste of the life of a backroom pol & the hazards of volunteer activism, I'm curious to know what you see in your future at this point -- back to the campaign-aide track, the volunteer track, or possibly elective office. All three appear wide open for you. Any clue at this point?

So Jasun -

I see that the domain name you promote in all your blog comments, RecallSamAdams.com, was registered (anonymously, apparently) on January 19th. Can you tell us who registered it on the very same day the WWire started posting about this, even before Sam's press conference?

The phrase "rush to judgement" comes to mind.

Bob R., that's a great catch. Maybe you can repost it on the front page, as this thread is in Archives now & I doubt Jasun is lurking there...