Mayor Ted Wheeler posted his official calendar for the month of March on Monday.
That’s a good and proper thing. By getting his entire first-quarter (January through March) calendar up for public inspection, Wheeler complied with city rules requiring all elected officials and bureau directors do so by 15 days following the end of the quarter (April 15 fell on a Saturday, so the deadline this year was 5 pm on April 17).
It’s also a good thing because, were it not for Wheeler’s calendar, we might not know that the mayor was named Dope Magazine‘s Oregon Person of the Year in February, and even had a brief ceremony around the honor.
That’s right! The newly posted calendar details reveal that on Friday, March 10, the mayor spent 15 minutes formally accepting the magazine’s Person of the Year honors in a conference room at his office. Wheeler had evidently missed the February 26 Dope Industry Awards bash at the Leftbank Annex.
Reasons behind the nomination, let alone the win, aren’t entirely clear (we’ve reached out to Dope for some context), but the mayor’s office notes that Wheeler is no stranger to pot issues.
“The Mayor took up banking for cannabis businesses as Treasurer and Portland regulatory reform during the campaign,” says his chief spokesperson Michael Cox. “That may help explain it.”
While Wheeler has indeed advocated allowing cannabis businesses to use banks, and suggested scaling back Portland’s strict pot regulations, neither of those have come to pass. Wheeler hasn’t put forward new regulations for local pot businesses , something that’s been discussed since well before he took office, and which has been advocated by US Rep. Earl Blumenauer.
Speaking of Blumenauer, the indefatigable pot legalization advocate also took home an award from Dope this year.