City Commissioner Randy Leonard has responded to the Mercury‘s earlier inquiry asking him to react to this morning’s new revelations about the city hall smooch.
Hi Matt-
I am really focused, at this point, on making sure the city is getting all of its work done in a responsible and professional manner.
Yesterday, during our meeting in my office, Sam told me that there were no more revelations to come concerning his relationship with Mr. Breedlove. When I picked up the paper this morning, I realized he had once again been less than truthful with me. This does little to help repair the damage my relationship with Sam has suffered, both on a personal and professional level.
From here on out, my sole focus is making sure the work of the city is getting done.
Randy
Yesterday, Leonard said he had been “as frank” as he “knew how to be” with Adams during their meeting in his office.
But if you’ll indulge some off the cuff analysis, I think this new break in their relationship is significant in several ways.
Adams’ ability to get the job done as mayor over the coming months will depend largely on his relationship with his fellow city commissioners, but also, with the bureau heads—the people running the water bureau, the Portland Department of Transportation, the planning and sustainability bureau, the police bureau, the folks at PDC, and so on. If those folks feel that Adams has lost some of his power base, been publicly “de-fanged,” as it were, then some of them are going to fill that power vacuum, but with what? Under former mayor, Tom Potter, little got done because nobody respected Potter’s authority.
Now, one of Adams’ closest allies in the run-up to the election—a man many dubbed Adams’ “attack dog” in the ongoing debate over Potter’s leadership, and who even stood up for Adams when would-be political rival Bob Ball came out with the Breedlove allegations—has publicly thrown him under the bus.
City Commissioner Nick Fish, too, has mentioned several times that he’s focused on “doing the work of city council.” That’s not a ringing endorsement of Adams. UPDATE: Reached at 5:50pm, Fish told the Mercury, “I’m taking the day off, Matt,” and had no response to the news of Adams’ announcement he would stay. ORIGINAL POST: Fish hasn’t returned the Mercury‘s inquiries today, and after all, it’s Sunday, but if Fish were to come out this week with a line as strong as Leonard’s, that would be a sign that Adams is facing a far less unified council than he was. And it’ll knock his leadership.
You make some good points re: Sam’s potential credibility with commissioners.
As a Sam supporter, what this means to me is that we need to focus our efforts on communicating to the commissioners that the public believes in its mayor, wants him to stay, and wants the lot of them to work together for the greater good of Portland.
Of course, some commissioners are clearly going to have a harder time than others putting aside their feelings of betrayal in order to continue to work with Sam. But these folks are public servants: they were elected because they represent us.
Of course the leadership is not going to be as powerful. Sam will be fighting off allegations of lying pretty much every step in the future. Why should his commissioners get his back? He’s a lame duck Mayor, and will be for the foreseeable future.
In the past week, we have been presented with more and more details regarding this relationship. I am fairly certain there is a lot more to come out of this story, all of it bad news.
Awwww. I’m sure Leonard will get over it and stop being all butthurt once he remembers what’s good for the city.
leonard represents me pretty well, actually. i’m also pissed that even when adams was “coming clean”, he was still leaving out making out with a 17-year-old.
don’t mistake your readiness to forgive any transgression adams commits for widespread public support. continued anger is not limited to people who stand to benefit and raging homophobes. i consider myself a liberal, but i don’t like being lied to, i don’t like public officials breaking the law, and i don’t like old men having sex with teenagers. i don’t think the left wants to tie itself very tightly to sam adams. he betrayed us and he’s a creep.
Sorry, Leonard! You thought you were going to bully, browbeat and shame Sam into quitting his job, but it just didn’t work out that way, did it? Not many people realize that you would have taken over the job if he would have stepped down. Now if you want to be the mayor you’ll just have to work hard for it for 20 years and then campaign for the office and win an election, just like Sam did. But I’ll give you a little hint, you don’t have an ice cube’s chance in hell of getting enough votes to do so in the town anymore. Your are forever a has been due to the way you spearheaded the backstabbing campaign against The People’s chosen leader. Buh-bye to your future political aspirations in Portland!
Old Lady, I and almost every single other person I have talked to about this issue pretty much say the same thing.
Disclaimer: Myself and the folks I have talked to are all property owners, above the age of 25, non-republicans, have resided in Portland for at least 10 years, and we all voted for Adams in the previous election.
Geez Matt, what were you thinking, trying to do some real (and I think dead-on) analysis? Clearly not the sort of thing that inspires comments.