FORMER STATE SENATOR Avel Gordly finally sat down with the Mercury last week at a Starbucks on NE Fremont.
Gordly, who teaches leadership and community development at Portland State University (PSU), is leading the second campaign to recall Mayor Sam Adams, who lied about an affair with legislative intern Beau Breedlove during the 2008 election race.
Gordly said she had been impressed with PSU political science student Jasun Wurster when he ran the first unsuccessful recall campaign against Adams last year.
“I was impressed with the language that he was speaking and I was very, very impressed with his courage,” said Gordly. “I had expected that there would be other civic leaders, not just the business community but also electeds, other folk who also care about our city.”
Gordly denied playing favorites with the media despite not returning this paper’s calls last November, when the idea for the second recall effort was seeded. At the time, Gordly granted interviews to the Portland Tribune and Just Out—the two papers most vociferous about Adams’ alleged duty to resign after the Breedlove scandal broke.
“I don’t play favorites,” said Gordly. “There are several people I didn’t talk to during that time.
“If I didn’t want to talk to you, we wouldn’t be talking now,” she continued.
Gordly began the 22-minute interview on Friday January 22 (full video and transcript below) by insisting, “The politics of winning by any means necessary… needs to be rejected.”
At the same time, she denied having signed a contract with Voice of the Electorate (VOTE)—a signature-gathering firm owned by right-winger Kevin Mannix—to gather signatures for the effort.
Mannix, whose long-term strategist Jack Kane has been involved in meetings over the new recall effort, has been an outspoken opponent of gay rights over the years.
Meanwhile VOTE spokesperson Ross Day told the Mercury last week that he is eager to begin collecting signatures for the effort, for a contract expected to be worth between $150,000 to $300,000 [“See Ya at Da Party, Richter,” News, Jan 21].
“I have not talked with Ross Day, I have never met the man,” said Gordly, adding later that the second recall campaign is “not about Kevin Mannix and what he supports or does not support.”
“I would not even identify with a campaign that was coming from some anti-gay place,” said Gordly. “That’s not healthy. That would not be healthy for our city and again, it’s not what this campaign is about. It’s about restoring integrity and addressing the character and integrity of our city; it’s not about an individual.”
VOTE has also paid convicted sex offenders and fraudsters to gather signatures for the “no” effort on statewide tax ballot Measures 66 and 67 [“Think Twice,” News, Aug 13, 2009]. Gordly said she would “not dignify the question” of whether those methods also qualified as “winning by any means necessary.”
Gordly says that this week the recall campaign plans to release full details about who is funding the effort and which signature-gathering firm will be employed. By press time, no such information had been released, but you can check blogtown.portlandmercury.com for updates.
Gordly said she did “not accept” the $350,000 to $400,000 figure as the price of a recall election to Portland’s taxpayers—a figure quoted to the Mercury by City Elections Officer Andrew Carlstrom. When pressed, however, she admitted: “Whatever the cost, it will be worthwhile to restore trust and integrity in the elections process, and trust and honesty in our government.”
On the question of whether she could legitimately characterize the second recall as a “grassroots” effort, as she has done in recent press interviews, Gordly was difficult to pin down.
“Did you not hear me say that we have 700 volunteers from the previous campaign?” she asked. “They would also be involved.”
And that’s the grassroots effort, but there’s a different aspect to this campaign, the Mercury suggested.
“We’re building on the foundation that was laid in the previous campaign,” Gordly continued. “We’re not starting over. We’re re-launching. And again, we’re building on the efforts of the last campaign, and we’re enhancing the effort with paid signature gatherers.”
So it isn’t a grassroots campaign anymore?
“It is a grassroots campaign,” Gordly said.
With paid signature gatherers?
“With paid signature gatherers,” Gordly responded. “And I reject your angle here in trying to shift and shape this as not being a grassroots campaign.”
FULL TRANSCRIPT OF THE INTERVIEW WITH GORDLY (WORD DOCUMENT)
VIDEO, EXCERPTS OF THE INTERVIEW WITH GORDLY
VIDEO, FULL INTERVIEW WITH GORDLY, PART I
$350,000-$400,000 – wow. It’d be cool if the city could use that money for a shelter and a few social workers to help the victims of human trafficking and women living on the street instead of for a re-call election very few people want. Or, I don’t know – a day center for homeless people or bike lanes or cupcakes for everyone. Or literally any other thing.
Let’s see,
$80,000 on attorney feeds for womanizer ex-PPB cop Woods, gone
$250,000 a year gone, for the Rose Festival Sailors-gone-wild week
$400,000 back pay for union contract violations for parking meters, poof
$450,000 for an attorney for soccer, gone
$18,000,000 at risk, for soccer
$19,000,000 over budget for a computer system that does not work, deleted
I forget how much over budget the Tram was
Then there is the impending James Chasse and Wade Nkrumah trials.
The city is hemorrhaging money more than you know it. Think of the $400,000 as a much needed fix.
Just out of curiosity, how will spending $400K on the re-call “fix” the things you mentioned?
How does one dignify a question?
@Sarafina – Damn right!
That’s a common “argument” on here – folks just list other mistakes, as if they justify one more. Just because the city misspent other money – and I don’t agree all of those were mistakes – doesn’t mean we should throw away this $400k, too! What would it accomplish?
@blownspeakers In my experience, one usually “answers” it.
@neverending: If you want to complain about soccer recall Randy Leonard. A lot of the problems with the police happened before Sam was Mayor, back when a ex-police chief was Mayor. Sam doesn’t even supervise the police department NOW anyways, it is controlled by Saltzman. Etc…
But you know, why let the facts get in the way of a good argument?
Sarafina and Reymont
I think the point that is trying to be made is that in comparison to other situations that the city has had to pay out for, $400k is simply chump change.
xDemocracy and our cumbersome initiative process here in Oregon costs a lot of money but it a hell of a lot cheaper than insurrections and political violence as seen in such places as Turkey, Mexico, and Israel just to name a few. Would you rather have the likes of Gordly, Sizemore, Mabon, and militant environmentalists bashing our heads in?
Extremists in this country have been muted because of our system which appears to be burdensome, really isn’t, all things considered. Gay activists get killed every week in Mexico. Kurdish insurrections (for very reasonable demands) are so bad in Turkey that no tourist can travel in about half the country. How would you like it if potato farmers in Baker City were shooting up a storm every day because too many brown-skinned people are moving in from the south? And, Israel. The Jews are building a bigger wall, ton for ton, than the one that was in Berlin to keep Palestinians in the largest prison on the planet. And, I’ve read up on a lot of Israeli politicians who sound just as reasonable and well spoken as Gordly. Portland’s recall process and political culture would do wonders for Israel and Pocatello for that matter.
You guys count money like it all comes from your personal bank accounts. $1M is nothing to this City. If you own a house in PDX, you can complain a wee bit. Otherwise chill out. We don’t have a sales tax and our income taxes are fair all things considered. If you rent and you have a good paying job, most of your money goes to fight foreign wars and more money funds apartheid Israel than the budgets of Hawaii and Alaska combined. Never mind that Israel is the size of Vermont.
If you want to count money and complain, talk to your Congress and President, not City Government. If you own a house, sell it and move on. I hear Vancouver has plenty of cheap housing and virtually a nonexistent city government. There is no income tax in Vancouver and the schools are much better funded with better achieving students on par with Palo Alto, not Little Rock like PPS.
What is your attachment to Portland if you are so miserable here? Turks, Mexicans, and Palestinians would pay double the taxes you do to have the privilege to live here and wouldn’t complain about, of all things, a recall effort. Its a free country and the recall mechanism is enshrined in the State constitution. I don’t support this recall effort, but I certainly support any recall process.
A better discussion would be how much Sam Adams is costing this City, not Gordly. Why can’t Adams just resign midterm like Palin, Spritzer, and Blagojevich? There is a life after being mayor and he should explore his options. I’d rather see all these rich businessmen find a pet charity for Adams to lead. Can’t they put there heads together and come up with a win-win? Adams is not so unfortunate or deranged to end up homeless and destitute. He has skills and can use them to be of service. If he has any concern for his mental and physical health, his dignity, and his City, he should gracefully bow out. I just don’t understand why he would want to go to work day in and day out to be vilified by so many. It sounds like a total nightmare to me.
He’s probably sitting on $400K in his PERS (state retirement) account. Can’t he invest a little in his future and take a long holiday to gather his thoughts? Portland is not an end all. Portland is a drop in the bucket to a hot gay man with moxie. He must already have the wisdom to pack up and go. What is lacking is courage. Maybe what Sam needs most is gentle encouragement from his supporters and detractors.
He has served this City well, but he did make a fatal error. Here’s some sound advice for anyone- never talk to the press about intimate matters, don’t ever expect other people to lie for you, and never confess to any bedroom/bathroom activities. Ignore any pervert who NEEDS to know where you put your winky if you have made it very clear to them that such knowledge is not for public consumption and, of course, if you don’t have designs on them. Anyone, where there is not a mutual attraction, should not be privy to any personal sexual history, especially catty bitchy gay men. Never have sex with someone you don’t intimately trust. Intimate trust means that you know that you can trust them even if things turn sour. And, this goes for everybody from sex workers to nuns: NEVER EVER EVER talk to Nigel Jacquiss. He needs a thorough shunning from everyone.
If we could all live like this, our sex lives would improve immensely and the media would have to concentrate on real issues. Give Sam a thumbs up for service, tenacity, and vision. If we show our appreciation but still hold firm to the best solution for all concerned, he will go quietly. Sam you are forgiven, but a fatal error is a fatal error. Have the grace to realize that, please.
I know what it is like to dig in your heels out of fear and/or principle. When he finally throws in the towel he’ll see that in a few months time nobody cares anymore. Sam, your ego is killing you. It’s just not worth it anymore.
The one thing Sam did right was write his resignation letter. He decided to resign but he let his ego get the best of him when his local celebrity friends organized a rally to convince him to stay.
You can thank Thomas Lauderdale and Storm Large for Adams being in office today. I’ll never spend another dollar on either. In the meantime, we have the most ineffective city government I’ve seen in 10 years, thanks mainly to Sam Adams. I can’t wait for the Nkrumah suit to take place… eventually the whole truth will come out.
Bottom line – Sam lied to get elected and that is not okay. If he were Bill Sizemore or Lars Larson in the exact same situation everyone would be screaming bloody recall. Hypocrisy abounds in Portland.
Did anyone ask Avel if the paid signature gatherers would be gathering signatures for other ballot measures at the same time? Because guess what: they’ll have more than one petition on that clipboard. And progressive money is going to be used to gather signatures for anti-progressive ballot measures. Nice job, morons.
pdxrocks: 1.) nearly every politician that has ever been elected to office has lied to get there; 2.) last I checked, a bunch of people have already screamed bloody recall: and it failed. Please move on.
Gay marriage can’t get any traction in Oregon either, is that a good enough reason to “move on”? Marriage is a lie and a religious one at that. Yes, the recallers could move on but they won’t. And, the marriage advocates (gay or otherwise) should move on too. But, like lying politicians, marriage is here to stay, at least for some. Why do people have a penchant to invest in lies and liars? A rich fantasy life, I guess. How about a world of honest politicians and no marriage for anyone? We wouldn’t need to die to go to heaven, we’d be there already.
Thanks for the heads up regarding Adams having written a resignation letter. If it was public knowledge, I admit I turned off the media for a few months as I was really pee-oed at the WW for ruining Inauguration Day for me. Was there any discussion about WW’s timing in going after Adams? It was such a slam for the Rainbow Nation and especially this City. Did WW think they had to act as they did in the interest of national security? Or was it just selfish greed in scooping the story before the Big O could steal it? Is it true that Zusman and Jacquiss wanted to release the mudslide on MLK day? If so, why?
It is telling that Adams was going to resign. I do respect him for at least seriously entertaining the idea. Yes, Lauderdale’s show of support was right out of a Grant High School pep rally or Grease, the musical.
That Adams was taken in by it is very cute for a Disney movie, but it wasn’t smart. He should have trusted his instincts because in his gut he knew his tenure would be unproductive and a dead end. It’s never too late to cut and paste a new date on that resignation letter. Adams’ is probably a great kisser/mentor and Pink Martini is the best of its kind in the world, so let’s not throw babies out with the bath water. (You don’t have to spend a nickle on PM, just check out their CD’s at the library.)
Joba, if anyone signs a petition they don’t agree with, they are the “moron”. With such a kaka job market, why are you faulting job creation? Any money spent here locally to create jobs is certainly better than spending money on fancy holidays, power lunches, or Italian shoes. It’s not progressive money, its rich people’s money. Even if “normal” people are funding to recall Adams, I am not impressed. Adams should resign and any excess disposable income right now would best be spent in Haiti. Why couldn’t Adams go do NGO work in Port-au-Prince? That would be quite a media coup for him and gays. If he gets an itch, Puerto Rico is only an hour away.
Gal: how has Adams’ time as mayor been any less productive than, say, Tom Potter’s?
blownspeakers,
Sam Adams is now more irrelevant than Potter.
I guess Karma is like that. Too bad it is the citizens of Portland that have to pay:
http://baltimore.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2010/02/01/story4.html
The clearest metric that the mind set of small town politics thrives and is sustained in the back room, closed-door, deal making of Portland’s ole boy political elite is that governance is performed (inexpertly) through damage control and crisis management. Sam learned OJT (Vera Kraft’s mentee) so is solely in schooled in precious Portland’s frontier ideology. Running a slate of unskilled ‘social agenda’ candidates (with the possible exception of the Evans woman running for Fishy’s seat) as coattails of the Obama’s change agenda is no better. Watching politic-in-play in Portland Oregon is like watching bloated gold fish swimming in murky yellowed tabletop bowls.
“Sam is Irrelevant,” what did that article have to do with anything? Does this mean you’re going to now call for a recall of the mayor of Los Angeles since they too are a possible home for the Under Armor expansion? Besides, last I checked: Nike, Adidas, Columbia, Northface, etc. were all doing pretty well, so bringing in Under Armor would more than likely help to bring jobs/revenue into the city. How is that a negative?
to gaiwindbag aka THERESA STEVE MITCHELL aka presswatch. Isn’t the bully pulpit free/air space that you already “own” at kboo (thanks to the nepotism of common law union with the bearded member manager ) sufficient to satisfy that hormone fed tranny ego of yours? Do you delude yourself into believing your alter persona is a grass roots Howard Zinn? (R.I.P.)
@BlownSqueaker-
Last time I heard Columbia was runout of Portland by Sam and Adidias is closing down retail stores. Guess this is something that Sam’s staff did not Tweet to you-
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/anna_griffin/index.ssf/2010/01/sam_adams_needs_to_toss_twitte.html
I guess you will try to blame this on your imaginary right wing, homophobe, anti-Sam machine.
All Sam Adams had to do was tell the truth. He couldn’t do that. The truth would have been told and people would have perceived him as creepy and unelectable. The recall has only been an effort to resolve this current situation in Portland. Resign Adams and the recall stops.
Mathew D is right. Randy Leonard should be recalled as well. Someone call Papas and get the donations to get the ball rolling.
Its time to take the power back from, out of touch , Narcissistic “leaders” of this City. Including, Dan Saltzman, Leonard, and Adams, all who have been under guidance from Mark “the” Weiner. He is one of the real villians of grassroots campaigning and democracy here.
My dear fanofnobullypulpit,
A.K.A. Fan-no Bull-poo,
Thank you for outing me. I can’t believe I didn’t go undercover enough to avoid your stalking me again. TRUCE! I must say, not only were you not very nice about it, but you didn’t add any of your own opinions about the topic of recalling Adams by Gordly. Wouldn’t this city and your mental health be better served if you offered solutions or suggestions instead of going postal on KBOO and using this forum in an attempt to deride and humiliate me personally?
Well it worked! You have me in tears and could you please call me right away? I’m so sorry for all the pain I have caused you. That wasn’t my intention at all.
What I would like to do is offer you an olive branch and invite you to a workshop to air out your concerns. If you really want me to mellow out, I will. I know I have a healthy ego and it might be threatening to those, like yourself, with low self esteem. How can I help lift you up out of that winter depression and engage your Inner Activist in meaningful discourse?
If this is what you expected from your arch enemy, there you go- on a silver platter even…
Thing is, you fingered the wrong person to be your victim today.
You need to see someone dude, you’re a basket case… I’m sorry I can’t be the turn-a-new-leaf-over Theresa Steve you were looking for, but I’m NOT sorry that you are reading this because maybe you will put down that knife before you hurt someone who can’t take your vile and thoughtless attacks.
Did your mummy or the Church wound you in some way? I hope not. You are about to blow and longterm cognitive therapy won’t do. You need a crisis intervention now. Let’s pray its just a chemical imbalance that a little Rx can help you adjust to becoming more humane again. And, don’t hurt yourself either. Don’t be ashamed because a complete stranger knows you are seriously disturbed. I actually want to help you.
You have got to work out of this…. have you considered turning off the computer and going for a long walk? Fresh air is a cure all. Why don’t you listen to Terry Gross instead of this drivel? Garrison Keillor is great for these sorts of moods if you MUST be hooked into some noise or distraction.
Feel better? Are you able to hear my feelings on all this? Well… now, for the real me…
“Look you CORN HOLE, I have no idea who Theresa Steve is and I don’t even listen to KBOO. I send them a check every year, mostly because they air DemocracyNOW! Which is excellent programming that should be on KATU, not just KBOO. I listen to it online, but not everyone in Portland has a computer. I think public radio is necessary for those not fortunate, or is that stupid, enough to have a computer.
I’m going to go party with some friends in Deep Southeast, and when I have time, and that’s not much, I am going to coach you on how to use your PIE HOLE instead of your CORN HOLE to express yourself!
Transformation starts with one PIE at a time, surrender Dorothy, this witch is gonna train you to be a lady with a voice you’ll be proud of. Prick up our ears, as it were…
Your homework assignment is to watch Invictus, TransAmerica, and Skin. Maybe you can watch it on YouTube. Part of the homework is fingering it out yourself.
And, give me your email address, dear… there is no reason to burden the Merc’s website for your much needed rehabilitation.
Sincerely
Mister Gai Winbag
PS I request you call me Mr. Winbag, until such time your rehabilitation is complete and I give you my explicit permission to call me otherwise. FYI, only my friends are allowed to call me Gai or GW. You’ll need to earn that privilege and I don’t hand out privileges frivolously, so behave yourself, you bloody CORN HOLE!
Recalls are the biggest waste of money. Ever. If someone has done something so egregious that they should not truly be in office, then there are laws about those things. Recalls are whimsical and are the hallmark of those that can’t abide by the voter’s wishes. If you aren’t happy with someone in office, then harness those resources to challenge them at election. There has never been a case in which a recall has turned out well… it’s as though some people think that all the City’s problems will be magically solved by a recalls. Gordly says it’s about restoring integrity, and some commenters around town are piling on their own reasons to get Adams out. Again, if you aren’t happy with how things are going, you can either run against him when the time comes, or work to solve problems.
A real leader leads. If anyone of you ever has showed up at a public Portland City Hall meeting, you can plainly see Sam Adams is not doing his job. So, even despite the controversy of Sam Adams in office now, he needs to go. A true leader needs to listen to the people he leads.
AXE THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR AND HIRE A PROFESSIONAL EXECUTIVE
Gordly should take a two-pronged approach to remove Adams. 1) Remove Adams from the job, and 2) remove the Office of the Mayor from City Government.
I am requesting Gordly continue the recall campaign and simultaneously promote a ballot measure that would remove the Office of Mayor as a elected position and replace it with a City Manager or CAO position appointed by the City Commissioners.
Even if this second recall fails and the campaign to reform City government succeeds, Adams would not qualify for the appointed position, a City Manager, and he would have to find a job more befitting of his qualifications. If Gordly is successful in one or both approaches, Adams’ days are numbered.
And, of all the people in Portland, Gordly would make a fine candidate as City Manager to perhaps one day run this City like it should be run. Although Gordly may be unelectable as mayor she is certainly much more qualified, experienced, and professional than Adams as the chief executive of this City. Why shouldn’t she run this city? Why should citizens be deprived of her expertise as an proven legislator and administrator simply because some pretty boy gay poster child gets to simply based on popularity, image, and rainbow coat-tails?
Sure, Adams has experience, but not enough. And, experience is not the end all. To be an effective executive you have to be a role model, morale booster and a unifier. Gordly is bipartisan, an elder, overcame a heck of a lot more adversity than Adams, and most importantly, honest as the day is long.
It’s pretty clear Gordly does not intend to or want to be the lead executive for this city, but she certainly could be. I am calling on Gordly to take this two-pronged approach to not only oust Adams but make way for the real possibility of a qualified woman of color that could do the job as well as she could. We could recruit anyone in the world to run this city which opens up a huge candidate pool to choose from and benefit from.
That the Office of Mayor would be sacrificed is nonsense. The Office of Mayor has been a bastion for corrupt, lazy, self promoting, ego maniacs since 1851 when the first mayor was elected. Only a handful of mayors are remembered and even less could be considered great for this City. The Office of the Mayor should be recycled into a better suited mechanism that maximizes the human capital of a profressionally trained executive who could perform the multitude of complex duties expected of a premier city of the world.
That such abuses of power and extremely poor judgement as exhibited by Adams should be allowed of the City’s mouthpiece is completely unnecessary. Adams may be viewed as the problem, but he is just a side effect to a greater problem- Portland’s archaic and outmoded form of government.
Are you concerned about the costs of mayoral elections and subsequent recalls? You should be. But as long as we have the liability risks that come with unqualified and unprofessional mayors being able to win popularity contests, we are stuck with the process we inherited from Portland’s founding fathers. Recalls are the nature of the beast. If you elect a public official, you must be able to recall them. It is a necessary check to the abuse of power. But only with elected officials- not hired employees.
Recalls work great for unpaid elected officials like school board members or even not-so critical judges, but if we lived in Gresham we could fire Adams and be done with it. That is, if Adams was the City Manager there. Instead of character assassinations, why don’t we just axe the Office of the Mayor, create a position called the Chief Administrative Officer (like a CEO), and let Adams apply for the job if he is really interested in running this city.
My suspicions are that he is more interested in show business and hobnobbing otherwise why didn’t he go to night school while working for the City for 12 years and get his bachelor’s degree in ethics and a master’s degree in public administration? The City would have even reimbursed him, or should have.
I’m all for professional development paid with public funds for promising leaders, but you can’t force a monkey to eat a banana (or something like that).
All professionals I know don’t stop in the middle of college, rather, they continue educating themselves in the latest “best practices” of their chosen field- even old birds in any profession understand that the professionals that get the worm are the ones that keep abreast, if not ahead, of the times. Education is for a life time. Not only is it smart, its good business.
Would you hire a 30 year old landscaper that charged $10 an hour and showed up stoned only to tell you he dug ditches as a kid in Mt Tabor, or would you pay $12 an hour to a 21 year old from Damascus that had the gumption to get an AA degree from PCC in horticulture design?
I don’t know about you, but I prefer professionals in my garden. I hired the man with a degree that showed up at my door with a tie on and with an impressive portfolio in hand. After he completed the job ahead of time I gave him a $100 tip for a superior job and referred him to several friends. If I went with the guy without a credential and who told me, “I’ve done a lotta jobs ’round here”, I’m sure I would still be calling him up and telling him the sprinklers still aren’t working.
The vast majority of professions from masseurs to accountants to real estate agents require continuing education to renew their respective licenses. Being a life long learner is one of the necessary requirements of any professional and strongly recommended for an informed citizen, not just the mayor.
And why doesn’t the mayor need a license or credential to lead? Even hairdressers need special training and a license to work in this City. I bet nearly all hairdressers with “12 years of experience” have paid more for their education and spent more time in the classroom than Adams ever did.
That Adams chose to engage in other extracurricular activities and spend his disposable income (and max out his credit cards) on other things besides educating himself, speaks volumes. He went bankrupt not for student loans but for vacations, fancy clothes, and entertainment. His poor judgement is not just in bathrooms, its in his spreadsheet and wallet too. Adams played hookey while people under his command got the education required for their city jobs. Is it fair that Brenda in accounts payable has to have an accounting degree and her boss Adams gets to tell her how to spend the city’s money?
We need a professional executive to run the city, not a gay man confused about propreity or a drunk circus clown. Hey, I love gay men and clowns as much as any gay clown and I loved and love Bud Clark to the tilt, but this city is too complex for just anybody “fun” and “cute” to be at the helm. If we really need a mascot to expose us to the arts or be a cheerleader for gays, can’t Weiden donate some of his “Just Do It” expertise and come up with something a little more inventive than a beaver, industrious as a beaver may be?
45 municipalities nationwide have a City Manager or CAO at the helm. Most hang unto the Mayor’s Office as a tradition like the British hang onto the Queen. You know, politically impotent but good at running pet projects, cutting ribbons, putting on fattening dinners for celebrities, and all that.
We don’t need a mayor that wins popularity contests and smooshes the camera, we need a professional that propels this city into the 21st century. We are a decade behind as it is already.
Portland is the top ten city for countless categories but that is no reason to rest on our laurels. I know it may be hard to do, but we can swallow our civic and rather provincial pride and look east to Gresham and ask for their advice. Gresham has had a City Manager ever since I have been alive. Gresham co-exists in Multnomah county with Portland but it’s city hall is substantially drama free due to its form of government. Their livability and economic indicators are on par with Portland, proving that their form of government is just as viable as ours.
I argue that Gresham is far ahead of Portland in terms of the trust the citizens there have in their city specifically because they are spared the acrimony so evident in Portland city government for decades now. We may laugh at Gresham for a lot of things, but really now, who is laughing at who when it comes to governance?
We can use what works, adapt, monitor, and adjust. As innovative, forward thinking, dynamic, and diverse as this city purports to be, why do we stand for a form of government that is from the 19th century? We don’t need a umpah-umpah-burgermeister (town master) draped in a red dress or a rainbow flag, we need a professional like Erik Kvarsten,Warren Buffet, George Soros, or even Maggie Entwistle (since that Weiden guy wasn’t even listed on his very own company’s website I thought WK’s Public Relations contact might do – sorry Ms. Entwistle if I crossed the line here). Really though, why shouldn’t the City HIRE homegrown Weiden to run this city?
Take the cynicism, rivalry, bitterness, apathy, and unprofessionalism out of the City of Portland governance. Don’t fault the person, fault the system. Change the system so that an experienced, educated, and professsional executive runs this city.
How can we explain to businesses wishing to locate in Portland that if you want a professionally educated executive to interface with regarding your company’s business with the city, you’ll have to go to Gresham and talk with a Mr. Kvarsten. I’m sorry, we would love to have a solar chip manufacturer from Japan in Portland’s city limits, but Portland’s chief executive is busy this week helping put together gay pride, the gay film festival, and then he has to run down to Salem to talk with the Oregon State Police.
I financially support gay pride, I have acted in gay films (not that kind you gutter head), and I’ve even had an affair with an Oregon State Police officer, but if I needed a job in a green industry or I wanted to lease my land to a Japanese firm, I would certainly pass Portland over and reside in Gresham.
I don’t agree with Gordly on a lot of things but I agree with her and trust her 100% when she says this recall, (and hopefully in time my suggestion to axe the mayor’s office), is NOT about personalities (gay or otherwise), it is about good governance- professional, efficient, and effective.
You might think Portland has a long way to go. Let’s bend the ear of our next door neighbors first- it just might be a short trip after all.
Recalling Adams foreshadows an awakening in the Portland collective mind, that we have an absolutely incompetent group of people running the city. One fraud unravelled leads to multiple frauds exposed.
it’s funny watching Avel “Democrats for Republicans” Gordly trying to deliver public lectures on political integrity.
The issue isn’t Avel Gordley – the issue is Sam Adams. Trying to discredit the messenger does NOT change the message.
Sam Adams is an unethical liar and deceived the public in order to obtain office. It’s not only conservative Republicans that believe/know this.
I don’t believe the $400K mentioned here would be coming from the city’s coffers. This money would have to be raised by the recall campaign to pay for the paid signature gatherers (the source of the money being a mystery and, I believe, the reason for the reporter’s doubts about this being a grassroots effort). The grand waste of money will only occur if the recall campaign is successful and there is a special election. That will cost the taxpayers millions and, I am quite sure, will just result in Mayor Adams keeping his job. It is time to move on.
It’s telling that the comment board on this topic filled up pretty quickly with wack-job rants and personal vitriol.
The only thing I read that I wanted to respond to was the person who complained that 400K is so small an amount of money that we should be happy to let it go.
I sort of understand what you mean, it’s small in the scheme of things, but at the same time – it really is enough money to make a qualitative difference in many Portland citizens’ lives. And if one believes, as I do, that the thing we’re supposed to spend 400K on is completely and utterly wasteful and useless, why should I support it?
Your post indicated that if we have a problem with the recall we should move to Turkey or Vancouver. The whole “love it or leave it” platitude never really sat right with me. How about “love it and work hard to make it even better”?