Hall Monitor

Mayor Sam Adams was under enormous pressure to deliver a
convincing State of the City speech last week at Portland’s City
Club.

Having surprised many by voting for a 12-lane Columbia River
Crossing last Wednesday, February 25, Adams seemed anxious to prove to
City Club’s predominantly baby boomer audience that the Breedlove
scandal hasn’t compromised his green credentials. Not that the
audience was hostile: One sensed that most of the audience was either
(a) hoping to secure a lucrative city contract, (b) staff members, or
(c) related to the mayor. That’s right: Adams even invited his
grandmother!

On the green front, Adams announced a pilot program to weatherize
Portland homes for energy efficiency, and a tax credit for businesses
wanting to install solar energy systems. He seemed eager to
please.

“Portland’s going solar, folks!” he said.

As for the scandal, the Oregonian‘s editorial board had
accused Adams that morning of “leading the distraction” instead
of “leading the action” at city hall. Adams apologized to the audience
for the “distraction” caused by his “well-documented mistake,”
and got a round of applause before moving on.

However, the room often felt less like an opportunity for citizen
engagement than a fusty, orchestrated show. For example: The
mayor wasn’t forced to answer any uncomfortable, scandalous
questions—which, subject to the organization’s rules, can only be
asked by City Club members. And his speech ran very long, leaving time
for only two questions before the meeting was over. Coincidence?

“I think he stacked the room with city and county employees,” one
audience member told Rob Manning, the reporter from OPB.

In the press box, I sat next to the Oregonian‘s editorial
cartoonist, Jack Ohman. “Not as much applause,” wrote Ohman, in his
black notebook, when the audience clapped after Adams apologized. “You
can tell the audience is divided.”

When Adams mentioned that the Oregonian editorial board had
been “wagging its finger at me,” Ohman wrote in his notebook: “Which
finger?”

At the speech’s conclusion, Adams’ staff tried to lead the crowd in
a standing ovation. Unfortunately the attempt backfired, and
apart from one Portland Development Commission employee, almost
everyone in the back of the room stayed resolutely in their seats.