In what may be the most anti-climactic campaign news ever, City
Commissioner Sam Adams was expected to informally kick off his
mayoral candidacy Wednesday evening, October 3—inconveniently,
just after press time.
Anti-climactic? After months of waiting for Mayor Tom Potter to
announce his retirement, and then another month waiting for Adams to
announce what everybody already knew, perhaps it’s a case of
Anticipation Fatigue. And if anybody can lay a valid claim to
such a disorder, it’s the potential candidates who’ve been waiting for
Adams to make up his mind so they can run for his seat.
Two candidates—transportation activist Chris Smith and
nonprofit director Charles Lewis—have already made the gamble and
jumped in; Adams’ looming announcement must be a massive relief for
them. Lewis, though, had already taken potshots this summer at Adams
for his plan to raise fees to pay for transportation maintenance and
repairs. At the time, it seemed like an unwise strategy—why take
on Adams when it wasn’t clear if he was an opponent or a potential
ally? But now that Smith is in the race, it makes a little more
sense—perhaps Lewis’ maneuvering was more of an early strike via
proxy against Smith, who, like Adams, has a reputation, whether
deserved or not, that’s more “streetcars and big projects” than
“filling potholes.”
Back to Adams: Last Friday, he said that he wouldn’t be taking part
in the Voter-Owned Elections (VOE) program, which gives city
candidates campaign money if they can get 1,000 signatures and $5
contributions from Portland voters.
“Even though I’m supportive of the program, because I voted to
institute it, it has the appearance of a conflict of interest,” he
said.
That reasoning could be surprising to Adams’ council colleague, Erik
Sten, who not only voted for the program, but helped draft it, and then
used it in his reelection campaign last year.
Still, Adams appears to have learned a little lesson from the Tom
Potter vs. Jim Francesconi show, wherein the more money Francesconi
raised, the more unpopular he became. Adams says he’s limiting his
overall contributions to $200,000 (exactly what mayoral candidates get
from public financing), and individual contributions to $500.
That Adams isn’t going to actively screw the VOE system by raising
millions of dollars is probably music to the ears of campaign finance
reformers. The coming year will be the ultimate test for the system,
giving voters a chance to see how it works for two open races before
the whole idea goes to the ballot in 2010.