Two weeks to the day after taking his oath of office as
Portland’s first gay mayor, Sam Adams admitted to the Willamette
Week on Monday, January 19, that he’d lied about the nature of his
sexual relationship with teenage legislative intern Beau Breedlove, and
that he had coached Breedlove to lie about it on his behalf.
Back in 2007, Adams denied rumors of a sexual relationship with
Breedlove, calling himself the victim of a “homophobic smear
campaign.”
But by the time the Mercury went to press on Tuesday, January
20, two of Adams’ fellow city commissioners, Nick Fish and Randy
Leonard, were calling for an independent inquiry into the scandal, the
treasurer of the police union was calling for Adams’ resignation, and a
citizen effort to recall Adams was underway. The story spread like
wildfire throughout the day to mainstream outlets like CNN, and even
celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton ran a post entitled “Boo! Hiss on
Sam Adams,” in the early afternoon.
“Dude, you should have just kept it in your pants!” wrote Hilton.
“Or at least been upfront about it! Didn’t you learn anything from Bill
Clinton?????”
THIS IS THE MODERN AGE
“I am disappointed and outraged by the mayor’s acknowledgment that
he lied to the public and that he coached this young man to lie for
him,” said City Commissioner Fish, in a phone conversation with the
Mercury on Tuesday evening. “What I want the public to know is
that this council is focused on doing the public’s business, and that
we will not allow this to be a distraction from doing what we were
elected to do.”
“I think this is fundamentally an issue of a public official lying,”
said Adams, at a packed press conference at Portland City Hall, earlier
on Tuesday afternoon.
Asked whether he expected to get away with his behavior, Adams
responded: “It’s not entirely up to me.
“I pride myself on telling the truth, and my word is very important
to me,” he said. “I am very ashamed, humbled, and humiliated, and I
think that’s absolutely appropriate.”
Adams said he would resign if it became clear that it was not in the
best interests of the city for him to remain mayor.
“This is the modern age,” he said.
“I know I have a lot to do to restore the public’s trust,” Adams
continued. “But I would ask the public to consider this anomaly in the
context of my two decades of public service.”
A citizen effort to recall Adams launched a website first thing on
Tuesday. Adams responded at the press conference: “Listen, this
admission, I understand it is shocking, and that people are angry about
it, I understand that, and that might lead to a recall and it’s the
public’s right to do that. It’s my job to apologize, and be sincere
about it.”
Also at the press conference, Portland Police Association (PPA)
Treasurer Mitchell Copp said the PPA was “disappointed” with Adams, and
asked for his resignation. Copp said Adams’ behavior presented an
opportunity for “blackmail.”
Adams was asked what consequences he would face besides coming
clean.
“Well, I’m facing them,” he said. “I’m being held accountable, which
is appropriate, and my reputation is impacted, my friendships have been
impacted.”
City Commissioner Amanda Fritz defended Adams, saying that in her
experience as a psychiatric nurse she has learned the importance of
forgiving people for their mistakes. She also hit back at Willamette
Week reporter Nigel Jaquiss for his paper’s decision to run the
story on the eve of President Barack Obama’s inauguration.
“I cannot think of a compelling public reason for you to have broken
it yesterday,” she said to Jaquiss.
I’VE NOTHING TO HIDE
Meanwhile, the Mercury‘s former news editor, Amy Ruiz, was
hired by Adams as a planning and sustainability policy adviser on
December 22, 2008. Ruiz had confronted Adams in 2007 with information
about Adams’ alleged affair with Breedlove, but since the information
fell under the banner of hearsay and could not be substantiated, the
Mercury declined to run the story. Adams lied to Ruiz about the
nature of his relationship with Breedlove, too.
Nevertheless, others who applied for Ruiz’s new job with Adams are
questioning the appropriateness of her hire.
“It felt like I wasn’t really being listened to,” says one applicant
who had six years of experience in planning and sustainability when
Adams’ senior policy director, Lisa Libby, interviewed them for the
position late last year. The applicant declined to be named.
“It was just these canned questions, and not really asking me what
I’d bring to the office,” says the applicant. “It just felt like window
dressing. I just didn’t get a sense that I was part of a real
interview, like there was no integrity to it.”
“After a decade spent writing about what other people are doing I
wanted an opportunity to go about doing it,” Ruiz said, at a meeting
with the Mercury in Mayor Adams’ office, shortly after the
conclusion of the Tuesday press conference.
“We were surprised,” said Adams’ chief of staff, Tom Miller, of
Ruiz’s application, which was filed on November 3, 2008. “We certainly
didn’t see it coming.”
Miller said he has been responsible for all hiring and firing for
Adams since 2005.
“I think you can look to my work and see that it didn’t change
[after the application for the job went in],” said Ruiz. “I’ve got a
three-year record [at the Mercury] and I think it speaks for
itself. A lot of that work was done in the context of an opinion
column, because my opinions are my opinions, and I stand by those
opinions.
“I’ve nothing to hide,” Ruiz continued. “I stand by my work, it’s
all fair, and it’s all accurate.”
The other two candidates on the shortlist of three for Ruiz’s job
included a person with a master’s degree in urban planning and three to
four years of experience in post-master’s policy and administration,
said Miller. But that person “made clear at the interview that their
preference was to work 40 hours a week if possible, and that was the
fatal flaw.”
The other shortlist candidate had a master’s degree in public
administration but was “too young in the sense of marketplace
experience,” said Miller, who at press time was seeking the city
attorney’s approval to release a summary list to the Mercury of
other applicants for the position, detailing their experience and
qualifications for the job.
“Whenever a reporter who has been covering a public official is
hired by that official there are always concerns about appearance and
about ethical conflicts,” says Tim Gleason, dean of the University of
Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication. “Absent a bright line
between the journalist and someone in the news, there’s always the
threat that there’ll be a perception of conflict.”
Ruiz said she has no plans to step down, either.
For more on this story and regular updates, check blogtown.portlandmercury.com.
Nice camera, duuuude!
This is not a scandal! The only scandal is the scandalization of what is only a pure act of eros, or innocent sex with a young male. Ha ha ha.
“I’ve nothing to hide,” Ruiz continued. “I stand by my work, it’s all fair, and it’s all accurate.”
LOL!!!LOL!!!LOL!!!!
Boy is that a laugh!
REMOVE ADAMS FROM OFFICE!
PROTEST NEXT MONDAY AT CITY HALL, 9AM.
ADAMS IS A DISGUSTING LIAR.
After many volunteer hours we ask that you visit the updated http://www.recallsamadams.com
Adams is never gonna leave.
However, he is a disappointment in terms of intelligence.
THE BEST AMERICAN POLITICIANS NEVER GET CAUGHT!
He is third rate all the way, and obviously he is at the end of the line for his career.
He fits in well as Mayor of this disfunctional city.
STEVE NOVICK for Mayor!
So, we’ve heard about the qualifications of those on the “short list” for the job Ruiz got… were there any other applicants who were qualified and willing to work more than 40 hrs per week? Let’s be honest with ourselves, IF (and that’s “IF”) this job was a set-up, don’t you think Sam is smart enough to make sure Ruiz is the best of the “short list”. IF (and that’s “IF”) the investigation into this matter is done properly, I think we’ll know the answer..
So many people just don’t get this issue.
Sam Adams admitted to be a mentor to this young man, helping him deal with the issues and problems of being a young gay man in this world, as well as within politics, making this a professional relationship, with the expectations and neccesary limits that MUST come with it.
He ABUSED his position of influence in this young man’s life as his mentor by stepping into a sexual relationship with him, which is an amazingly huge ethical issue. There is NO question as to whether Sam claimed to have a mentoring relationship and he himself declaired the relationship in his original response to the accusations.
Within the gay community and outside the gay community there cannot be any tolerance of our men or women in trusted positions of mentorship to step over the bounds of intimacy, it’s insanely unprofessional and outstandingly unethical – once you’ve violated that standard, you surely cannot remain in a position of power and influence, as you’ve forever breached that position of highly valued trust.
When confronted about this issue, as well as the reality that this mentoring relationship began when the kid was 17, he purposely mislead the voting public in his response to the accusations and twisted the issue against his competition for the post of mayor. It is an absolutely fair question and issue to present to a possible leader in our community – Did you, or did you not, engage in a sexual relationship with a youth (then man) you were actively mentoring? This is a critical question of character and of necessary boundaries in the professional and political world.
His statements to the original accusations should anger any Portlander, as this not only was dishonest and manipulative, but also served to turn the voting public against his competitor and surely altered votes in his (Mr. Adams) favor. This is yet another reason why he should resign his post.
His original letter to the public states this –
“I didn’t get into public life to allow my instinct to help others to be snuffed out by fear of sleazy misrepresentations or political manipulation. I understand the need for good judgment, and I keep within the bounds of propriety — as I did in this case.
I’m glad that people consider me as a person they could come to for help, understanding and support. I work at it. And I hope that you do too. Local programs needing mentors have long waiting lists. “
HE CLEARLY UNDERSTOOD THAT stepping into a sexual relationship in that situation was bad judgement and outside the bounds of propriety, using his own words to damn his own future, which is the tragedy of this situation, as those who believed in him in his letter and stood by him in that time are now slapped in the face, watching as the gay community is now facing additional public disgrace and how all the steps forward have become many steps back… I’m sorry Sam, but we can forgive, but we must have a leader whom shows character, integrity, and most of all, a leader we can trust, and we cannot now trust you.
Sam, you let Portlanders down, you let the gay community down and you let self-interests take precedence over integrity…I hear the Bush administration is hiring..oh wait, they’re gone!
Everyone is so backwards and limited. Obviously the best solution is that EVERY politician in Portland should be elected based on the quality of PORN they can produce while in office.
Not only would this add much needed revenue to the cities coffers but it would increase the youth and attractiveness of our governing council.
Everyone knows that young and attractive people are the future. They are going to live longer and they are going to make the children that will live into the future. Yes, old people have all the money and they tend to vote but even they do not want to watch old people have sex.
An added benefit is that all the uptight, moralistic, high minded people would leave Portland in droves because they could not stand the depravity of knowing what their political leaders look like naked and what kind of sex they have with their constituency. This would make Portland a more relaxed and progressive place to live.
No one would need to lie about being human, money would come rolling in from the internet revenues, all the politicians would be attractive, uptight jerks would leave town it is just win, win, win all over the place.
I am totally serious.
Pro Sam Adams rally Fri Jan 23rd. City Hall. 5PM I’ll be there.
From my blog, scottanthony.org :
The Mayor Adams Conundrum, or
An Indictment of Societal Standards for Politicians
In a recent Willamette Week cover story, the story unfolded of how Portland Mayor Sam Adams was forced to disclose his relationship with a young intern, Beau Breedlove. With fiery rhetoric, Nigel Jaquiss laid out a good vs. evil story in which Adams besmirched the good name and reputation of Democratic primary competition Bob Ball on a quest for power.
After an early, brief gut reaction to the story–by God, he lied to us, or something to that effect–I took a step back from this minute-to-minute, shock-and-awe school of news presentation, and looked at the entire story.
In the realm of real, factual information as it stands, we know two things: Mayor Adams initially lied about his relationship, and that that relationship was a consensual one. Everything else is speculation and moral judgement, what Jaquiss relishes in calling “potentially predatory and illegal behavior.”
The age of consent, as we all know, is 18. Though Adams and Breedlove both initially lied about their sexual relationship, both still maintain the sexual relationship started after the latter turned 18. Looking at the timeline, Adams met Breedlove when he was indeed a minor, and the two are still in contact. That period of acquaintance, and the fact that the sexual relationship only lasted a few months, leaves it rather comprehensible that this story is true, and the relationship was fully legal.
Even given that fact, the media has overwhelmingly taken a moral, rather than a legal, stand on the issue. Former Adams campaign contributor–and, not to mention, former Adams boyfriend–John Vezina recounts in WW that he “ran into Breedlove on a Portland street…[and] Breedlove told him he had just spent the weekend at Adams’ house, where they had sex.” Presented almost as a matter of fact rather than speculation, the paper does not substantiate this with a confirmation from Breedlove himself. Rather, it follows this purposely juicy tidbit with an Vezina’s implication that Adams is “the bad guy.”
This brings us to the issue of societal standards for a politician. Mayor Adams never wanted to inject his personal life into the political process, instead wanting to focus on policy. In a world so fixated on the personal, a media system so focused on the potential soap operas , a man who knew his own life would overshadow his bright ideas for the collective good was forced toward an error in judgement. He knew how his relationship would be spun into something treacherous, something vile, something outrageous. He should have admitted it from the beginning, but that does not negate the fact that he was elected the best person for the job, and he still is.
On a digressive tangent, the ultimate irony here is that Ball, the man who stirred up the issue in the first place, Adams’ potential political rival, would certainly not fit so well into the “good guy” moral mold if his romantic relationships were called into play. Adams isn’t the only politician who has experience with much younger men. “But Ball isn’t our mayor,” one might say. But he could have been. His initial method of attack was nothing if not hypocritical. Surely, though, it wouldn’t provide such a neat narrative for WW and similar media sources.
This is not the focus, though; rather, it should not be. Mayor Adams was elected under the promise of change and progress in Portland. He is not a different person than he was when he ran for mayoral office. His love for the city has not diminished. His record is exemplary. Some may debate how exemplary, but that is the discussion we should be having, not one fixated on his personal life. Focus on policy, not the personal.
I, for one, would REALLY like to see Sam Adams decide to stay in office! I doubt we’d be able to find a more desirable replacement for him: he’s capable, hard-working and more dedicated to Portland’s future than any other politician! Please, do NOT resign!!! This will blow over and everyone will be talking about something more important in a couple of weeks.
From an NPR blog.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/
If the kid was 18, this was never our business. I wish Adams had said that instead of lying, but when the media or the Republican Congress go on an envious anti-sex witch hunt, I don’t blame people who’ve engaged in consensual sex for lying about it.
Yeah, middle-aged dudes who sleep with people decades younger are shallow creeps and it may have kept me from voting for Adams, but really, barring addiction, a person’s sex life bears little impact on his job performance. I’m guessing George W. Bush hasn’t had a not night since he gave up the booze, and look how he governed.
If the kid wasn’t 18 (and how can we believe a word Adams says now?), Adams broke the law. You can bicker about where the line really should be drawn to protect young people from creepy old men, but the fact is that it’s currently drawn at 18.
If the kid was really 17, Adams committed a crime, is an immature sleaze and a liar. For me, it’d be three strikes and he’s out. I hope the kid’s age will be investigated by more tenacious folks than Ms. Ruiz.
oops. “hot night” at paragraph 2, last line.
When public servants lie under oath, or about siphoning off public funds for private gains, or to their spouses about an affair – those are all legitimate circumstances for people affected to get angry.
We’re dealing with a very different set of circumstances here. Sam Adams’ lies about a private relationship with another consenting adult, who was not in his employee, should not even be up for discussion. His relationship is nobody’s business. Who among us has always been candid about our sexual lives in every circumstance? Who would like to go to work when their private relationships are grist for the rumor mill?
I say we all get our panties out of a twist and get our Mayor back to work… This is not a good time to try to exact some unattainable standard for public figures by making an example out of the man who is ready to give 200% to Portland. When did Portland get so reactionary?
A. This Mercury story is pointless. Nobody cares about Ruiz and why her competitors didn’t get the job.
B. Sam Adams likes to have sex with younger guys. So fucking what. Let him do his job.
Paris Hilton asks “didn’t you learn anything from Bill Clinton?”. Remember in 1994, Clinton got Congress to pass “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”. Adams apparently told Ruiz not to ask, and told Breedlove not to tell. If we find this behaviour to be both immoral and unethical, can we conclude that the federal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law is also immoral and unethical?
Paris Hilton asks “didn’t you learn anything from Bill Clinton?”. Remember in 1994, Clinton got Congress to pass “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”. Adams apparently told Ruiz not to ask, and told Breedlove not to tell. If we find this behaviour to be both immoral and unethical, can we conclude that the federal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law is also immoral and unethical?
I would love nothing more than to dig into the closets of all you self-righteous posters asking for a recall in this thread. I’m sure there’s plenty in your history you wish you could take back. After reading Breedlove’s account, I realize this is nothing more than yellow journalism by a bunch of hacks trying to make a name for themselves. In the words of Larry Flynt, everyone lies about sex.
Congrats Portland! I actually got to read the latest about this situation in my daily Swiss paper. Yes my lovely hometown of which I am ridiculously proud has made it into my local swiss newspaper. It’s nice to know that after Bush we can still embarass ourselves on an international level. Kudos Sam Adams. God knows this would never have interested anyone if you had just told the fucking truth. You lied twice and at this point you look like another bastard politician.
I don’t want Adams to recall. But maybe the Mercury should be recalled.
Amy, Don’t kid youself, you weren’t hired because of your sparkling personality and interview skills – you were hired to keep your mouth shut…
“A little mistake” wow I think there allot of sick mentors out there would like you for support when they have sex with a 17 or 18 year old kid. If this was with a girl everyone would be outraged, but you blindly support Adams because he is gay, very sad to see this kind of hypocrisy!!
Sooooooooo is the Mercury gonna rehire Amy The Fraud Ruiz ?????
Maybe adams just needs to visit Amsterdam on his holidays and get it out of his system far, far, away.
Is that him in the virtual tour in the Red Light District 🙂