Sam Adams recall, Portland, Oregon, 2009

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Portland City Council hearing January 28, 2009

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A campaign to recall Sam Adams has launched a petition drive to collect enough signatures to force a question about recalling Portland, Oregon mayor Sam Adams onto the ballot. To do so, the group must obtain 32,183 signatures by October 5, 2009. Recall supporters failed to gather enough signatures for a recall election.[1] However, shortly after the failed first attempt a second recall effort was launched.[2]

The energy behind recalling Adams began in January 2009 when he admitted to a sexual relationship with a young political supporter after having denied this relationship for several years. Adams did not resign from his position in the wake of the relevation, sparking the recall effort.[3]

Background

Adams admitted to a relationship with Beau Breedlove after Willamette Week reported on Jan. 19 that Adams may have lied in 2007, when he denied having sex with Breedlove in 2005. Adams denied the charge after a political opponent brought it up, but now says he and Breedlove had sex after Breedlove turned 18.[3]

At the time of the revelations, Adams had not yet served in office for six months. Laws governing the recall process in Oregon say that signatures cannot be collected on a recall petition until the office-holder has served in the office for at least six months. In the case of Adams, July 1, 2009 represents that date on which he will have served for six months. A recall effort has 90 days in which to collect 32,183 signatures from other registered city voters, representing 15% of all votes cast in the city during the 2006 election for governor, as dictated by state law.[4]

1st recall attempt

Petition drive

The petition drive started in early July. Chief recall advocate Jason Wurster said that he has trained 200 volunteer circulators[5]

At the midway point, the campaign has reportedly collected a good majority of their goal of 50,000 signatures for a recall to be sent to a public vote. [6] Recall supporters failed to gather enough signatures for a recall election.[1]

Said to be difficult

Bill Lunch, chairman of Oregon State University’s political science department, said recall efforts in large cities are rarely successful in even reaching the ballot, because of the large number of valid signatures needed to qualify.[4]

The last time a Portland official was recalled was in 1952.[7]

Public opinion

The Portland Business Journal conducted a poll in mid-July asking, "Will you sign the petition to recall Portland Mayor Sam Adams?" The responses were:

  • “Yes, and I’ll vote to get rid of him, too.”: 46%
  • “No, I support him and want to put this behind us.": 34%
  • “Yes, I think it’s at least fair to hold an election.”: 12%
  • Unsure: 7%[8]

2nd recall attempt

After the first failed recall attempt, a second recall effort was initiated.[9] As of October 15, 2009 reports cited that the second effort includes the support of Tim Boyle, CEO and president of Columbia Sportswear. "His basic position is that he feels the voters deserve the opportunity to voice their collective opinion on the recall topic. Whatever the outcome, he feels it's appropriate that voters have the opportunity to make their feelings known on it," said Ron Parham, senior director of investor relations and communications for the sportswear company.[2] Additionally, Ron Tonkin, president and chief executive of the Ron Tonkin Family of Dealerships, said that he too supports the recall effort. "There's been so much talk and turmoil over this whole thing that I think the citizens have a right to revisit the issue and make their wishes known," said Tonkin.[10]

However, despite the support, an official recall petition has not yet been filed.[2]

  • Former state Sen. Avel Gordly announced that he is the chief petitioner and spokesperson of the 2nd recall attempt.[11]

Recall supporters

  • Portland State University political science student Jasun Wurster is a leader in the effort to recall Adams. He has indicated he will use only volunteers to collect signatures.[12]
  • Avel Gordly, who was a member of the Oregon State Legislature from 1991-2008, is supporting the recall effort. Gordly says, ""I believe it's up to the people to decide whether he stays or goes, and that decision should be made through the ballot. If the decision is made that he should stay, then we need to help him get on with the healing. We're in a very unhealthy place as a city."[13]
  • Tom Potter, a former mayor of Portland, supports the recall effort. In a public letter, Potter wrote, "Sam Adams has demonstrated his serious lack of judgment, a complete lack of integrity, his serial lying to win an election, and his callous disregard for others."[14][15]
  • Joe Weston, a prominent real estate developer in the city, is providing office space to the recall effort. Weston also signed the recall petition, saying, "If you were an employer and a prospective employee did not state the truth in his application, would you say ‘Well, it’s OK, you already have the job?'".[16]
  • Willamette Week, an important local publication, wrote on July 22, "after wrestling with this issue, we have come to see the value for Portland in such an election. That’s why we are endorsing Jasun Wurster’s efforts to gather 32,183 signatures to put the question of recalling Mayor Sam Adams on the ballot."[17]

The following supporters joined the recall effort after the first attempt failed to make the ballot:

  • Ron Tonkin, president and chief executive of the Ron Tonkin Family of Dealerships
  • Tim Boyle, CEO and president of Columbia Sportswear
  • Andrew Miller, CEO of Portland-based Stimson Lumber[18]
  • Peter Stott, former CEO of Crown Pacific Partners and current CEO of the Portland real estate firm SKB[18]

Path to the ballot

To qualify the recall question for the ballot, supports must obtain 32,183 signatures of registered voters by October 5, 2009. There are about 341,000 registered voters in Portland.

Wade Nkrumah lawsuit

On Monday, July 20, the former communications director of the City of Portland filed a lawsuit in Multnomah County Circuit Court against the city seeking damages for wrongful termination, defamation, invasion of privacy, unpaid wages and non-economic damages for injury to his reputation.[19]

Nkrumah began working for the City of Portland as communications director for Sam Adams in January 2009. He had previously been a reporter for The Oregonian. Less than a month into Nkrumah's job as communications director he quit, not long after Adams admitted that he had lied about his 2005 sexual relationship with Breedlove. Mayor Adams told a local television reporter that the reason Nkruman left is that the job was "not what he signed up for in terms of stress." It is this comment that led to the lawsuit, since Nkrumah contends that it harmed his business reputation.[19]

Petitioner complaint

On September 8, 2009 petitioners filed a complaint with the state alleging that Mayor Sam Adams yelled at a signature gatherer in front of Pioneer Courthouse Square. According to the group, Adams may have cost the group a signature, however, Adams says the claim is "absolutely, positively false." Rondine Ghiselline, the signature gatherer, said that the mayor approached her while she was collecting a signature and said, "Are these the kinds of rumors you've started now, and is that what you're resorting to?" However, Adams and his spokesperson Roy Kaufmann argue otherwise. According to Kauffmann, Ghiselline confronted them and the mayor responded by saying, "I hear you. Thank you for your comments." The Oregon Secretary of State's office will be reviewing the matter.[20]

On September 9, 2009 the Oregon Secretary of State's office declined to pursue the complaint filed by a petitioner.[21]

The filed complaint can be read here.

See also

External links


Wikipedia has an article on:

Additional reading

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Oregon Public Broadcasting News,"Recall Effort Fails To Gather Enough Signatures," October 5, 2009
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Oregonian,"Effort to recall Portland Mayor Sam Adams gets first big backer," October 15, 2009
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Portland Business Journal: "Adams not expected to resign," Jan 25, 2009
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Portland Business Journal: "Lunch: Getting rid of Adams 'difficult,'" Jan 21, 2009
  5. ↑ The Oregonian, "Campaign to recall Mayor Sam Adams gets off to slow start, but rallies support with drive-through", July 21, 2009
  6. ↑ Willamette Week Online, "Recall Campaign Hits Midpoint With A Long Way to Go On Signatures", August 20, 2009
  7. ↑ Willamette Week, "Total Recall", July 8, 2009
  8. ↑ Portland Business Journal, "Adams recall has support", July 17, 2009
  9. ↑ Examiner,"Second recall effort for Mayor Sam Adams gains support," October 17, 2009
  10. ↑ The Oregonian,"A second business backer identified in Mayor Sam Adams recall effort," October 16, 2009
  11. ↑ Willamette Week Online,"Avel Gordly Will Take A Top Role In The Second Effort To Recall Mayor Sam Adams," October 20, 2009
  12. ↑ Oregon Live, "History is on Sam Adams' side in recall", May 31, 2009
  13. ↑ The Oregonian, "Former state Sen. Avel Gordly backs mayor recall campaign", July 24, 2009
  14. ↑ Blogtown, "Tom Potter Announces Support for Adams Recall Campaign", July 11, 2009
  15. ↑ Willamette Week, "Former Mayor Tom Potter Unloads On Mayor Adams’ “Complete Lack” Of Judgment And Integrity", July 15, 2009
  16. ↑ Willamette Week, "Real-Estate Magnate Joe Weston Supports Recall Campaign", July 30, 2009
  17. ↑ Willamette Week, "Sign it", July 22, 2009
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Willamette Week,"Two More Business Leaders Join Sam Adams Recall," October 26, 2009
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 The Oregonian, "Former Adams spokesman sues city for more than $500,000", July 20, 2009
  20. ↑ The Oregonian," Recall campaign files complaint, but Mayor Sam Adams says claim is false," September 8, 2009
  21. ↑ KGW,"State declines to pursue Adams complaint," September 9, 2009
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