They are saying Sam Adams is the “Shadow Mayor,” of Portland.
To that suggestion, I personally say, Hell Yeah!!
I honestly find this suggestion comforting. With the string of poorly educated leaders that have recently afflicted our city, the tedious Chloe Eudaly comes to mind, along with the explosive and loquacious Joann Hardesty, it becomes ever more apparent that Portland needs better qualified leaders and not substandard candidates who are barely literate. Subjects like economics, sociology, police science and urban studies are things that all Portland city leaders should have more than only a rudimentary grasp of in their professional lives.
Both of these women lacked even an adequate educational background or the emotional balance and temperament to perform well in politics. And though Chloe Eudaly is history, thankfully replaced by Mingus Mapps, as she should have been, today, I find this current rumor about Sam Adams to be quite a hopeful thing, indeed.
I like knowing that Sam Adams is again fighting for Portland. I know that he’s young enough and dedicated enough to make a significant difference for the greater good of our city, and I have faith in him, too. Deep down, I think most people know Sam Adams is a good person who cares deeply about the city of Portland and its current trajectory and life altering issues and concerns — namely the gun violence and murder that is devastating our city.
And I know that Mayor Ted Wheeler knows these things as well. Ted Wheeler actually has a great deal of admiration for Sam Adams. How do I know this? Because Wheeler told me so in a string of emails we exchanged a few months ago, emails which I have chosen not to share publicly.
The fact is, Sam Adams with his long career in politics, (learning the intricacies of the sometimes dirty pool world of politics from the legendary Vera Katz) casts a large shadow over Portland. And, we will all be better off for it. Here is a passage from the Portland Monthly article…
“To understand the current dynamics inside city hall, insiders say, you have to understand just how different Wheeler and Adams are. Wheeler is famously conflict-averse, says a consultant who has previously worked with him; he has at points seemed to be gutting out his second mayoral term with the grim determination of a man who has climbed Everest and run marathons and simply will not let this job get the best of him. Adams is a brawler (“an enforcer, a bulldog,” says Laurelhurst Neighborhood Association vice president T.J. Browning, who has tangled with him over two decades) and a political animal trained by Katz, whose sweet exterior belied a steel core.”
I believe the succinct appraisal above to be true. Adams IS an enforcer and a brawler, because he understands sometimes you have to fight fire with fire. He’s not afraid to be tough and that is what Portland needs. Having met Sam a few times over the years, I can also say his personality fluctuates between being gracious and humble, almost to the point of being shy, to being tough and steely when necessary. And frankly, that’s what a good leader is like.
They have to be both. Sam Adams is both.
Right now, the most pressing issue in Portland is the fact that we have some dangerously naive, out of touch city leaders making serious policy decisions that are impacting the public safety of thousands of Portland residents. These radical policies, including the firing of the Gun Violence Reduction Team have destroyed more than a few lives under the specter of the constant murder occurring in Portland right now.
One of these city leaders is DA Mike Schmidt, a man who quite frankly has blood on his hands. He is a man who has proven his abject incompetence, repeatedly, while also demonstrating his inability to either respect or work well with women.
Schmidt’s notorious anti-woman behavior has resulted in NINE women attorneys resigning from the DA’s office in less than 18 months, along with a very important female Victim Advocate named Vanessa Palacios resigning as well. Ten women in less than 18 months have fled the DA’s office, citing the hostile, and toxic work environment that Schmidt himself has created. As for Schmidt, he has demonstrated his misogyny and shameless woman hatred by replacing ALL of those professional and dedicated women attorneys positions with MEN.
Schmidt is lost in a fantasy world where he thinks he’s going to create some social justice utopia out of thin air, by not prosecuting repeat criminals and further providing his incomplete version of what he calls “Restorative Justice.”
Sadly, young Schmidt does not comprehend what Restorative Justice actually is and his office does not provide any glimpse of RJ occurring in actual practice. What Schmidt does do, is engage in a pattern of repeatedly releasing violent male offenders, so they can go out into the Portland community and prey on more innocent people and even destroy more innocent lives in random acts of senseless, vicious murder.
Schmidt has released two male offenders who then went on to commit murder. Micheal Forest Reinoehl, and Keffer James White. Both of these men committed murder after DA Mike Schmidt chose to release them for other serious crimes, including serious assault and illegal gun possession. Reinoehl murdered Aaron Danielson and White viciously murdered an elderly professor, Donald A. Pierce.
These two senseless murders occurred because law and order is NOT valued by DA Mike Schmidt. He chose to release these predators and not prosecute them for serious crimes of predation. This is why Schmidt is unfit to lead or act as a competent DA for Portland. He’s an uninformed radical who has a weak grasp on reality.
Mike Schmidt has blood on his hands and he always will.
This make-believe utopia Schmidt predicted would transform Portland as a result of how he would change the DA’s office has not manifested in any capacity whatsoever. Rather, his policies have resulted in a city that is out of control with crime and murder. This includes robbery, rape and the sexual trafficking of minor girls and boys, which often occurs in homeless camps in filthy sodden tents.
Under DA Mike Schmidt’s watch, Portland Oregon has devolved into a gangland terror-scape of dead bodies, pools of blood drying in the summer heat and rape victims who are not processed or given any hope their attackers will be prosecuted, because there are too many murders the PPB detectives have to investigate, instead.
Rather than the utopia Schmidt promised, Portlanders are dealing with a town whose streets run red with blood, from weekly and even daily shootings. Blood that flows out of the backs, guts and heads of primarily young black men. Young black men who continue killing each other in a drug GANG war that Portland media is terrified to actually address directly (for fear they will be called racists) and that DA Schmidt denies is even a reality, when of course it is a reality.
So, if this rumor that Sam Adams is in fact impacting the way Mayor Ted Wheeler leads, and if Sam Adams is helping to solve problems, with his well-known problem solving ability, then this can only be a good thing and I personally am glad of it.
Portland is balanced on the edge of a dangerous precipice, and sane, balanced and moderate leadership is the ONLY way this city is not going to self-destruct and completely lose its character and what it has always been, which was a city with wonderful livability.
We currently have a small group of violent criminals and even radical activists living primarily in the North End, who are so misguided, they actually believe police are the problem. Some of these lost souls have shot at and even tried to run over PPB officers with their vehicles in only the last week. They are so brainwashed by the inaccurate anti-police algorithms of things like Google, YouTube and other search engines, they can’t see reality for what it is.
Of course, the Portland Police are not the problem. It is not the police who are killing people every week, it is Portland residents, deranged Portland civilians killing other Portland civilians. It is the gang members and other desperate individuals who fear no repercussions if they go out and get even with a perceived enemy over some petty problem they think only a bullet can solve.
So, if Mayor Ted Wheeler feels he needs to lean on Sam Adams, and learn common sense methods that will restore Portland public safety to something of what it was in the past, (and even three years ago in 2019 this city was in better shape) then more power to Ted Wheeler for having that insight and for making that smart decision to include Sam Adams in City Hall.
I support Sam Adams and am grateful for his dedication in helping get us through this unprecedented and very dark time in our history. If Sam Adams is helping Mayor Ted Wheeler in his role as mayor, for the greater good of Portland, well then, I personally approve of that and consider that a cause for celebration! 😊
~Theresa Griffin Kennedy
Per the Oregonian, "Schmidt earlier Sunday decried the deadly violence. He took office on Aug. 1 and quickly announced that he wouldn’t pursue low-level charges against demonstrators, such as interfering with police or resisting arrest. He wasn’t district attorney when the office handled Reinoehl’s gun case." I couldn't find any record of dropped charges in the other case, other than after the murder. Further, after using false facts to justify claiming Schmidt doesn't understand restorative justice, you don't actually describe what "real" RJ would be. Isn't this what you have a degree in? Why don't you tell me what it is or what it looks like? You already had a citable point of resignations over leadership, so it's unclear why you got so sloppy with the rest of it.