The Community to Recall Sam Adams opened its new office at 421 N. Broadway St., on Monday afternoon.
Organizers weren’t greeted with a huge crowd or even a crowd as big as the one they produced at Nick’s Coney Island restaurant in May. But those who did attend the open house represented diverse interests.
Melissa Shinn, for example, lives in Gresham but has a daughter who is a Portland police officer. Or, she was a Portland police officer until Chief Rosie Sizer fired her in 2008 for lying about a medical condition. Last week, City Council modified that decision as part of a settlement that allowed Christina Nelson, Shinn’s daughter, to resign instead. But Shinn says she’s upset about the hypocrisy. “She took her lemons and made lemonade,” Shinn says. “I can’t do that.”
Don Wolfe, a blind activist who often campaigns on behalf of medical marijuana causes, says he’s been collecting signatures on the bus because Portlanders need to hold elected officials to a high standard, he says. “Stop being blind,” is his message to Portlanders who haven’t signed the recall petitions yet.
Rachel Cain is collecting signatures for the mayoral recall and Oregonians Against Job Killing Taxes, a group that aims to refer two tax measures from the 2009 Legislature to the ballot next January.
Neola Larsen, who lives near 39th Avenue, is still smarting from City Council’s decision last month to change the name of 39th Avenue to César E. Chávez Boulevard. “They’re messing with the history of my city, and I resent that,” Larsen says. She called her decision to join the recall campaign “a natural progression.”
The recall campaign’s most prominent supporters — former Mayor Tom Potter, former State Sen. Avel Gordly and Joe Weston, the wealthy developer who donated the office space (pictured below) — were not at the open house when I stopped by. Potter, at least, has an excuse. He was camping.
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Tags: Sam Adams
Portlander’s are an apathetic bunch for the most part; they care more about watching Desperate Housewives than having to think about anything; especially politics or what’s right and good for Portland. Good luck to Jasun and crew, you guys rock, keep up the good fight and hard work! If the recall doesn’t get enough signatures, I bet an earthquake takes out Sam and Randy and their heinous deeds by years end anyhow.
Our huge crowd, now numbering close to 400, is out collecting signatures.
Today while strolling in Multnomah Village, signatures dropping in my lap, I had several interesting experiences.
A group of high school age kids all signed, after agreeing that the mentoring story was “totally lame”. Then a young man replied to my invitation to sign, “no, actually, I like Sam.” Then he added, looking at me sideways, in a lowered voice, with a sneer, “I don’t care that he’s gay”, implying I must dislike him because he’s gay. Sigh.
Then I went into a community center and offered the petition to the young girl at the window, suggesting perhaps some staff might like to sign. As I was speaking I caught sight of an older man who had signed earlier out on the street during his work break, sitting in the back of the office. The young girl replied, eyes opened very wide, “I really don’t think people would be happy if I brought THAT back there.” I smiled. “OK”.
Later I went to a play and found an old friend from the tango scene I hadn’t seen in 4 months, who asked me for two petitions to be mailed to him, “yeah, I’ll work’em for ya.”
On the way home, out of curiosity, I ventured into hipster territory on 12th and Division, to check out the psychosocial scene.
4 guys. One said, “he’s not my favorite guy, but I’m not going to sign”; another said “I don’t care about the sex”; a third said, “I would kiss Beau Breedlove too if I could.” Surprisingly, they then thanked me for my efforts as I was going on my way.
Then I spent 30 minutes in a large store’s busy parking lot and pulled in another cool 20 signatures.
Good luck to Jasun and crew, you guys rock, keep up the good fight and hard work! If the recall doesn’t get enough signatures, I bet an earthquake takes out Sam and Randy and their heinous deeds by years end anyhow.
Funny,I was just thinking the same thing this AM,and for me, the 77 year old man at the Lents ball park meeting, that Randy “barked” at, get’s him to remove his commissioners hat, takes him out of that meeting at kicks his butt.
“Citizens who understand the importance of government accountability must keep these issues alive. Failure to investigate wrongdoing in high places and tolerating misconduct or criminality can have only the most corroding impact on our democracy and the rule of law that sustains us.” – Elizabeth Holtzman
gonetorio: “a group of high school age kids all signed,…” Don’t signatures on petitions of this sort have to be those of registered voters? Just asking – don’t know for sure – but if so, then a sure way to sabotage a recall campaign is to get lots of invalid signatures on the petitions.
Jim G,
They were all registered to vote and have just graduated high school.
Today on the recall highway, lots of fun to be had.
Frenzy of delighted exuberance down at the campaign headquarters, truly a palace. Joe Weston, we send you a million dreams of roses through the ether. The serious campaigners showed up, sleeves rolled up.
Then on to signature-gathering. Down to the suburbs to pick up a disabled collector. On to the Moreland farmer’s market and the Eastmoreland golf course.
Snapshots:
a crowd of people apres-golf lining up to sign.
an Asian-American gentleman passing me in a golf-cart, braking sharply upon hearing my request, YEAH! GIVE THAT TO ME! I’VE BEEN WAITING…
Little lady in the farmer’s market with daughter….effusive, thank you, thank you so much…
I even had TWO hipsters sign for me today.
One asked my for my rationale, I belted out a laundry list of failures on the environment, plastic bags, 12 lane roads, demolitioning a perfectly good bridge for 150 million dollars, baseball stadiums, cutting down 40 mature trees at a local park, and was about to launch into the memorial coliseum, when she said OK, OK, I’ll sign the fucking thing..
The second hipster pulled out into an intersection I was passing and almost hit me.
“Are u ok?”…”well, I’ll be OK if you sign my petition”…”OK.”
The most touching thing so far. A tall, gangly man, bright, glasses, but afflicted in some way in his ability to interact, maybe CP or Aspergers, or generalized anxiety, who stuttered out a few words, something like thank you, thank you, I, I, didn’t know if you would be able to find me…
Disappointments? Always. Today’s was a public high school teacher rolling on the pity/peace vote, let’s just vote him out at the next available opportunity. I made sure he knew that his city employee neighbor across the street had signed. “Oh, I guess I better go talk to him.”
Yeah, I guess you’d better.
Lots of similar experiances from 3 days at last local gun show.
“Where do I sign?”….”Will you be here on Sunday, I will call a friend who is coming?”
Only had one “HELL NO!” out of 389 collected.
We will again have a table next gun show, we will announce the date soon.
Gonetorio on another thread had a great idea which involved using a helicopter to get the recall petitions out. Not sure how practical the idea was but he gets an “A” for creativity.
I like the fly-over idea, if for the sheer dramatic affect of one alone.
While he has us on that train of thought, consider how many folks pack through PDX International Airport in a day?
I checked air traffic and for the month of June 2009 there were a total of 1,219,224 enplaned and deplaned passengers. Of that; 812,042 were utilizing major carriers and 348,353 regional. There were approximately 557 charter passengers (Flight Craft). You kind of have a captive audience there.
Also, if you don’t already, it might help to have representation at popular upcoming annual events which have large projected attendance?
8/1-30 The Street of Dreams
8/7-9 The Bite
8/9 Providence Bridge Pedal
Mt. Hood Festival of Jazz
8/16 Hawthorne Street Fair
8/22 Soapbox Derby on Tabor
8/27-29 Fest Italiana at Pioneer Courthouse
8/30 Oregon Holocaust 5th Anniversary at the Holocaust Resource Center
The Oregon Zoo
The Children’s Museum
OMSI
Farmers Markets
Power to the peeps!