WW has learned that a new group calling itself Portland Future PAC will begin a second attempt to recall Portland Mayor Sam Adams. The new group will employ paid signature gatherers, a stark contrast to a recall group that has spent the past three months relying on volunteers to gather the 32,183 signatures needed to put a recall of Adams on the ballot.
Portland Future PAC will begin its effort on Monday —the day that the current recall effort faces a deadline to turn in the signatures it’s gathered to the city elections office. In effect, the new group will restart the clock on the current all-volunteer effort led by Jasun Wurster. That Wurster-led effort—calling itself The Community to Recall Sam Adams—claims it’s gathered more than 30,000 signatures from registered Portland voters. Wurster has offered no proof of that total. And given that some signatures are likely to be invalid, observers speculated he would need to turn in 40,000 or more signatures to ensure he had enough to guarantee 32,183 valid signatures.
Two people familiar with the new effort, speaking on background because they are not authorized to speak for the group, say Wurster won’t turn in the signatures he has gathered to the city elections office. Rather, Wurster will give the signatures to the new group so that it can ask those people to sign a second petition. Wurster, a student at Portland State University who previously worked on the campaign of City Commissioner Amanda Fritz, will reportedly take a back seat in the new effort.
Wurster did not return a call seeking comment Sunday night.
The new group, Portland Future PAC, has held a number of meetings in recent weeks. And people familiar with those meetings say it already has commitments for a substantial sum of money from prominent donors upset with Adams over his belated admission in mid-January that he had previously lied about having a sexual relationship with then teen-aged legislative intern Beau Breedlove.
Adams spokesman Roy Kaufmann did not immediately return a request for comment Sunday night.
Updated at 8:45 pm: Turns out Kaufmann is not allowed to talk about the issue:
“As the current recall is a pending election measure, election law prohibits me from commenting,” Kaufmann told WW via email.
Unlike Wurster’s group, according to a source familiar with the new group’s plan, the new effort will not start the statutory 90-day clock on signature gathering until it has raised a “substantial” amount of money.
It will not be cheap to gather the required signatures.
The group Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes has spent about $900,000 so far and it gathered 250,000 signatures state-wide for the referral of two income tax hikes passed by the 2009 Legislature. That’s more than $3 per signature, although the group also incurred expenses other than just paying signature gatherers.
Wurster’s group has spent just $18,000. However, if he really has gathered more than 30,000 signatures that the new recall group can use as a base, the task might be slightly easier for the new group.
- Wurster Confirms New Recall Group Will Start And Get The Signatures He’s Gathered Jasun Wur
- Recall Campaign Hits Midpoint With A Long Way to Go On Signatures The Recal
- Middle-Age and Older Portlanders, The Recall Sam Adams Committee May Be Calling If you
- Mayoral Recall Effort To Go Forward A spokesma
- A Night With The Recall Sam Adams Campaign There wer
I just wish people would focus their money and effort on my productive matters. It was a sad series of events, but I am over it. Portland is over it. I want to move forward and start working on issues that matter to Portland. Job creation, education, green-power, city management, budgeting, improving the safety of our community — these should be our priorities.
Another three months puts us deeply into winter.
Mr Jaquiss, have you been able to determine whether our alleged mayor has devised any other plan for addressing snow and ice than shoveling our own walks and waiting for whatever clogs the streets to melt?
Nice try “Jon” (or should I say Sam Adams or Mark Weiner?).
Watching the Google Alerts for anything Sam Adams related and then responding first so that other commenters are on the defensive. It’s really transparent.
It worked in the past because people weren’t aware of your tactics, but it’s out in the open now. You’re not fooling anyone (except maybe the hipsters who don’t vote anyway).
Having our leaders be honest and trustworthy should our most important priority. Think about it — if you don’t have that, what else really matters. We can tackle everything else after the people of Portland decide if they appreciate being lied to multiple times by our Mayor. I’m looking forward to the new, professionally run effort that will get this issue on the ballot and in front of the people.
Speak for yourself Jon – many of us are NOT over it and want Sam held accountable for his unethical behavior and abuse of power. Our priorities are honest and ethical government.
Sam is not a good man and he’s a worse politician. He can’t begin to redeem himself until he publicly apologizes to Robert Ball AND turns in the resignation he wrote in January.
Cool, I’ll help collect signatures if I get paid to do it.
Some fun quotes from my Greek Drama book:
“Truth is ever best.”
“…the voice of the multitude is a mighty thing.”
“All men are liable to err; but when an error has been made, that man is no longer witless or unblessed who heals the ill into which he has fallen and does not remain stubborn.”
“It is not the way in Portland to fawn upon a villain!”
Hey “Jon’”
“I just wish…,”
“…but I am over it,”
“I want to move …’”
It’s all about you, huh? If the recall efforts are tiresome, distracting and expensive, it’s only due one man’s, uh, person’s, narcissism and hubris. The longer he stays in office, the longer he hurts himself and the city he purports to care about, but apparently loathes as much as he loathes himself.
Gardiner,
Don’t worry about shoveling ice/snow this year. Global warming will keep everything from freezing.
I want Kaufmann’s job. He gets paid a lot of money for never saying anything.
It’s not over till it’s over. I’m not over it. Sam is ruining Portland along with his trusty sidekick F-bomb Leonard.
After receiving many abusive, immature, and profane “middle finger salutes” and demeaning remarks from apparent Adams’ supporters while collecting Recall petition signatures, it has now become more apparent that this Recall will need to continue not only to return honesty and integrity to our city leaders but also to bring decency and civility back to our community. Our residents and our youth deserve much better.
Every time time the Anti-Samites try to rerun the election they will lose a supporters NOT gain them. The opposition had it’s chance at a recall effort and if it fails I’m hoping people will just move forward and try more productive means of improving the city.
“When elites fail, what should we do about it?” Noam Chomsky asked a crowd of Portlanders on Friday. “Simple answer: get rid of them,”
That’s right, tangible. Everyone else is wrong, you’re the only sane one here.
It is nice to know that so many people have never made a single mistake or have told a lie in their lifetime. I am extremely tired of people in this country focussing on so called “moral” issues rather then serious issues like jobs and healthcare. Portland Future PAC is a complete waste of time and money. Those resources should be going to more important matters instead of a few people with an agenda of hate.
getoverit, could you be specific about the “more important matters” to which your boilerplate comment refers? And could you prioritize those alleged “more important matters?”
I think getoverit did prioritize them… jobs and health care, both pretty important to most people right now
[...] He declines to name either the people who approached him orginally or those who have said they will support the new recall effort. [...]
The assertion of Adam’s proponants that supporters of the recall effort are bigots is absurd: ‘If you didn’t vote for Adams you’re a bigot.’ ‘If you want him recalled, you’re a bigot.’ This is every bit as divisive and backward as the movement opposing desegregation in the sixties. I’m a liberal Democrat, and threw myself passionately at the effort to remove Adams from office. It is not about his orientation, but his lack of integrity and loathsome self-centerdness. There’s always collateral damage that results from these traits. In this intance it’s damaging an entire Community.
“I want to move forward and start working on issues that matter to Portland. Job creation, education, green-power, city management, budgeting, improving the safety of our community — these should be our priorities.”
These are important issues that Adams CANNOT deliver on.
Instead you have pubilc debt issued at 9%(20% higher then junk bonds) to attract MLS…
Its amatuer hour at City Hall.
Sure.. Jobs, environment, infrastructure. All far more important then trying to remove a Mayor for moral indiscretions. Its pretty amazing that money is available for a ridiculous recall effort yet the unemployment numbers keep going up. Imagine if the money donated to this effort went to hire unemployed workers to fix the city streets, or enhance other city programs. Paying people to canvass the streets for signatures is not productive in my mind and does nothing for the unemployed except maybe give them temporary funding.
Regarding the community leaders who will help Portland get back on track:
“These are people who want to take the city in a better direction,” says Wurster, whose recall effort was all-volunteer and had little financing. “They think Adams’ behavior is having an economic impact on the city and hurting our reputation regionally and nationally.”
He declines to name either the people who approached him orginally or those who have said they will support the new recall effort.
“People fear retaliation,” Wurster says. “We found that gathering signatures. It’s very troubling when people fear participating in a democracy. It makes you wonder do we really have a democracy?”
(Nigel Jaquiss quoting Jasun Wurster)
You’re right, ‘getoverit’ – it’s unfortunate further time and money has to be spent on this. Sadly, Adams continues to refuse to do the right thing and step down.
getoverit, what ‘moral indiscretions” are you referring to? We want Sam held accountable for lying to get elected, asking others to lie for him, engaging in an elaborate and calculated coverup to hide his lies, slandering a political rival and ruining other’s reputations, hiring a reporter that was investigating him for a job she was unqualified, etc. Are you saying you’re okay with that?
“[...] He declines to name either the people who approached him orginally or those who have said they will support the new recall effort. [...]”
Well, that sounds like a good way to start an open and honest debate. No back room dealings here.
Dear God. Give it a rest, people!
thank you brian, this is definitely a pointless issue and one that does not justify making the people of Portland pay for a reelection of any kind…if you dont like Adams, dont vote for him the next time around, that is the beauty of politics.
The longer Wurster tries to to a recall effort after effort, the more he will delute himself and make himself into a running gag for the city. People of Portland wish to see impovements made in the green industry, job creations, things that will get us back on track and being a productive city, a recall goes in the face of this by creating a huge bill for the people to pay for and a huge distraction from real pressing matters.
So again, if you dont like Adams, dont vote for him in the next election and try doing something more productive for the city.
He’s doing a great job as mayor, just watch the meetings. I’m voting for him again…;p