OREGON S GAY/LE S BIAN/B l/TRAN S NEWSMAGAZINE
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Former Mayor Supports
Sam Adorns Recoil
To my friends in the sexual and gender
minority community:
You may have heard that I am supporting
the recall of Mayor Sam Adams. O f all the
communities affected by Mayor Adams’ ac
tions, this community has deep and personal
feelings about the outcome. I know there
are strong feelings on both sides of this is
sue. Because I love this community, I feel it’s
important to tell you why I made my decision
to support the recall of our Mayor.
During his time as City Commissioner
and Mayor, 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.
My support for Mayor Adams’ recall is
not about his actions with Beau Breedlove,
because we may never have the complete
information as to whether or not he com
mitted any criminal act(s) with Beau. This
is not about the Mayor’s sexual orientation.
The only person I know who used his sexual
orientation as an argument in this issue is the
Mayor himself.
What this issue is about for me is the May
or’s attempt to deny and cover up his actions
with Beau before and after Beau turned 18.
He lied to us all in order to win an election.
He -made false accusations about a gay man’s
integrity while cloaked in self-righteousness.
In the attempt to cover up his involvement,
he lied right up to the time he recognized he
could no longer hide the truth. He demon
strated a serious lack of integrity and ethical
behavior. His actions caused many Portland
ers to distrust him, and he was shunned by
politicians at the state and national level. He
was not invited to local events which neces
sitated other elected leaders filling in for him.
Most every major print media has called for
his resignation, including/«*/ Out. He caused
a division within the gay community in Port
land and across the country that still sits heavy
with us today. Today, there are many people
who are afraid to speak out against Mayor
Adams, yet feel they were duped by him.
"It's Really Not That Hard" To Embrace
Cesar E. Chavez Blvd.
I have heard people say the impetus for
the recall campaign is from homophobic ele
ments in our community. I have no doubt that
homophobes take delight in Mayor Adams’
problems and some of the more vocal radio
personalities have tried to insert themselves
in the middle of this problem. But the truth
is that when Sam ran for Mayor he was en
dorsed by most print media in Portland, and
his sexual orientation was not an issue in any
campaign debates. The Community to Recall
Mayor Adams committee has been training
volunteer signature gatherers. The signature
gatherers agree not to collect signatures from
individuals who base their decision to sign on
sexual orientation or religious social conser
vative reasons. I would never participate in
any recall, or other ballot initiative which is
based in such idiotic beliefs.
For sometime I have been observing how
this issue disgracefully unfolded. I came to
the conclusion that Mayor Adams should
resign and a new Mayor elected to carry out
those duties. Sam has made it clear he will
not resign and I feel it is important for Port
landers to vote for or against the Sam Ad
ams they have come to know now versus the
person they voted for in the Primary Election
of May, 2008.1 love Portland and its people
and I know this issue has generated heated
debates and strong passions on both sides.
Which ever side you come down on I will
respect your views and actions. I know when
this is over Portlanders will have to reconcile
a lot of strong feelings about Mayor Adams
and each other. This recall question is about
honest government, an honest City Council
and an honest Portland.
Ultimately, the sexual and gender minority
community has to come together and focus
on the bigger challenges of ensuring full civil
rights for our community. I believe Mayor
Adams currently stands in the way of that
progress.
T om P otter
SE Portland
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From left to rig h t: Sheila Bennett. D M D . Adrienne Fischl,
D M D Diane Applegate. DDS, Clarice Johnston. D M D
I live on NE 39th Avenue in the Hol
lywood neighborhood. I applaud the
unanimous July 8 vote by the Portland
City Council to rename my street Cesar E.
Chavez Boulevard. It’s called leadership.
We don’t elect our leaders to simply follow
a change-averse public when there are lon
ger term issues, like community inclusion.
As a small business owner, I sympathize
with businesses which in hard times must
incur additional costs involved in a street
name change.... Maybe this is the time for
some of the businesses to upgrade their
logos, their service and also their accom
modation of the new customers who will
want to check out what’s happening “on
Chavez.” I’ve lived here long enough to
remember the grousing about the “new”
MLK street name. Now I just say, “well, to
get to the Wonder Ballroom just go north
on MLK and turn left at Russell.” I can’t
wait to say, “to get to my house, just go
east on NE Knott to Chavez.” For those
who have trouble with change, remember
the 39th Avenue signs stay up for FIVE
years as well. Some things will come with
time, such as marriage equality or street
names to honor real American heroes. But
someone has to take the first step. I’m glad
our City Council found its collective voice.
In the fall, with the turning of the leaves,
I’d love to see some different kind of block
parties in my neighborhood. Maybe ones
in which the barricades keep out only cars,
not those who don’t happen to live on that
particular block. It’s called friendship.
It’s really not that hard.
M ark A. W oolley
Portland
Politics Shouldn't Be Left to Politicians
"Unless They Hove Integrity"
Just Out reflects high journalistic stan
dards with its contribution to the initiative
process, by keeping www.recallsamadams.
org in the news.
Your recognition of a divided com
munity (half who insist that integrity in
office is unnecessary; confronted by those
of us (who are, for example, raising kids or
teaching in our schools) indicates that our
well-paid politicians are expected to have
just that: integrity.
There are also those who actually feel
that politics should be left in the hands
of the politicians themselves. I can’t sub
scribe to such a position unless they have
integrity.
Thanks to your persuasive approach, it
is evident that we must act in the name of
integrity since we have no other option.
m
B ob G eary
Portland
Submit /o u r letters to the editor, commitment
announcem ents, transitions or list /o u r
events online at www.justout.com.
CLICK ON THE READER SUBMISSIONS BUTTON.
It’s a beautiful thing.