Sam buys more magic beans


You can't help but smile ruefully at this story: Former Portland Mayor Sam Adams, now inexplicably back on the city payroll as Dud Wheeler's czar of yada yada, must have thought he had a deal with the women's golf tournament: If he had the filthy tent camps near the Columbia Edgewater Country Club swept out, the tournament wouldn't go through on its threat to pull out of Portland in favor of the less creepy suburbs.

So Sam had the homeless camp swept out. 

Sam Adams, former Portland mayor and director of strategic innovations for Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office, had heard organizers’ concerns in a virtual meeting May 21 and assured the city would work to clear the encampments in time for the tournament.

“We followed through and started making significant improvements immediately,” Adams said. “And we’ve got a track record to back our commitments up.”

But by the time he did, the tournament had moved. 

“I heard about it in the news,” Adams said. “The local organizers called me later that morning.”

Adams's shrewd business savvy and keen insights into human nature are part of what made him a one-term mayor, a first-round-washout candidate for city council, and a short-timer in his nonprofit gigs in between. I suspect he was initially sent into the golf crisis with the dual goals of keeping the tournament in the city and not having to sweep out the tent-dwellers. Forcing out the poor folks to make way for the whitest sport on the planet is not the best optics in a place like Portland. But at least get one out of two.

And what does he bring home? The wrong outcomes on both fronts. An impressive feat.

Not that the sweep was bad thing, except for the politics. Until all of the tent camps are removed from the streets and roads of Portland, the city will never recover economically.

And at least this episode shows Portlanders what to do if they're sick of the tent people on their street: Start organizing that golf tournament.

Comments

  1. Jack,...I share your sentiments about Mr. Adams in their entirety, however simply sweeping all the tent people out around the city generates a serious humanitarian issue now. Too little, too late; those 'horses escaped the corral' and its virtually impossible to make this problem go away without the resources of which there are none.

    We need solutions, not simply easy criticism,.....what would you propose to truly fix the problem given the lack of city, county & state monies at hand?

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    1. How very wrong you are. We just voted in $2.5 BILLION in Metro taxes over 10 years to fix this. There is plenty of money. What is lacking is common sense. Shelters and managed camps are not that expensive. But somebody has to decide that the people in the tents are going to be told where they can and can't sleep. Nobody seems to want to do that. Until tent camping is not tolerated, Portland will never come back.

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    2. Thank you very much for the correction on tax resources. I'd bet there are major competing interests for that which rank similarly in priorities. Still,......I read each and every word I can find on this subject, however I've never read a practical, detailed plan about where to put the folks who would NOT prefer living on the street. Its easy to issue mandates about camping etc, but FAR harder to actually create solutions since such homeless people will ignore ordinances and laws as they already have little or nothing to lose. Constitutionality is another litmus test for such things that will tie up Oregon courts for a long time.

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    3. There's this thing called jail. If you refuse to obey all rules, you go to jail. That's how it works in civilization. Life isn't fair. You and I don't get to live in Dunthorpe. People with no income have to settle for what society gives them.

      As for the lawyers, let them dither. In the meantime, big shelters, managed camps, jail, and endless hassle. And geez, how about an adequate level of mental health money? Use some of the bottomless bike bridge budget.

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  2. I hate how this city prioritizes tourists over those who live here.

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    1. I read that they cancelled because the whole city is unsafe. They are right there.

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    2. Can you imagine if the rioters hassled the golfers? Ask the Denver Nuggets basketball team, who tried to stay at the Nines Hotel when they played here in the playoffs. Turns out, it was Whack Andy Ngo night with the Antifa set, and nobody got any sleep.

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    3. So why don't we all sue the city for not enforcing laws? Why don't we sue the city for encouraging unsafe conditions and refusing to take dangerous criminals off the street? This is a serious question and you are an attorney.

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    4. Wonder if a Writ of Mandamus could be had or if it would even be enforced?

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  3. Reminds of when Imelda Marcos had all the shanties removed and built glorious buildings and statues to line the route from the airport to her palace so her guests would only see beauty and glamour.

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  4. Full marks for the 'The Jerk' reference.

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  5. There's this option from Sacramento. https://www.kcra.com/article/advocates-respond-sacramento-mayors-require-housing-homeless/36897798 . What's really scary further down in the article is; "In April, a federal judge ordered the City of Los Angeles to offer some form of shelter or housing to the entire homeless population of skid row by October. " Probably coming soon to a city near you.

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    1. You could put a huge shelter in the worthless Convention Center. Bring in some cots and portable showers. Same deal out at the Expo Center. And get some jail space ready for the holdouts. We have a $2.5 BILLION budget.

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    2. Let them camp at the golf courses.

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