Blogtown, PDX

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Election 2008 Sam Adams on the Dozono Ruling

Posted by Amy J. Ruiz on Thu, Mar 20 at 7:28 PM

Commissioner Sam Adams took a break from the Art Spark party at Living Room Theaters, to talk about Dozono’s loss of public funds today. Or, if you put it another way, to talk about Adams’ victorious appeal of Dozono’s certification.

“We’re obviously pleased with the ruling,” Adams says. “We initiated the legal action under a simple principle—to be treated fairly under city and state election law.”

The poll, Adams explains, gave Dozono an unfair $27,295 advantage. Adams had pledged to cap his funding to $200,000, and anything he would have raised over that would have been matched in public funding to Dozono. But the $27,295, under the Auditor’s ruling, wouldn’t have triggered a matching allowance for Adams’ fundraising (Dozono had earlier offered to let Adams raise another $27,295 without triggering matching funds, something the Auditor recognized at Monday’s hearing as a nice offer, but one he couldn’t actually do—the Auditor would have to offer Dozono the matching funds. Earlier today, Dozono pointed out that he wouldn’t have had to accept them. Anyway!)

When it’s all said and done, Adams says “I hope he stays in [the race].” A race as important as who will lead Portland as mayor deserves a robust debate, he says.

And Adams says he’s still willing to limit his fundraising to “$227,295” if Dozono does the same, which could alleviate Dozono’s original trepidation over private fundraising—he didn’t want to dial for the the million bucks he was told would be necessary to run a competitive race.

The poll situation has been “a major disruption to this campaign, and was totally avoidable had he been up front about it,” Adams concluded.

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Comments

I think that a solution might have been reached other than removing sho's funding if he hadn't attempted to conceal it. He clearly knew that commissioning the poll was a violation of the intent of the public funding initiative, and his attempts to hide his actions after the fact show a total lack of integrity.

Posted by ne portlander | March 20, 2008 11:30 PM

If you were once a Sam supporter, his sleezy actions and insincere comments should send you running in the opposite direction.

Remember, this is his second assassination of a major opponent.

Adams--what a creepy, slimy guy!

Posted by My skin is crawling | March 21, 2008 7:50 AM

awesome game delay tactic, Sam. You the Man!
(or do you catch?)

Posted by Leland Gaunt | March 21, 2008 8:41 AM

Sam Adams is a putz!

Posted by Sadie | March 21, 2008 10:38 AM

Sam Adams, George W. Bush, and Voldemort have never been seen in the same place at the same time. Could be just a coincidence, but the similarities are pretty persuasive.

Posted by Hmmm... | March 21, 2008 11:54 AM

Hmmmm:

You forgot Nixon. Thirty point lead and has his goons break into the Watergate.

Adams. Thirty point lead and has his goons file a lawsuit.

Posted by Dave Lister | March 21, 2008 1:18 PM

"'I hope he stays in...'": Jesus. What's Adams supposed to say? What's a professional politician gonna say in a situation like this? "Dozono should sit down, shut up & get his ass out of the way"? COME ON! Sam's a pro, and he's gonna say the "right" thing, no matter what he thinks. (What surprises me is how politic Dozono has been in his comments, given his self-described lack of political acumen.)

"...assassination...": This was no assassination. Not even close. Sho is campaigning under a new, untested law, and he chose to play in the grey areas of that law ("candidate" vs. "non-candidate") of his own accord. How do we make sense of laws? With case law -- with challenges, verdicts and appeals. Sho is helping the City clarify the boundaries of VOE, and I hope he appeals the verdict to further refine our understanding of the concept.

Watergate vs. Sho-gate? Please, Dave. The comparison is stupid. It's beneath you. It insults the intelligence of anyone here who has any.

If Sam Adams sneezes, the anti-Adams corps accuses him of trying to kill us all with the flu.

Posted by Guffman | March 21, 2008 1:56 PM

I was no big fan of Sam Adams, but the Dozono supporters have represented themselves very poorly in this. Had Sho been innocent, they might have a leg to stand on. But Sho was guilty, not Sam, and his supporters attempt to blame the victim does not look appealing. They've taken a bad situation and made it even worse.

And I don't think this is beneath Dave Lister and the Jack Bog crowd. This is them being themselves.

Posted by Jerry | March 22, 2008 11:08 PM

Working in the Polling industry as a Research Technician, I realize the more than monetary value of that poll. 25 minutes can give you a lot of info if the right questions are asked. Besides, when did Portland secede from Oregon? State law is QUITE clear as to the value and illegality of this poll in question.

Posted by Dale | March 23, 2008 3:09 PM

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