Portland Mayor Sam Adams, who admitted lying about a 2005 sexual relationship with an 18-year-old boy, says Portlanders should know “within days” whether he will resign. Adams did not appear in public Thursday but told The Oregonian he spent much of the day with his pastor and with his mentor, former Portland Mayor Vera Katz. “It’s important that I learn the lessons that need to be learned regardless of what I decide,” said Adams, who apologized at length to Portlanders Tuesday. [AP]
Sam Adams To Make Resignation Decision “Within Days”
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flightoftheseabird
Wasn’t he just elected? Moreover, why is this even a story? He had consensuel sex with an adult. This is a problem, because…? There is no adultry involved. My understanding, Beau was not his intern, so this is not a “Monica” situation. Yeah Adams started to talking to Beau when Beau was 17, but both say nothing happened until Beau turned 18. Am I missing something here?
Smartypants
You’re missing that when questioned about this when he was beginning a run for mayor, Adams repeatedly lied to the press and also talked Beau into lying on his behalf. He could have simply said, I only date legal adults and my private life is nobody’s business. But he didn’t because he was afraid that voters might be put off by his dating a freshly minted 18 year old.
Plus there’s the odd hiring of the reporter who was investigating the story whom everyone has admitted has no direct qualifications for the well-paying taxpayer funded job she now has in Adams’ city hall. Again nothing illegal, but it looks bad and needs to be explained.
As we’ve seen so many times before, it’s the coverup that gets people into trouble.
jerekeys
“a 2005 sexual relationship with an 18-year-old boy”?
How about 18-year-old man? Or do we not care about the legal distinction in our rush to judgment? Or are we using gay terminology, where anyone under the age of 33 can call themselves a “boi”?
Gregoire
Like Bill Clinton, the problem here isn’t the sex, but the lying about it.
flightoftheseabird
Lying is not a crime, umless one is under oath.
flightoftheseabird
That is why it was a problem for Clinton. He was accued of lying under oath. (He was later found Not Guilty of lying under oath by the Senate).
geoff
So a politician….had consensual sex with a legal adult, and then lied about it. Why anyone is shocked/outraged that a politician lied is amazing.
sparkle obama
you girls have very low standards.
the clintons inured you to the effects of public dishonesty….
however, imagine if it was obama who lied about an affair w/ an 18 year old staffer!
whatevva!
bboy
Not sure I see any real parallel to Clinton. Moreover, even if you see parallels, I think the real issue here (and back in the 1990’s) was the outmoded, prudish and myopic behavior of the public in regards to sex (not to mention where there are large age differences between sexual partners). Hasn’t the latest financial meltdown taught us that it’s better to have a smart and competent adulterer (read: Clinton or Kennedy or whomever you pick) than a dimwit who happens to not have strayed from the wifey (read: Shrub)?
alan brickman
Don’t resign Dog…
Distingué Traces
Gavin Newsom had an affair with a staffer’s wife and checked into rehab for alcoholism — his career is pretty much fine.
Marion Barry was busted for coke and got reelected.
The sex (and no, not the lying – why on earth would you tell reporters about your sex life?) was an ethical lapse, but it was not a career-ending one.
He needs to just take his medicine and tough it out.
subwayslasher
This is so fucking stupid. What does it matter if he had consensual sex with another adult? How is it anyone else’s business whether or not they had sex? And I don’t buy the lame excuse that voters can’t trust him anymore because he lied about that… this was simply a homophobia-based witch hunt looking for any dirt on him they could find.
What REALLY pisses me off is the gay publication Just Out that is falling over itself trying to get him to resign. Get a fucking life. Jesus. These people are acting like he was their boyfriend who cheated on them.
So he made a mistake in not telling the truth / not telling journalists to mind their own business. Why does that have to equal resignation? If the Bush administration got eight years to fuck the country up as much as they did, this guy deserves another chance.
oneway
There are more layers of intrigue to this episode than meets the eye.
First off, the rumors of Adams’ fling are widely believed to have been floated by a political rival — another gay man considering a run for mayor.
One some f-ed up level, this public drama could be interpreted as progress for gays. This would be equally scandalous if Adams was straight and Beau was “Bridget”. Other the odd hater, of which there are few in Portland, the gay angle is rather peripheral.
PS Okay, gotta hand it Adams for good taste. I wanna nominate Beau for Morning Goods. Japhy, get on the case!
Paul
It seems that everyone is blaming Adams for being so dumb to have an affair with an 18yo guy. Many forget that it takes two to tango and unless Breedlove was raped then it was a consensual LEGAL relationship between 2 adults. No law was broken. Also most states feel that a 16 or 17yo is old enough to make a consensual decision on sex.
Howcome a 15yo can be tried as an adult for murder but a 17yo (in a few states) isn’t mature enough to make a decision who he/she can have sex with? Our legal system is screwed up.
We seem to be a nation filled prudish people basking in their so-called morals based on draconian principles with a Bible in hand. Give me a break!!
I remind you that congressman Vitter from Lousiana cheated on his wife, broke the law by having sex with a whore and is still in office. He refused to resign. Why isn’t he being thrown out of office for breaking the law?
Why the hell should Adams resign for having consensual sex with an adult and lying about it?
Buddy
“They ate at Macaroni Grill in downtown Portland in May 2005. Breedlove says Adams asked him how old he was, and Breedlove told him 17.
Adams was surprised. “I don’t date people that young,” Adams says he told him. Adams has said that once he learned Breedlove’s age, he told Breedlove that he wouldn’t get romantically involved.
Breedlove, however, says that after the lunch, Adams offered to drive him to Union Station so he could catch a train back to Salem. He says that while stopped at a red light, Adams leaned over and kissed him.
Breedlove says Adams called him a few days later to invite him to a First Thursday party on June 2, 2005, at Adams’ City Hall office. He says Adams also invited him out to dinner afterward.
Adams has said his staff tried to warn him about Breedlove, fearing that their friendship might raise questions.
Breedlove said he showed up at the party after a friend drove him from Salem. When the party broke up, he and Adams headed out to dinner at the Lotus Cafe. Before they left, they both used the men’s room on the second floor of City Hall. While in there, Breedlove says, they kissed again. He called the kissing mutual and said it lasted about a minute.
State law says third-degree sexual abuse, which is a misdemeanor, can occur when someone subjects another person to “sexual contact” when the person either does not consent to the advance or is younger than 18. The law defines sexual contact as “any touching of the sexual or other intimate parts of a person … for the purpose of arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of either party.”
Adams is now under criminal investigation by the attorney general’s office.”