THE SECOND COMING: Avel Gordly will lead the new recall campaign. IMAGE: vivianjohnson.com

Supporters of a second attempt to recall Mayor Sam Adams will launch their campaign Wednesday.

Their effort coincides with the first anniversary of Adams’ public apology for lying during his 2008 mayoral campaign about his sexual relationship with then-18-year-old Beau Breedlove.

The expected announcement from the recall campaign’s chief petitioner—former state Sen. Avel Gordly (D-Northeast Portland)—serves as a new, unpleasant reminder of the scandal that abruptly ended Adams’ trip to D.C. last year to attend President Obama’s inauguration.

Adams will be in Washington, D.C., again this week. This time, Adams will probably stay for his entire visit to the nation’s capital, where he plans to meet with Oregon’s congressional delegation and other mayors.

The new petitioners’ efforts follow an earlier campaign to recall Adams, which failed in October to collect the required 32,000-plus signatures from registered voters to put the recall question on the ballot.

Some might say the failure of that first effort makes it unlikely a second campaign could gather enough signatures in 90 days. The new recall effort won’t reveal how much money it’s raised for the campaign until next week, but Gordly says it’s enough to get paid signature gatherers started.

“The issue needs to be put before Portland voters so they can decide the city’s future,” Gordly said in a prepared statement. “This is about uplifting the integrity and character of our city and rejecting the politics of ‘win by any means necessary.’”

Adams will be in D.C. through Jan. 26 attending the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ 78th annual winter meeting. Adams was supposed to have been attending that same annual conference last year, when WW broke the news about Adams’ relationship with Breedlove.

Adams will be among about 250 people meeting with the president Jan. 21 at the White House to discuss the economy. (Luminaries include Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who once told a group of elementary schoolchildren his favorite activity was drinking Bombay Sapphire Gin.)

While this new recall has big-money commitments from people like Tim Boyle, CEO of Columbia Sportswear, and Ron Tonkin, the auto dealer, it lacks any push from a current elected official.

Five months ago, Multnomah County Chairman Ted Wheeler said he would sign a recall petition if one was put in front of him but would not actively participate otherwise. “It puts the decision where it belongs with the voters,” he wrote then in an email. Now he says he wouldn’t be involved one way or another.

Multnomah County Commissioner Jeff Cogen also said in August he would support putting the question to voters. “If someone approached me and asked me to sign a petition, I would do it, because I think it’s fair to put the matter before the voters of Portland,” he told WW. He said last week his opinion hasn’t changed, but that he’s focused on his own re-election campaign.

A spokesman for the mayor, Roy Kaufmann, says Adams “remains focused on the work of creating a sustainable and prosperous economy.”