News Mayor Sam Adams told our friends at KATU in this video below that the city isn't kidding around when it comes to SNOWSTORM 2010 (aka we may get up to two inches of snow this afternoon). And since mayors are often judged by their handling of snow, we assume Adams means it when he says that city officials will tow abandoned cars this time and require drivers to use traction devices on streets ...   More

News As you head to the airport this afternoon or stand in line awaiting your pat down from friendly TSA agents, here's a timely question to ponder, one put to WW by a reader recently: "Who approves elected leaders' junkets?" In Portland, the answer is ... the elected leaders themselves. In March, the Oregon Government Ethics Commission successfully adopted new statewide rules clarifying when and ...   More

News Fair warning: While most non-emergency City of Portland employees have the day off today, parking-meter attendants do not. They're working overtime, which means there is NO free parking in Portland today. And now that Thanksgiving is over, you're free to complain about this situation. Just make sure to leave Commissioner Randy Leonard out of your kvetch-fest. When city commissioners approved ...   More

News Portland City Council this morning unanimously approved Mayor Sam Adams' five-point plan to control illegal guns and curb youth violence. Before voting yes, Commissioner Amanda Fritz said the council should review the stricter measures against illegal guns in a year to see if the new rules are, in fact, suppressing violence. But Fritz supported the measure saying, "We need to try some new things." Commissioner ...   More

News City officials will present Portland's five-year general fund forecast to City Council members next week. Until then, Mayor Sam Adams' budget memo [PDF] from November offers a close look at the city's current financial health. That memo notes: Most city bureaus will be expected to make cuts in the range of .75 to 1.5 percent in the 2011-12 budget. Bureaus won't be allowed to add new ...   More

News Two weeks after federal law enforcement officials said they foiled a terrorist attack in downtown Portland, Mayor Sam Adams has responded to calls for re-evaluating Portland's relationship with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. In 2005, the City of Portland withdrew from the task force, and Adams, then a city commissioner, supported that move. His 2010 plan, released this afternoon, is ...   More

News Mayor Sam Adams' gusto for globe trotting is well known among City Hall watchers, who can read about the mayor's travels in real-time as Adams sometimes tweets about his trips. But Adams' chief of staff, Tom Miller, is also a bit of a passport junkie, according to his most recent public calendars. In October and November alone, Miller took four almost back-to-back trips to Stockholm, Detroit, ...   More

News Police Chief Mike Reese told reporters this afternoon that Portland had experienced "too many" officer-involved shootings in recent weeks but that even one would be "unacceptable" in his view. And though Portland historically has had far fewer officer-involved shootings than other similar-sized cities, Reese and Mayor Sam Adams said at today's press conference they would commit to an outside ...   More

News When Mayor Sam Adams took over management of the Police Bureau last May, we wrote the task has potential political risks but also potential political rewards if the "mayor demonstrates to Portlanders that he can manage the bureau most fraught with potential peril." The mayor said then that "This is not like any other assignment. There'll be bumps along the way, I'm sure.” At the midway ...   More

News Back in August, Mayor Sam Adams circulated a proposal at City Hall to give city council more oversight of capital-project spending at the major city bureaus such as the Bureau of Environmental Services and the Water Bureau. At the time, Adams proposed bringing about this change via an ordinance, which would have required a city council vote. Although city commissioners get to weigh in on the ...   More