PORTLAND, Ore. — Former Portland Mayor Sam Adams announced Tuesday that he would resign from his job in current Mayor Ted Wheeler's office due to health concerns. Now, days later, Wheeler claims Adams' departure was actually prompted by accusations of bullying from female city hall staff, according to Willamette Week and The Oregonian.
In an email to staff Tuesday, Adams said he was leaving because he had been struggling with chronic anemia for a year, and that his condition had recently worsened. He stuck with that story in interviews with The Oregonian and Willamette Week on Friday morning, and denied that there was any other reason for his departure.
However, both papers reported Friday evening that Wheeler had reached out to them Friday afternoon to say that Adams had not told the whole story.
According to both papers, Wheeler said he asked Adams for his resignation on Tuesday because the city's human resources department had notified Wheeler that multiple complaints had been lodged against Adams, all accusing him of bullying and intimidating female employees.
An earlier statement from Wheeler on Tuesday praised Adams' performance at city hall and made no mention of any bullying accusations or other reasons for his departure.
The Oregonian and Willamette Week both reported that Wheeler said he was disappointed by Adams' decision to publicly blame his departure exclusively on health issues and he felt compelled to come forward after he saw the Friday morning stories in the two papers.
KGW has reached out to Wheeler's office for confirmation of his allegations and will update this story if we hear back.
Willamette Week also reported that it had reached out to Adams for comment about Wheeler's Friday allegations, and that Adams denied seeing any human resources reports or being asked to resign.
Adams served as mayor from 2009 to 2012, but a scandal prompted him not to seek a second term. He first tried to break back into Portland politics with a run for a city council seat in 2020, but he lost in the primary. He then took the job of director of strategic innovations in Wheeler's office in January 2021.
This is a developing story and will be updated as new information becomes available.