A politician self-destructs in public.
Portland Oregon's mayor is going through a rough patch...
From
The Oregonian:
Witnesses describe crash involving Portland mayor
Mayor Sam Adams was involved in a three-car accident Sunday that resulted in no injuries but left a few questions about the cause.
Adams was driving his GMC pickup about 6:15 p.m. at 1457 North Hayden Island Drive, near the parking lot of Car Toys at Jantzen Beach.
Ryan Reed said he was turning his 2002 WRX Subaru wagon right from North Hayden Island Drive into the Car Toys parking lot when Adams' pickup, which was behind his car, "T-boned" his vehicle, striking the passenger side.
Reed, an employee of the Tigard Car Toys store, said the impact pushed his vehicle over a curb, through shrubs, into another vehicle and 50 to 70 feet through the Car Toys parking lot. Reed estimated that Adams was truck was going 25 to 30 mph when it struck his car.
Car Toys employee Randy Schweitz, 22, said he was helping a customer outside when he heard a "huge crash." He said he saw the pickup strike the side of the Subaru and push it over hedges and into a parked Honda. "And then the Honda and the Subaru kind of parted, and the mayor's pickup was powering through both of them. He was still on the gas pedal," Schweitz said. "After he broke free of the collision, he kept driving. He kept peeling out, and finally came to a stop about 100 feet away, near the Plaid Pantry lot."
Witness Alex Vaynberg, who also works at the Car Toys store, agreed with the distance. "The pickup kept pushing the cars to the other side of the lot," Vaynberg said.
According to the mayor's office, Adams thought the Subaru was turning left and tried to pass it on the right when it turned right and they crashed.
After the accident, Reed said that Adams asked whether he was OK. Reed said he had some back and neck pain and went to the emergency room just to make sure he was all right.
Schweitz, who had run to check on the victims, told police at the scene and The Oregonian on Monday, that he was two to three feet from Adams and smelled alcohol on the mayor's breath. "It seemed like beer," Schweitz said.
And it's not just today's crash - from station
KATU:
Are the mayor's foibles affecting city business?
Troubling words about Portland's mayor are coming from powerful people in Oregon's capitol.
Four state senators, all Democrats and all representing parts of Portland, said they are concerned about the city's absence in Salem and are wondering whether the city is missing out on opportunities.
"I frankly see more of my constituents from Tigard and their city council than I have of Portland," said Sen. Ginny Burdick, D-Portland.
"Any time you have your largest city not with a grand presence, you feel that there is something missing," said Sen. Margaret Carter, D-Portland.
"The incident that occurred and the difficulty he has got himself into has caused him to lose respect among a number of people and lose credibility, clout, power," said Sen. Rod Monroe, D-Portland.
Monroe was talking about the mayor's romantic relationship with Beau Breedlove in a bathroom at City Hall. Breedlove had been a teenage intern at the legislature and while the Attorney General continues to investigate the Adams scandal, the senators wonder about the mayor's political credibility.
Gaaaa -- nothing says "classy" like boinking your sweetie in a public toilet stall.
Posted by DaveH at May 5, 2009 4:14 PM