He was railing about Sam Adams, who three weeks ago became Portland’s first openly gay mayor, thanks, in part, to people like Mr. Wood, a 46-year-old environmental lawyer who voted for Mr. Adams last year.
In a city that likes to be liberal, Mr. Adams’s homosexuality was rarely an issue in his campaign for mayor. (One city commissioner said it was more of an asset than a liability.) Mr. Adams, who won 59 percent of the vote, has been admired for his youthful energy and plans to expand and promote Portland’s progressive and green identity.
Now, however, Mr. Wood is among a loud new constituency saying that the mayor’s tenure should end immediately. A state investigation is pending. Newspapers and the local police union have called for him to step down, while some elected officials and other community leaders have urged him to stay in office. Debate has erupted in the city’s gay population.
Mr. Adams, 45, has considered resigning, even though supporters who have spoken with him recently say they believe he will decide to keep his office.
The developments stem from the mayor’s admission this week that in 2005, when he was a city commissioner, he had a sexual relationship with an 18-year-old male intern at the State Legislature and that he had lied repeatedly about the relationship when he ran for mayor. His admission followed new scrutiny of the relationship by an alternative newspaper, Willamette Week. The mayor has not returned to City Hall since the admission, on Tuesday.
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