File:Sam Adams - May 8, 2020 Portland Conversations (IA pdx-20200508-sam-adams).mp3

Jason Allen interviews Sam Adams https://samadamspdx.com who is a city of Portland, Oregon candidate for Commissioner, Position #4 in 2020. "As a kid, Sam grew up in the small coastal town of Newport, Oregon. The local economy was in transition: so many trees had been cut down that the logging industry had mostly collapsed. Sam’s father, Larry, a special education teacher, also worked as a commercial fisherman to make ends meet. But overfishing depleted that line of work. Sam’s father struggled with addiction issues. After his parent's divorce, Sam’s mother, Kara, became a single mom of four teenaged kids. With the help of public student family housing and food stamps, Kara obtained a college education. Sam Adams has worked as a county government intern, congressional aide, a campaign manager, mayoral chief of staff, a member of the city council, a Portland mayor, a nonprofit executive director, an environmental think tank leader of a global organization, a columnist, and a consultant. All this work has been dedicated to a common theme: making communities more educated, healthy, sustainable, prosperous and equitable for all. I’m running for Portland City Council, Position No. 4  because Portland deserves a City Commissioner who can bring a renewed sense of energy, compassion, and purpose to City Hall. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic arrived at our doors steps, our city was at a critical point - too many feel we are losing opportunities to tackle our most urgent challenges.