PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Former Portland Mayor Sam Adams has resigned from his position as current mayor Ted Wheeler’s Director of Strategic Innovations.
In an email sent to Wheeler’s office on Tuesday afternoon, Adams disclosed that he had been suffering from chronic anemia for the past year.
“I was hoping it would get better, and for a moment it was, but I recently received some new test results,” Adams said. “It is back to getting worse. I experience deep fatigue on too many work days, and when I get home from work each day, I am often wiped out.”
Adams, who grew up in Newport, was chief of staff for former mayor Vera Katz from 1993 to 2003. He then worked as a Portland city commissioner from 2005 to 2009.
He went on to become the Rose City’s mayor from 2009 to 2012.
He also ran for Portland City Council position No. 4 in 2020, but lost in the May primary election.
Mayor Wheeler added Adams to his staff as the director of strategic innovations in January 2021. In the position, Adams worked to find new approaches to issues such as homelessness, public safety, garbage clean-up and more.
In the email Adams sent out on Tuesday, he thanked Wheeler for giving him the opportunity to be a part of his administration.
“I have worked with Sam for many years, and he is a hard worker with a strong vision for Portland,” Mayor Ted Wheeler said in his own statement. “The work he has done during his tenure with my office has helped lead our city in a new direction. My team and I are in a good position to continue moving forward with our ambitious agenda as we enter 2023.”