“Multnomah County government is in need of a serious remodel, down to the studs. 

“That means bashing out some of the old walls and fixtures. 

The right tool for the job is Sam Adams… our county government needs an unflinching reformer. 

“It’s a dysfunctional fiefdom… The only way to blunt the power of the chair is to have a majority on the board that votes together. 

“The last thing county government needs as another apparatchik like Commissioner… who won’t buck [County Chair Jessica] Vega Pedersen no matter how bad things get. 

“Watching Singleton’s campaign during the past few months hasn’t assured us she would show the independence this moment requires. She’s cut from the cloth that matches Vega Pederson’s. 

“We worry that she steeped in the social services, nonprofit mindset that has made the county too tolerant of wretched tent camps. 

“Singleton bailed on a golden opportunity to change the way the county and city handle homelessness in November 2022, when she stepped down as an interim director of the joint office at homeless services after just six months on the job. 

“She could’ve pursued the permanent position but chose not to because reporting to multiple bosses (the mayor and the county chair) made it hard to move forward with initiative she favors, she told us.

“I learned that I’m not the best at being a bureaucrat,” Singleton said in the endorsement interview. “I prefer to cut through the red tape, and I found it really difficult to do so.”

“After watching [county commissioners Sharon] Meieran and Julia Brim-Edwards clash with Vega Pedersen and her department heads this year, we’re pretty sure that cutting red tape is even tougher as a legislator, which is what commissioners are, then an executive running an agency. 

“Adams, on the other hand, appears obsessed with cutting red tape and just about everything else. He has been blunt and his criticism of Vega Pederson and clear about how he would oppose her worst instincts. 

“He even commissioned a legal opinion from the Stoel Reeves law firm showing that the executive order they Pederson put in place at the beginning of her term to control the county agenda flies in the face of its charter. 

“Say what you will about Adams, but he does his homework.”

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