Portland mayor admits he had relationship with 18-year-old

PORTLAND — More than a year after denying it, newly elected Mayor Sam Adams has admitted having a sexual relationship with an 18-year-old man in 2005.

Adams, who is gay, acknowledged the relationship on his Web page Monday, shortly after Willamette Week newspaper posted the story on its Web site. He did not resign.

Adams, 45, said the relationship was in the summer of 2005, shortly after the young man turned 18. The revelations come nearly a year and a half after Adams and the young man said rumors of a sexual relationship between them were false. The rumors started just as the then-city commissioner was launching his mayoral bid.

"I lied at the time because I was afraid that people would believe untrue rumors being circulated by an undeclared mayoral opponent that I had broken a law involving sexual relations with a minor. But this is not a good excuse," Adams said in his statement.

Willamette Week reported it had confronted Adams with new evidence last week, and Adams continued to deny it. The mayor is in Washington, D.C., for today's inauguration.

Adams said in 2007 that he had acted as a mentor to the young man, a legislative intern, who was struggling to come out of the closet.

In an open letter to Portlanders in 2007, he dismissed the rumors as a political smear.

"I will not dignify the substance of this smear by repeating it — if you read the accounts you will see there is no foundation to it. The reason is simple: it is untrue," he said in the letter.

"This kind of ugly politicking may be commonplace in other cities and at the national level, but Portland and Oregon largely has been blessedly free of it. It saddens me that it has been introduced here, and I have faith that Portlanders' rejection of it will mean that this incident is an anomaly."

Adams coasted to victory in November, making Portland the largest U.S. city to elect an openly gay mayor. He was sworn in Jan. 1.

In his statement Monday, Adams apologized to the young man, now 21, for making him lie about the relationship. He also apologized to colleagues and voters.