Sam Adams resigns as Wheeler’s Director of Strategic Innovations citing health concerns

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – Sam Adams, the former Mayor of Portland and current Director of Strategic Innovations for Mayor Ted Wheeler, has announced he’ll be resigning from his role due to health.

In an announcement Tuesday, Adams cited his resignation was due to chronic anemia.

“It saps my energy and increasingly impacts my ability to do my job the way it needs to be done,” Adams wrote. “I was hoping it would get better, and for a moment it was, but I recently received some new test results. 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 said that to get better, he feels it’s time to step away and focus on his health.

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Mayor Ted Wheeler released a statement Tuesday, thanking Adams for his work.

“I have worked with Sam for many years, and he is a hard worker with a strong vision for Portland. The work he has done during his tenure with my office has helped lead our city in a new direction,” said Mayor Wheeler. “My team and I are in a good position to continue moving forward with our ambitious agenda as we enter 2023.”

Adams, who was Portland’s mayor from 2009 to 2012, became Director of Strategic Innovations in 2021.

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