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The communications director hired by Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office in mid August has already called it quits.
Lennox Wiseley, a TV producer who’s worked on a number of reality TV shows, including Little People, Big World and Rehab with Dr. Drew, took the job in mid-August.
She didn’t last long. Wiseley’s last day was Aug. 30.
“The highly charged political environment surrounding City Hall went beyond expectations,” Wiseley said in a statement. “My family’s happiness and safety is my first priority, and, as such, I made the difficult decision not to join the team as the director of communications.”
Wiseley replaced Tim Becker, who departed for a communications job for the city of Vancouver. His first day on the job was Aug. 30—the same day as Wiseley’s last in the mayor’s office.
Wiseley is the latest in a string of rapid departures among the mayor’s communications team.
“Lennox Wiseley has made the difficult decision to step down from her role as communications director and focus on her family. She leaves with the upmost respect for the mayor and city of Portland employees,” Heather Hafer, a spokesperson for the Office of Management and Finance, told WW in an email.
To be sure, Wiseley came in at a particularly contentious time in Portland, and a lot happened in the week prior to her arrival—the direct aftermath of which she likely had to weather.
A phone call between reporters and the mayor and his staffers turned heated on Aug. 20 when mayoral aide Sam Adams had several hot mic moments, one in which he seemed to yell, “No!” at a female reporter as she asked a question about the city’s preparedness for an upcoming far-right rally. (Adams said it was directed at an intern of his, not at the reporter.)
The call was a chance for reporters to ask how the city would be handling the planned rally that had in prior years turned violent—something city officials had remained mum about in the week leading up the event.
That weekend, law enforcement remained hands-off as far left and far right groups clashed in both downtown and in the Parkrose neighborhood. Communications from the mayor’s office leading up to the planned rally were meager; after the events—including a far-right member shooting a gun at a group of far-left protesters—the mayor’s office declared the limited scope of hostilities a victory.
The street battle occurred Aug. 22. Wiseley arrived Aug. 23.