Portland Mayor Sam Adams says he is unhappy about Republican plans to

because it would blow a further hole in police costs already strained by the Occupy Portland protests.

Adams said Tuesday that he realizes he can't force the Oregon Republican Party and Oregon Public Broadcasting – which plans to televise the debate from its Southwest Macadam Avenue studios -- to cancel the event. But he said he's trying to persuade them to shift the debate to a location nearer the airport to reduce the number of police needed for security.

"The costs are real," said Adams, explaining that police overtime costs have already gone $1.5 million over budget, chiefly because of the Occupied Portland encampment and protests. "I don't know what else to say. We just don't have the budget for this."

Oregon Republican Chairman Allen Alley said he was disappointed that Adams didn't cheer on an event that could bring national attention to Portland and provide an opportunity for candidates to address Northwest issues.

"We thought we were doing something good for the city, good for Oregon," said Alley. "We actually thought the mayor would welcome something like this."

Alley and Steve Bass, the Oregon Public Broadcasting president, both said they plan to proceed with the debate regardless of the mayor's concerns.

But they also noted that it's possible the March 19 debate won't be held if one of the candidates wraps up the GOP presidential primary race before that date --a distinct possibility if Romney does well in the early states.

Bass said it would be hard to move the event from the OPB studios because that could saddle the station with additional costs for a debate that might not be held. Bass said he plans to see how the primary race develops over the next couple of weeks and then see if it is feasible to find another venue.

Adams, a Democrat, insisted he is not taking partisan sides against the Republicans. He said he also discouraged people who approached him about having the city hold one of the presidential debates in the fall.

This isn't the first time Portland officials have griped about the costs of providing security for presidential campaigning in the city, particularly after some events drew sometimes-violent protests. In 1991, Mayor Bud Clark billed candidates to recover the security costs of campaign visits by then-President George Bush and his eventual successor, Democrat Bill Clinton. The bills were ignored.

Mayor Vera Katz tried a similar tactic in 2002, also to no effect.

Adams said he recognizes that billing the sponsors of the debate is not an option.

"What I can do and did do is implore them is to keep the cost down," he said.

The planned debate was first announced publicly in early October. But Adams said he didn't learn of it until three or four weeks ago and then began raising his concerns.

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