At least he knows which state he's living in. (Those constant letters from the DMV really help with that.)

Alright, here are a bunch of other questions and some answers. Some of these I have been asked, and others I could imagine people asking.

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Q: Did you ever get a DUI?
A: No.

Q: Did you ever hurt anyone behind the wheel?
A: No. Luckily, I have never been the driver in an accident.

Q: From 2004-2008 you show no tickets. Why no tickets then?
A: For the first portion of that time, my license was suspended, and I didn’t drive. For 2 years after that I kept a clean record, in part because I was not driving much during that time.

Q: From 1996-2002 you also show no tickets. Why not?
A: I was at law school until 1999 and lived away some during the time after. During this time I don’t believe I had any moving violations in other states.

Q: Did you knowingly fail to carry insurance? Did you knowingly drive with a suspended license?
A: My memory on this stuff isn’t perfect. As for proof of insurance, my best guess is that it had lapsed, and I am more than willing to concede that. I wasn’t dealing with important personal stuff. I did not knowingly drive with a suspended license, but I found out after the fact that I had. I should have been more on top of this.

Q: Why didn’t you yield to an emergency vehicle? What kind of emergency vehicle was it?
A: I didn’t see the flashing lights as an officer was pulling me over. When I realized, I was mortified. The officer pulled me over, and I got the ticket. I did not contest it.

Q: Why did you wait to get your license reinstated back in 2004?
A: I don’t remember the duration of the suspension. I do remember that I could not afford insurance for a while -- and I was not eager to drive. (I was killing myself trying to build an organization. I wasn’t taking a salary, and I didn’t have money for tickets or insurance...or even rent, as I was essentially couch surfing. It was a time I had lost balance.) Moving forward, the Bus Project was growing and professionalizing, I had gotten together with Katy, and I was trying to find a bit more balance. By 2006, I got insurance and got my license reinstated.

Q: Why didn’t you learn your lesson?
A: I blew it.

Q: Did you think about this before you decided to run?
A: Yes, and it gave me some pause. I knew it would be a problem, and I knew that critics might well use it and beat me up with it. But I watched the race and didn’t trust the discussion about issues I cared about most - the poverty and blight in my neighborhood in East Portland and in neighborhoods across the city, an economic development plan beyond tax breaks or boondoggles, infrastructure worthy of our values and this century, the need for better steps toward equity in our city, innovation of public systems, and a reinvigoration of Portland’s civic spirit. And so, warts intact, I decided to run for mayor.

Q: Why didn’t you pay your fines in a timely fashion or defend yourself an hearings? Why wasn’t your insurance current?
A: My insurance is current and I have paid my fines. In 2002-2004, part of my challenge was that I didn’t have money. I avoided them, thinking I could address the consequences later. As for insurance, I didn’t pay it on time because I didn’t know about them - I should be better at opening my mail. It is a big part of the embarrassing blind spot.

Q: How do you think this relates to your ability to be the mayor?
A: People have blind spots and things they’re bad at. Myself very much included. Sometimes more so. This is something I’m bad at. I’m good at focusing on objectives and building teams to achieve them. It is important for me to build teams -- to identify, recruit, and develop leaders. I wouldn’t hire myself to be my administrative assistant; I would hire myself to lead something I cared about.

There have been a few who would like to paint me as a caricature and neglect meaningful elements of my story. I was elected and re-elected to the State House and elected by my colleagues to leadership in the House. I was one of just two House members on Governor Kitzhaber’s steering committee. I was named the 2011 Small Business Champion and the 2012 Webvisionary. I clerked for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. I led the start of a nonprofit that won national recognition and launched affiliates in other states and other countries. We are building a campaign that is making Portland history for grassroots engagement. In each of these roles I made mistakes. But in each role we ultimately found meaningful success.

I have tried to be open about my weaknesses. I focus a lot on doing the job I’m doing, and at times I have done a pretty bad job at taking care of myself. I also have strengths, and I think those strengths (including an occasional willingness to recognize my weaknesses and an ability to keep a cool head in the face of criticism) will make me a good mayor for our city. And ultimately, I hope this race will be not about the past -- and not about me -- but about the future of our city.

Q: Why didn’t you talk in greater detail earlier?
A: When asked, I’ve answered questions to the best of my memory, which also isn’t perfect. Nothing about my driving record has changed since the election began. It’s available public record. I have talked about it on T.V., on the radio, and with newspapers many months ago. A blogging critic paid for a background check on me nine months ago and published the driving record contents. I’ve done at least one online interview on my driving record. When a newspaper asked me to release the record, I did. I was in the car (passenger seat!) when I spoke recently with a reporter, without my driving record in front of me. Looking at it now informs my memory (and renews my embarrassment), although it doesn’t perfect my memory. I’ve spoken to another reporter since and done another radio interview. This has been covered pretty thoroughly.

Q: Why do this Q & A?
A: I wanted to respond to all these questions here, because I have had the one vacation of the entire campaign scheduled with my wife for a long time. It would be ironic if discussion about keeping proper balance in my life led me to avoid one measure of family balance in this campaign season. I want to answer key questions before we leave. We were supposed to leave earlier, but wanted to address this stuff. Katy has put up with enough not to have me pull our thin vacation rug out from under entirely.

Q: What impact does this have on the race?
A: Ultimately this race will be up to the voters of Portland. Pundits predicted that I would come in a distant third in the primary. I had discussed mistakes, and newspapers endorsing other candidates discussed them quite a bit. We have already known that our campaign is not the choice of some powerful people, and I suspect I won’t be successful in changing all those minds. We will continue to do what we have been doing -- trying to build an unmatched connection to the city, including historic number of engagements -- house parties, knocking on doors, individual contributors and supporters, and more. Anytime you get into a political campaign, there’s a chance you’ll lose. Whatever the result, I hope our conversation will be less about the past and more about the future of the city.

Q: What are some of the best heckles you've heard so far?
A: "Did you get a ride?" (that was from the publisher of the Oregonian. Thanks.) "Want a ride?" (from multiple) "If you lose the election, want to be my partner in our combo accounting-taxi service?" "You should invite ____ to carpool to a basketball game." Okay, that's enough of that.

That's a bad driving record, like really bad. Of course, this doesn't disqualify him from being mayor, but this kind of thing makes people think twice about voting for him.

After Adams, I want a mayor who isn't a flake. But it doesn't get any flakier than failing to have car insurance and not having a valid license.

ASIDE: Jefferson seems to have a penchant for scheduling his vacations amidst controversies. I believe he was also on vacation when the low blow story came out.

Six speeding citations in the course of a decade! And those are just the times he was caught! That's not "a weakness" or "ADHD" or something to be "embarrassed" about - that's scofflaw behavior, pure and simple. He doesn't care. This is a behavioral pattern, and as such it's directly "relevant to his ability to govern" as far as I'm concerned.

He should just have his staff run for mayor en masse, since clearly they'd be the ones keeping things running while he collects the plaudits.

Yeah... this is kind of fucked up.

FYI: There is a definite connection between ADHD and bad driving:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

I don't want to vote for either Smith or Hales. What does it say about Portland when these are the two vying to run the city?

Can a write-in campaign start now for someone else? Kyle MacLachlan? What about kd lang? She lives here now. Perhaps get someone from the PDX tech start-up scene to get on board?

Or just someone who can actually live in the city, pay their taxes, not have a record of repeated mistakes, and just otherwise be a generally responsible adult?

Well, there is no way to make such a terrible driving record look good. However, I appreciate his honesty which is often lacking in politics. Having started a small business several years ago, I am sympathetic to being stretched thin and not keeping up on all personal issues (although it would have seemed prudent to rain in the amount of speeding a little bit!). Most of that was in his mid to late 20s. At the end of the day Jefferson Smith still has my vote.

Jefferson Smith humbled himself in an effort to be responsible and transparent. He is a great Oregonian whose many strengths outweigh this minor blemish. Jefferson Smith has the character and proven leadership skills to lead our city.

Hello Jefferson Smith flacks! You guys are a lovely bunch.

This guy has no business running a city. Between the aggressive (nut punching) and reckless (speeding, blowing off court dates, having your dad show up in court for you) behavior, it doesn't seem like a job suited for Smith. Unfortunately, the other option ain't exactly stellar.

As for the ADHD, if it's so bad that it's to blame for his truy negligent behavior, then he's probably not cut out to be mayor. As someone who has been diagnosed and treated, I know there are certain projects/jobs I'm going to be better on than others. Running a city would be on my problematic list.

What crack investigative journalism we have in this town. Driving records must be really hard to find in the primaries! Poor Eileen Brady.

A few speedings too many - I can see speeding on the highway now and again, but 3 in lower (35, 45 mph- those are usually residential). Honesty, humility, he gets points, but for judgement, which requires an ability to do some course correction...I'm not feeling like I can get behind that kind of repeated ignoring of basic laws, especially the types that impact people's safety.

I am not too concerned about all this.
As far as the speeding: he's got intense focus, a need to get places fast. And that's so typical of someone with ADHD. Besides...doing 40 in a 20 is pretty easy to do.
And he was too poor to deal with it all at one time, and couch flopping? Or not even driving that much at one time? Should we all be horrified by that? Free pass.
I saw Jefferson leading the bus project, he was a force of nature. It was crazy. I think it would be a shame not to see what he could do for Portland.
He's admitting flaws which, in my view, have nothing at all whatsoever to do with leadership. Who has never been too busy to do laundry or clean the yard? Or take a vacation? These details with the car fall into the same category. Personal life housekeeping which falls by the wayside when one is focused on more important things.

Several recent Portland mayors made a point of not driving or using alternative transport. Neal used Bernie Guisto as a driver / bodyguard. Frank used Mike Garvey. Vera never, I think, learned to drive. Bud famously rode (and still rides, I saw him in a watermelon Nutcase helmet on the Steele Bridge the other night) all over town. Sam rode his bike a lot, and often took the Max + bus.

Give Jefferson Smith a break. Look at his accomplishments over the years. Harvard law, Bus Project, successful marriage; this proves dedication, leadership and hard work. He's a young guy with fresh ideas, not some dried up old man who avoided his taxes. The only thing his driving record proves is he's human.

I appreciate him being honest about this, but I don't think we should lower the bar for politicians so low that we're supposed to ignore the substance of the disclosure and just be happy one was truthfully and timely made.

I just don't even know where to start with how many character red flags this disclosure pulls up. Most importantly, if someone is CAUGHT speeding (or doing anything else) two billion times, that means they speed (or drive without license/insurance) nine billion times.

Driving like an a-hole, ignoring court notices, license suspensions, driving without insurance, and all of this constantly through his adult life... it's just too much, especially combined with all the other red flags about Smith's work ethic and personality that existed before this disclosure. Has it ever been clearer that Jefferson Smith is the only person Jefferson Smith seems to truly care about? Further, it's offensive that Smith (or his flacks) try to medicalize this driving record by pointing to ADHD.

I held my nose and voted for Smith in the primary, but I can't even do that in the general. Simply being a straight-talking, charismatic liberal isn't enough to qualify Smith to be mayor of our city.

I mean, FAILURE TO YIELD TO AN EMERGENCY VEHICLE? Come on, that's pretty much enough to write him off. Who doesn't pull to the side of the road for emergency vehicles? Self-entitled Assholes. Plain and simple.

When your licenses to drive AND your license which allows you to work in a field (in this case, litigation) get suspended on a regular basis (not sure you could classify this frequency as anything but regular), can you legitimatley be trusted to run a city? Is there anyone who isn't affiliated with the campaign who thinks this is no big deal?

The guy is obviously a hot mess with a side of arrogant jerk.

@HenryTheDuck: You can't be serious. Driving without insurance, doing 40 in a 25 and having a license suspended FIVE TIMES is the same as forgetting to do laundry? That's insanity.

There is a bit of a difference when you get hit by a driver who forgot to wash his shirt than if he is driving without a license or insurance. I sincerely hope you never have to find that out the hard way.

The saddest part of this whole thing is our terrible journalism outlets in Portland. Umm, guys, it's $5 to check a driving record. He self reported some issues with driving and yet nobody chose to publish this in the primary? At least Eileen could still be in the race if journalist in town did their jobs.

Also, "I don’t believe I had any moving violations in other states." That's your cue to check other states for more driving issues, fine Portland journalists.

A hot mess with a side of arrogant is correct in my experience.

Jefferson rubbed me the wrong way when I approached him to ask him a question at an event and he hit my back so hard he almost knocked me over. Then he punched me in the chest like we were long time buddies. WTF!?!?! Stop hitting me dude! Then before I could ask him a question, he proceeded to complain about how tired he was - this was about a month into his campaign in the primary. He then turned and walked away. Oh, thanks. Appreciate that. I got a sore pec and sore shoulder blade from being hit by a 6'4 man child and still didn't get to ask you a question.

What's worse than being a vehicular menace? How about being an arrogant prick who responds with such a lengthy, narcissistic screed.

Brilliant! The self interview! You get to select the question, and the order in which they are asked! Start off by asking questions that demonstrate you aren't THAT far out of bounds: have you every gotten a dui or hurt anyone, and why NO tickets during these years? Make sure to end with levity so everyone can have a good belly laugh!

I'm voting for the boring old guy.

Well shit. The mayoral election just went from a clear SMITH FOR THE WIN!!! to hold your nose and vote for Smith unless more douchebaggery comes to light.

Everyone speeds, and most people get popped for it. I wish there was more than blind trust in the fact that he "never knowingly drove with a suspended license." That would potentially be a deal-breaker for me.

He's definitely right, he couldn't get hired as admin. assistant. But hopefully he has one of those now, or as in my house, a significant other that is fond of to-do lists.

Hales still has a lot of shitty policy ideas, most notably biz-directed support for the CRC shitshow. I'd still like a mayor that is left of both of these yahoos, but J.Smith will likely get my vote at this point because I'm not ready to sign the deed of the city over to the Portland Business Alliance, as Hales seems eager to do.

Protip to Jefferson: Get a fucking bike and/or a TriMet pass.

"I believe he was also on vacation when the low blow story came out."

@Süpër Chüñdy :
Jefferson will still have a long way to go if he's going to top Sam Adams for timing... Sam scheduled his big Breedlove mea culpa announcement the *same day* as the Obama inauguration!

That's serious shit right there.

When it comes to who can best lead this city...

With his vision, ability to create collaboration and consensus, proven track record of management/effective leadership both for a non-profit and on committees in the state house, and his commitment to his values (leaving a highly paid private job to pursue public service) and to bettering the lives of everyone in the Portland community...

Jefferson still has my vote. No doubt, no question, no if's and's or but's.

I do not excuse his behavior. It is inexcusable, and he has to live with his mistakes and, ideally, learn from them.

We are all inherently flawed, most of us in ways that are less exposed to daylight. He has been open and honest about these issues from the beginning of the campaign. Transparency in a politician? Rare. And worth noting.



And his answer to this question says it best:

"Q: How do you think this relates to your ability to be the mayor?
A: People have blind spots and things they’re bad at. Myself very much included. Sometimes more so. This is something I’m bad at. I’m good at focusing on objectives and building teams to achieve them. It is important for me to build teams -- to identify, recruit, and develop leaders. I wouldn’t hire myself to be my administrative assistant; I would hire myself to lead something I cared about.

There have been a few who would like to paint me as a caricature and neglect meaningful elements of my story. I was elected and re-elected to the State House and elected by my colleagues to leadership in the House. I was one of just two House members on Governor Kitzhaber’s steering committee. I was named the 2011 Small Business Champion and the 2012 Webvisionary. I clerked for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. I led the start of a nonprofit that won national recognition and launched affiliates in other states and other countries. We are building a campaign that is making Portland history for grassroots engagement. In each of these roles I made mistakes. But in each role we ultimately found meaningful success.

I have tried to be open about my weaknesses. I focus a lot on doing the job I’m doing, and at times I have done a pretty bad job at taking care of myself. I also have strengths, and I think those strengths (including an occasional willingness to recognize my weaknesses and an ability to keep a cool head in the face of criticism) will make me a good mayor for our city. And ultimately, I hope this race will be not about the past -- and not about me -- but about the future of our city."

Look, it doesn't count as "trasparency" when:

1) a reporter reports the story and you answer with repetitive platitudes and half truths
2) you don't devoulge the full story, opting to take the rest of the story to a more sympathetic news outlet
3) you post a Q&A written by the campaign, then promptly leave for "vacation."

You Jefferson Smith flacks need to step your game up. At this point, you do the guy more harm than good.

I pray to God Jefferson Davis Smith gets elected. Not only do I want to see Poorland burn down under his control, he will bring shame and disgrace not seen since Tonya Harding. The pedophile Goldschmidt and the pederast couldn't destroy Poorland's stellar fucked up reputation. I'm hoping JDS gets into another fight caused by his uncontrolled rage that ends up in another white Bronco police chase down I-5. Burn baby burn!

I read elsewhere that the failure to yield to an emergency vehicle was for not noticing the cop who had his lights on behind him to pull him over. It's not like he got in the way of a fire truck or an ambulance (or a cop) on the way to save someone else.

For me, it's not about the violations themselves (although the number is excessive); it's about the SEVEN suspensions that resulted. If this guy can't even manage to do the follow-up required to keep his license in good standing, how can he be reliable enough to run a city like ours? I wasn't a supporter to begin with, this whole mess just makes it easier for me to talk other people out of voting for him.

AS SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN AN ARDENT SUPPORTER OF SMITH (I'VE DONATED MONEY TO HIS CAMPAIGN), THIS NEARLY 20 YEAR LONG SERIES OF JUDGMENT CALLS MAKES ME SERIOUSLY DOUBT HIS ABILITY TO EFFECTIVELY MANAGE THE OFFICE OF MAYOR. I STILL DON'T WANT TO VOTE FOR HALES, BUT NOW I DON'T KNOW WHAT I SHOULD DO.

In the 50+ years that I've held a VALID drivers license in the state of Oregon I can honestly say that my record is NO WAY as bad as Smith's. As far as I'm concerned this prick seems to have the attitude that he is too good to be bothered with these mundane details that all those ordinary people are concerned with. You people can use what ever excuses you want to defend this jerk but I look at this as a strong reason to consider someone else for the LEADER of the city of Portland.