I've met Hales a couple times, and he struck me as mild and genial to the point of blandness. It actually didn't strike me as a bad personality to have in a mayor, sort of a kindly uncle.

Only it seems like from this story he's not that, not at all. That he's one thing on the surface and another thing underneath. Kind of a passive-aggressive Minnesota-nice surface concealing a resentful hostility. (Wait, maybe that means he's the PERFECT mayor for Portland.)

Smith at least seems like whatever he is, he is through and through, at least from what I can tell based on reporting and his public appearances. He's a shitty driver but he owns up to it, and he's obviously intense and bull-headed, which is a recipe for bad behavior in pick-up basketball.

But it could be a good thing if he's bull-headed in politics, IF he has the right policy positions. And he does on the CRC at least. When almost every other politician in the region was taking the weenie position on the CRC, "oh, well, I don't much like freeways, but what is one to do?", and going along with it despite their misgivings, Smith just kept saying loud and clear: bad idea, bad idea, bad bad bad.

And from what I can tell Smith doesn't switch into a different personality when talking in private, which is definitely a point of non-creepiness in his favor.