Smith: Last weeks should be 'focused on the good of the city'
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PORTLAND, Ore. – After a recent avalanche of bad news that has overwhelmed and buried his campaign, Portland mayoral candidate Jefferson Smith says it's now up to voters to decide whether he'll be the next mayor of the state's largest city.
"If people don't get involved in public service because they've made mistakes in their life, it will be a pretty empty room," he told KATU's Steve Dunn during Sunday's "Your Voice, Your Vote."
Those mistakes – a terrible driving record, punching someone in the groin during a basketball game and striking a woman in 1993 when he was a student at the University of Oregon – he has apologized for and has acknowledged repeatedly he's not a perfect person. But the press coverage has overshadowed, he says, what he really wants to talk about.
"There are things so much more important for us to be talking about – way more important than me – way more important than the challenges that I face," he said. "The challenges facing this city are way bigger than anything I'm facing."
He says he wants the last three weeks of the race to be "focused on the good of the city."
During Sunday's show, Dunn presses Smith on those questions of trust many voters have about him as well as his objectives as mayor, if elected. Watch the entire show by clicking on the "Play Video" button above.
Candidate Websites:
KATU's Anna Canzano recently sat down with Smith and his opponent Charlie Hales to discuss each candidate’s shortcomings, the sacrifices they've made and their visions for the city. The wives of each candidate joined their husbands for the interviews.
Watch a conversation with Jefferson Smith:
Watch a conversation with Charlie Hales:
My vote is still going to Jefferson Smith. Â I have thought about it time and time again, took every bit of information into consideration and will hold my nose in voting, but there is just no way I can vote for Charlie Hales. Â Jefferson Smith made mistakes, just like I made mistakes in college. Â I am much different now than I was then and that is why I still think he is the better candidate. Â You learn from your mistakes and move on. Â I have to question how this story arose in the first place- aka typical old fashion muckraking.
jefferson can't keep his drivers license and beat up women in college.Â
hale can't seem to live in OR and has to avoid OR taxes laws.Â
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Sounds like qualified candidates for mayor to replace the mayor who sleeps with 17 year olds in the city bathroom and wastes money on bike lanes.Â
 @phyllis21 Phyllis - Hales has been asked and he has clarified - that he has complied with all laws and tax obligations. And all of that is PUBLIC RECORD.Â
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How can you suggest he is not worthy of being this city's mayor. Indeed today - he is a tax payer and a registered voter and he had a previous stint as a city Commissioner - and all of that translate to someone this city can vest their vote and their city with.Â
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Hales knows how to lead. And this city's population expects him to step up and be a credible leader. Â WORK EFFECTIVELY WITH BOTH SIDES. Bring together the embittered divide. Balance our city's tanked operating budget. Account for public monies - not waste and pillage them. As Adams and his dumbed down partisan city commissioners have only been doing - for the past four years.Â
No winners here.
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Who's next?
Blah, Blah, balh - Mr. Hypocrite Smith.Â
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Ah dude - why don't you scurry on off to the Peace Corp for a few years (or more) - and chill out. And then come back to Oregon - and compete for a job in the private sector. No more public sector "jobs" for you. The people have had "enough" of you. .Perhaps then you will have LEARNED a little bit about the real world - and about how one is supposed to ethically live and behave. In the real world. Jefferson Smith - be gone. This state doesn't need you.Â
Wasn't the whole idea behind the campaign "focused on the good of the city"? Why run for election if you don't have that in mind?
Dead man walking.
You bet Portland needs help but not from a Liberal, tax-spending-demon, lying two-faced, childish, egotistical incompetent....we need a serious, focused, conservative...It is about time Portland had some sensible leadership and that does not mean a playboy jerk...Â
Portland needs a lot of help.,
 @sortbait I agree, Portland does need a lot of help.  So...regardless of his past mistakes in life which were in fact in the past, I really feel Smith is the right person to give our city the help it needs. Â