(Video) Rubio talks about parking ticket and parking incident in interview – BikePortland

As I sat down for my interview with City Councilwoman and mayoral candidate Carmen Rubio on Wednesday to discuss her shocking number of parking tickets, the latest story about her troubling driving history flashed across my screen.

According to The Oregonian, last Friday, Rubio rammed another car with her small Nissan SUV as she pulled into a parking lot. Rubio then got out of her car, took a look at the cars, and walked away. The incident was captured by video cameras attached to the car she rammed (a Tesla). And despite the relatively significant damage, which is clearly visible in photos the victim shared with The Oregonian, Rubio left no message and went about her day.

Rubio addressed the incident and expressed her deep regret over her numerous traffic tickets. “These are things that are mistakes in my life. And they are also things that I have learned from and paid dearly for,” Rubio said in our 20-minute interview. “It was wrong, and that is not how I am behaving right now.”

Of the recent incident in the parking lot, Rubio said she did not believe she caused any harm to the other car. “I parked my car, felt the impact, went out, looked, but didn't see anything,” Rubio explained. “I went to my appointment and came back out. I had a note and called immediately, texted immediately and from there we negotiated.”

“I did not leave the scene. I did not. If I had known, I would have done more, but I did not see it,” she continued. “I took responsibility. I called immediately and definitely exchanged information and immediately tried to clear things up and take responsibility if it was something I did.”

As for her long list of parking tickets, Rubio received most of them between 2010 and 2015, when she was executive director of the nonprofit Latino Network, whose offices were in the Leftbank Building in the Lloyd District (where N Broadway and Weidler split). In addition to saying that parking lots in the area are notoriously “heavily policed” and it's common for employees and visitors to receive parking tickets, Rubio said that time in her life was particularly challenging.

“During that time, I was really focused on making sure that no matter what difficult times I was going through in my family – and I'll leave it at that – the organization and the work were my priority,” Rubio said. “And I put off my personal commitments on that side. And that was wrong, and I regret that.”

Rubio also wanted to clarify that she has received 90 parking tickets since 2006, not the 150 that BikePortland and other media reported. Of those, she paid 50, and 20 of those were tickets she received again the same day for exceeding the parking meter.

When asked why she felt she didn't have to pay for parking, Rubio said, “I always knew I had to pay for it. At the time, I just made the wrong decision to prioritize my work obligations and ignore the time I would have to spend on it. [the meters] immediately.”

Rubio said that back then, as Latino Network was growing rapidly, she lost sight of other responsibilities, including properly parking her car. “I've done so much personal work now and learned about work-life balance, and I have this knowledge of how to take care of yourself first so you can do these other things even more effectively. And so I learned those hard lessons.”

When asked if it was a financial issue that caused her to not pay those tickets on time, Rubio pointed out that it was a “really tough” time in her life and she was dealing with personal issues that complicated her ability to take care of the issue.

“And I think most women,” she continued, “and anyone who cares for or looks after family members when they're going through difficult times probably knows the kinds of difficulties I mean. So there were other costs involved as well. I'll leave it at that, because it affects other people, and that's not my story.”

It was only in her final years as a city councilor, Rubio says, that she began to see the connection between something as seemingly innocuous as a traffic ticket or an expired license plate and the erosion of norms and a lawless culture among many Portland drivers that has real implications for public safety.

“I didn't make that connection so directly until I was in this role,” Rubio said. “I absolutely know it in terms of the social contract that we all have to uphold and that we're accountable to the system … it has a connection to that feeling that you have to be accountable, and it's connected in a way that I didn't realize until I was in this job.”

“I'm not perfect, and I never said I was. I'm human and I've made mistakes, and I take responsibility for them. I took responsibility years ago, and I take responsibility now.”

With her campaign for mayor hanging in the balance, Rubio hopes her past successes with the Latino Network and her track record on the City Council will overshadow her mistakes.

“I don't define people by their mistakes and I hope people don't define me by my mistakes,” she said.

“And hopefully align their perspective with the good I've accomplished. I also believe in a world where people can run for elected office and win without being perfect. But everyone is entitled to their own opinion and will vote accordingly, and that is their right.”

Listen to the full interview in the player above or on YouTube. It should also be available on our podcast feed by the end of the day.