"I've always felt equal is equal," says Beaverton mayor Rob Drake. “We all breathe the same air."

"I grew up in Northeast Portland in the 1950s and I saw how my African American friends were treated at that time. I didn't like what I saw. It made a big impact on me."

This early experience led to a lifelong commitment to equality. Drake created Beaverton's Human Rights Commission in 1993. That commission passed a human rights ordinance in Beaverton that the state used as a model for a similar statewide ordinance.

"As an elected official, I think I have a good record," says Drake. "I do my homework. I'm open to different opinions."

Drake says there is a tendency in politics to become "vanilla" the longer one is in office, meaning the tendency to see--and please--both sides of a debate. But he assures that, "I'll never be vanilla when it comes to right and wrong. There is no substitute for being fair, respectful, and maintaining people's dignity."

"All I care about," he says, "is if people are good citizens."