The Honorable Vera Katz is Of Counsel to Gallatin's Portland office.
Vera Katz was the 45th mayor of Portland, Oregon, serving three terms between 1993 and 2004. Before becoming Mayor she served twenty years in the Oregon House of Representatives and six as the first woman Speaker of the House. A concern for public safety, education, government efficiency, infrastructure development and pragmatism characterized her political career.
After her introduction to politics working on Robert Kennedy’s 1968 presidential campaign, she was elected in 1972 to the Oregon State House of Representatives. During her twenty years in the legislature Representative Katz focused on education, public safety, and balancing the budget. She served as Speaker Pro Tempore from 1981-1983 and as Oregon’s first female and only three-term Speaker of the House from 1985-1990. While in the Oregon House, Vera Katz sponsored the Oregon Education Act for the 21st Century, a landmark school reform bill. From 1982-1991 she also served as Director of Development and Executive Secretary for the Portland Community College Foundation. Additionally she helped pass measures on gun control, as well as legislation prohibiting discrimination based on gender in places of public accommodation and credit. As a Representative Vera Katz helped create the Oregon Progress Board, which serves to focus the energies of Oregon State government in critical areas.
Vera Katz was elected Mayor of Portland in 1992, the first of three terms. As Mayor she continued to emphasize public safety, education, and governmental transparency, but also focused efforts in long term urban planning and development. As the Bureau of Police Commissioner, Mayor Katz created the first multi-jurisdictional Auto Theft Task Force and Domestic Violence Units, as well as new anti-graffiti initiatives and Prostitution Free Zones. As a Board Member of the National Committee for Education and the Economy, she established “Prosperous Portland” in 1994, an economic development program to better train the workforce, develop international trade and improve infrastructure. She also established "Meet the mayor sessions," the Mayor’s Office of the Ombudsman and a new Public Utilities Review Board.
While heading up the Portland Development Commission and the Future Focus/Portland Progress Board, Mayor Katz actively pursued investment in a livable future through city housing projects, public transportation, and revitalization of the city’s neighborhoods. After being selected as the Public Official of the Year by Governing Magazine in 1994, Vera Katz was reelected handily in 1996, receiving 83% of the vote.
In November 2004, the Eastbank Esplanade was officially renamed the Vera Katz Eastbank Esplanade in honor of the former Mayor's service to the city. In October 2008, the former Mayor accepted an Of Counsel position in the Portland office of Gallatin Public Affairs.
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