Randy Leonard

Charles Randall ‘Randy’ Leonard (born 1952) is a politician in the U.S. state of Oregon. He was a member of the Oregon Legislative Assembly from 1993 to 2002 and served as a city commissioner in Portland (a member of the Portland City Council) from 2002 through 2012.

Randy Leonard
Portland City Commissioner
In office
November 2002 – December 31, 2012
Preceded byCharlie Hales
Succeeded bySteve Novick
ConstituencyPortland, Oregon
Member of the Oregon House of Representatives
from the 21st district
In office
1999–2002
Preceded byLonnie J. Roberts
Succeeded byBilly Dalto
Member of the Oregon Senate
from the 9th district
In office
1993–1999
Preceded byFrank L. Roberts
Succeeded byFrank Shields
Personal details
Born1952 (age 68–69)
Portland, Oregon
Political partyDemocratic
Alma materPortland State University, B.S., History

Career

Prior to serving in Portland city government, Leonard served in the Oregon Legislative Assembly and was a lieutenant with the Portland Fire Bureau.

In 1985, Leonard was elected President of the Portland Firefighters Association. He was elected as the Portland Firefighters President four times, serving in that position until 1998.

Leonard next to a Portland Loo.

In 1993, he was appointed to the Oregon State Senate to serve Multnomah County in District 9 by the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners. In 1994 he was elected to the Senate for a four-year term. In 1998, because of term limits, Leonard became the first person in Oregon history to run for the Oregon House of Representatives while serving as a sitting State Senator.[1] A Democrat, he served in the Senate and Oregon House of Representatives from 1993 through the 2002 special sessions of the legislature.[2][3][4][5]

Leonard was elected to the Portland City Council in 2002, in a special election held to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of then-commissioner Charlie Hales.[6] He was sworn in as a Portland city commissioner in front of the Smith Memorial Center in the South Park Blocks on November 26, 2002, by city auditor Gary Blackmer.[7] He was re-elected in 2004 and 2008.[8]

While serving on the Portland City Council, Leonard was the appointed by the Mayor to be the administrative head of a number of different city bureaus, including the Portland Fire Bureau. Leonard was the Commissioner-in-charge of the Fire Bureau during his final four years on the city council.

Randy Leonard.

In 2011, Leonard announced that he would not run for re-election in 2012,[9] and his final term on the city council ended on December 31, 2012.[6]

Personal life

Leonard married his wife, Katie, in 2010.[6]

On May 8, 2011, Leonard's daughter, 31-year-old Kara Marie Leonard, died. She had struggled for several years with addiction, achieving brief episodes of sobriety with her father's help; he spoke publicly of her addiction in the 2007 documentary Finding Normal.[10]

See also

References
  1. Oregon Legislators and Staff Guide: 1995 Regular Session (68th). Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on April 1, 2009.
  2. Oregon Legislators and Staff Guide: 1997 Regular Session (69th). Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on April 1, 2009.
  3. Oregon Legislators and Staff Guide: 1999 Regular Session (70th). Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on April 1, 2009.
  4. Oregon Legislators and Staff Guide: 2001 Regular Session (71st). Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on April 1, 2009.
  5. Oregon Legislators and Staff Guide: 2002 Special Sessions (71st). Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on April 1, 2009.
  6. Slovic, Beth (December 23, 2012). "Randy Leonard: A controversial, get-it-done politician prepares to leave the Portland City Council". The Oregonian. Retrieved January 4, 2013.
  7. "Leonard will be sworn in Nov. 26 in the Park Blocks". The Oregonian. November 19, 2002. p. B2.
  8. Larabee, Mark (November 27, 2008). "Your sneak preview of the city's new era". The Oregonian. Retrieved January 4, 2013.
  9. Slovic, Beth (June 29, 2011). "Steve Novick enters race for Portland Commissioner Randy Leonard's seat: Portland City Hall roundup". The Oregonian. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  10. Jacquiss, Nigel (May 9, 2011). "Updated: Commissioner Randy Leonard's Daughter Dies". Willamette Week. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
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