Bud Clark
| Bud Clark | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 48th Mayor of Portland, Oregon | |
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In office 1985–1992 |
|
| Preceded by | Frank Ivancie |
| Succeeded by | Vera Katz |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
December 19, 1931 Nampa, Idaho |
| Profession | Restaurateur, politician |
John Elwood "Bud" Clark, Jr. (born December 19, 1931) is an American politician and businessman in the state of Oregon who served as Mayor of Portland, Oregon, from 1985 to 1992. A left-leaning populist with little political experience before his mayoral bid, he was one of Portland's most colorful political figures.
Born in Nampa, Idaho, Clark's family moved to La Grande, Oregon, and then to Portland when he was 6 years old. He graduated from Lincoln High School in 1949, then enlisted in the Marines and attended college at Vanport College (now Portland State University), Oregon State University, and Reed College where he dropped out in his junior year. In 1967, he opened the Goose Hollow Inn tavern in the Goose Hollow neighborhood of Portland. At that time, the neighborhood name was falling into disuse and Clark is now credited with keeping the Goose Hollow neighborhood identity alive.
In 1984, Clark ran for mayor when no other candidate would come forward to challenge Frank Ivancie. He won in the primary, on May 15, 1984, with 54.7% of the vote. Under Portland's rules for municipal elections, Clark's winning more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary meant that there would be no runoff election in the fall, and his name was the only name on the ballot in the November general election. In view of this, he was already being referred to as "mayor-elect" well before November, but was "officially" elected mayor on November 6, 1984. His term began on January 2, 1985.
Upon taking office, Clark found that the previous mayor had reduced the city's reserves of $27 million down to a few thousand dollars. Firefighters and police had just received a 10% wage increase, which meant the budget had to be redone in his first months in office.
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