24 Facts About Tom Potter

Tom Potter served as Mayor of Portland from 2005 to 2009, and had been the chief of the Portland Police Bureau from 1987 to 1990.

Tom Potter marched against the Iraq War on the first anniversary of American involvement in March 2004 and was dismayed at the black uniforms and the militarized appearance of the Portland police he saw.

Tom Potter made it part of his campaign to rid the police of such a militarized appearance.

Tom Potter's openly lesbian daughter, Katie Tom Potter, is a retired Portland police officer.

Tom Potter was the first Portland Police Chief to do so, and has spoken out in support of same-sex marriage.

Tom Potter began as a police officer in 1966 as a beat officer in southeast Portland in the Brooklyn and Sellwood neighborhoods.

In 1986, Tom Potter was promoted to captain in the North Precinct.

Tom Potter was appointed police chief in 1990 by Mayor Bud Clark, heading up the 1,300 officers in the city's largest bureau.

Tom Potter served three years as chief before retiring at age 52 after 25 years of service in the police force.

Tom Potter served as interim director of the Oregon State Department of Safety and Standards and as the director of New Avenues for Youth, a service provider for homeless youth in Portland.

Tom Potter consulted with police bureaus around the country on the topics of community policing and strategic planning and was considered for the job of Top Cop in the Clinton Administration to head up their COPS Office.

Tom Potter built a platform on the issue of community policing, a police strategy that involves active engagement with neighborhoods with such tactics as getting police officers out of their patrol cars.

When Tom Potter announced his campaign for mayor on October 14,2003, running in a field of 22 candidates, he was not widely considered as a likely contender because Tom Potter limited his individual campaign donations to 25 dollars per person.

Tom Potter believed that all residents should have equal access to their politicians.

Tom Potter was inaugurated on January 3,2005, succeeding Mayor Vera Katz.

When Tom Potter took office, he declared that he was taking centralized control of all city bureaus for a period of six months.

Tom Potter later redistributed them once the adjustment period was completed.

Tom Potter advocated for a change to that system, advocating for a "strong mayor" initiative in the May 2007 election.

Tom Potter is widely credited for emphasizing diversity, and making city hall more accessible to underrepresented communities, such as people of color, immigrants and refugees, and youth.

In October 2006, Tom Potter introduced a resolution affirming the city's commitment to the inclusion of immigrants and refugees in civic life, and convened the city's first-ever Immigrant and Refugee Task Force to recommend strategies to address barriers to engagement.

Together with wife Karin Hansen and with the help of several hundred young Portlanders, Tom Potter led Portland to become the first major US city to produce a children's bill of rights.

Early in 2007, Tom Potter proposed four changes to Portland's city charter requiring a vote by the electorate.

Tom Potter cited a desire to spend more time with his family.

Tom Potter's term ended when Adams took the oath of office on January 1,2009.