From Lane Co Oregon

Revision as of 20:29, 1 November 2008

History

Ed served in the U.S. Navy at Iwo Jima and Okinawa and married Patricia Walker when he returned hom in 1946. He served on the Springfield City Council from 1950 to 1952 and as Springfield City Mayor from 1953 to 1960. He was named Young Man of the Year for the state of Oregon in 1956 and Junior First Citizen and First Citizen of Sprinigfield in 1956 and 1957 respectively. He also served on the state board of higher education and was League of Cities President in 1958-1959. The League presented Ed with a special recognition in 1986. He graduated from Eugene High School in 1941, and the University of Oregon, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1947 and a doctorate in 1949. He moved across the river after graduation from law school to start his own practice. He taught law at the UO School of Law and served as the city attorney for Springfield.

Population for the city of Springfield grew from 10,000 to 20,000 while he was mayor. He was responsible for urban renewal package that removed the mills and dilapidated house from what is now Pioneer Parkway to be replaced with Meadows Park, Hamlin School and open area for development. He annexed area from 27th to 72nd streets during his term as mayor. During his final term, the major East-West connection known as Centennial was constructed.

Springfield News, 1985

City's Mayors got us out of the mud

By Eric Jones (news Staff Writer)

In the past century, more than 30 men have served as mayors of the city of Springfield. Blacksmiths, docters, lawyers, and housepainters all have given their time and their own special directions to the city.

But only one mayor, Ed Harms, has served two full terms, although current Mayor John Lively, sales manager at a local manufacturing firm, recently ws re-elected and appears likely to join Harms as the second two-term mayor in the city's history.

There is, however, much more to Ed Hrms' story than the simple fact that he served eight years as mayor.

"From 1950 to 1960, the city doubled in size and population," says Harms practicing attorney who hung his first shingle near the corner of Fifth and Main Streets in 1950. "We literally got the city out of the mud and away from small-town politics."

Harms, the city's 23rd mayor, credits Claude Gerlach, former owner of [[Gerlach's Drug Store]s and mayor from 1945 to 1948, with being "the father of modern city government in Springfield."

Gerlach, now 71, laughs when he hears that title but conceds that there were a number of historical "firsts" during his term as myor.

Perhaps most significantly, Gerlach and three "progressive" councilors led the city to overwhelmingly approve the hiring of the first city manager in 1947. W.J. (Bill) Cloyes, a former chief sanitarian for Lane County, was hired as Springfield's top administrator for $6,000 a year soon after local citizens approved a change in the city's charter allowing for a city manager.

"Before that," the mayor and the council did it all," recalls Gerlach. "Being in the drug store all day long, I couldn't dodge anything."

On many an occasion, the mayor had to take time from his work and family to supervise a ditch-digging project, and citizens were quick to berate him at the drug store if the council did something they didn't approve of, Gerlach says.

"There weren't that many groups of people interested in participating in government," Gerlach says. "The mayor before me, Charley Chandler, was good-hearted, but he wanted things to stay pretty much as they were without any changes. This... progressives, to realize that we couldn't go on like this forever."

Gerlach and his progressive council instituted other major changes. Sewer service was extended east from 10th Street, allowing the city's cramped housing situation to expand. The city's first independent planning commission was appointed and the city's first full-time building inspector was hired.

B.P. Larson was elected mayor in 1948, and the emphasis shifted from planing and management to public power. The shift cost the city its initial bid to acquire South A. Street from Southern Pacific, a move long sought by downtown businessmen who wanted to get the logging truck traffic off Main Street, Gerlach says.

Meanwhile, Harms moved to Springfield and was elected to the City Council in 1950.

"I suppose all lawyers have a feeling of some aptitude for government," says Hrms, who in 1949 had graduated from the University of Oregon Law School. "It was also a way to become acquainted with the community and do something worthwhile."

In 1952, Harms ran against Larson and was elected mayor. "I felt the council's attitude wasn't growing up with the city," he says. "The mayor was interfering and there was a lot of petty, small-town politics.

"Mr. Larson was what I'd call a quasi-populist and extremely conservative," says Harms. "He believed the city could be run by volunteers.

"That may have been true when the city's population was 3,000 or 4,000 (in 1940), but not when it was 10,000," Harms says.

Less than two miles of streets were paved when Harms took office, and his first priority was to "get Springfield out of the mud." Harms proudly explains that 40 miles of streets were paved during his two terms as mayor.

A 16-mil levy (16 cents per $1,000 assessed value) was passed to finance city government and the council's final holdouts against the city manager form of government

Obituary

Harms, Edward C., Jr. — of Springfield, Lane County, Ore. Mayor of Springfield, Ore., 1953-1960.

A memorial service was held Nov. 20 2005 for Edward C. Harms Jr. of Springfield, who died Nov. 12 of a heart attack. He was 81.

He was born Sept. 21, 1924, in Roseburg, to Edward and Gleneva McClain Harms. He married Patricia Walker on Dec. 21, 1946, in Portland.

Harms graduated from Eugene High School in 1941. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a bachelor's degree in 1947 and a doctorate in 1949. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946 and participated in two invasions, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

He served on the Springfield City Council from 1950 to 1952 and as Springfield mayor from 1952 to 1960. He also served on the state board of higher education and as a director, vice president and president of the League of Oregon Cities. He was an attorney and taught law at the University of Oregon School of Law. He also served as city attorney for the city of Springfield.

He enjoyed mountain climbing, golf, history, politics, reading and UO Duck athletics.

Harms was a member of the Springfield Forum, Eugene Country Club and the First Baptist Church in Springfield. He was named Young Man of the Year for the state of Oregon in 1956, Junior First Citizen and First Citizen of Springfield...

Mayors of Springfield

Albert S. Walker (1885-1886) • S.I. Lee (1887) • Albert S. Walker (1888) • Simon Tuttle (1888-1889) • T.O. Maxwell (1889) • Albert S. Walker (1889-1890) • Albert Wheeler (1890-1892) • L. Gilstrap (1892-1893) • Albert Wheeler (1893) • J H Van Schoich (1893-1894) • Albert Wheeler (1894-1895) • Eugene C Martin (1896-1899) • John B. Innis (1900-1902) • H.A. Skeels (1902-1903) • R.A. Jayne (1903-1907) • Mark M. Peery (1907-1909) • W.M. Sutton (1909-1911) • Welby Stevens (1911-1913) • Charles L. Scott (1913-1915) • Elmer E. Morrison (1915-20) • Charles F. Eggiman (1921-1924) • George G. Bushman (1925-1929) • Charles O. Wilson (1929) • Wilfrid P. Tyson (1930-1934) • Ernest H. Turner (1934-1935) • W.A. Taylor (few minutes, November 27, 1935) • Ed Waltman (1935-1936) • William H. Pollard (1936-1940) • Charles Chandler (1940-1945) • Claude T. Gerlach (1945-1949) • B.P. Larson (1949-1953) • Edward C. Harms, Jr. (1953-1961) • B.J. Rogers (1961-1965) • David L. Scofield (1965-1967) • John E. McCulley (1967-1970) • William Morrissette • Maureen Maine • Sid Leiken