Harms, Edward C Jr.
From Lane Co Oregon
Contents |
History
Ed graduated from Eugene High School in 1941. Ed served in the U.S. Navy in combat command from 1944 to 1946 at Iwo Jima and Okinawa and married Patricia Walker on December 21 when he returned home in 1946. Later he graduated from 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.
He was chairman of the Springfield Red Cross Drive. He also served on the Springfield City Council from 1950 to 1952 and as Springfield City Mayor from 1953 to 1960. In 1952, he was the business district chairman for the Springfield Community Chest and the chairman for the Springfield Booster's Club and Democratic Precinct Committeeman. 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.
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.
He died November 12, 2005 of a heart attack. He was 81.
Springfield News, November 6, 1952
Mayor of Springfield Edward C. Harms
Edward C. Harms, 28-year-old attorney, was elected mayor of Springfield Tuesday, November 4, by a large majority vote. He won out over Ed Laksonen who ran second; and B.P. Larson, incumbent, third. Harms will take office on January 1, 1953.
In a statement to the News, Harms expressed gratification to the voters for electing him and promised to do his utmost to justify their faith.
Harms will work with members of the City Council, three just elected: Paris Breedlove, Ward Four; Ralph Nicholas, Ward Five; and Arthur C. McChesney, Ward Six.
Incumbents on the council are Alvin Reed, Ward One: and Nels Petersen, Ward Three. Harms served two years as councilman from Ward Two. The council will elect a representative from that ward to fill the office for the remaining two years of the term when Harms takes office.
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 were recalled in 1955. E. Robert Turner, a rising professional who later would go on to manage the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, was hired and served in Springfield until 1960.
In [1956]], Harms decided he'd served long enough in city government and chose not to run for a second term. But voters rejected the two candidates on the ballot - B.P. Larson and [[Rogers, Bill J|B.J. Rogers]... in Harms for a second term.
Urban development and annexation proved to be controversial issues in Harms' second term. The $15 million development project financed by the federal government revamped much of the "bombed out" industrial area between Mill and Fifth streets north of G Street.
Meadow Park was dedicated, two schools were built in west Springfield and the Springfield Public Library was built on the corner of Third and North A streets.
The Thurston annexation, which essentially doubled the city's size and pushed the eastern boundary of the city to 72nd Street, was approved by the narrowest of margins in 1960.
B.J. Rogers was elected mayor in 1960 nd soon took the brunt for the urban renewal efforts planned during Harms' tenure. In 1962, a recall effort was mounted against Rogers and Councilor Russell Eldridge, but city voters retained the two in a special election in February 1962.
Harms wasn't successful in all of his campaigns. He pushed for a new City Hall in 1956 but couldn't convince voters to pick up the tab. He found himself in the minority when the city decided to accept the White Horse statue and failed in his bid to rename the city's lettered streets. After Rogers was elected, Harms served on a charter revision committee that also went down in defeat.
By 1960, Springfield's population exceeded 10,000. Professional management was on the rise, and annexations and public improvements had overcome the stifling moratorium on the city's growth.
Harms became the city attorney, a post he still holds as the senior partner in the local law firm of Harms, Harold and Leahy.
"I guess the accomplishment of which I'm proudest was in doing what I thought- and others have said- was a good job as mayor."
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...
Organizations
Active Member, Springfield Baptist Church.
Member, State and Local Bar Associations.
Charter Member, Past Director of Springfield Lions Club.
City Councilman, Ward 1.
| 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 |  |
