Vera Katz

Vera (Pistrak) Katz was born of Russian heritage in Dusseldorf, Germany on August 3, 1933. The following year, Vera, her parents, and older sister Zena fled Nazi persecution and embarked on a voyage that took them to France, Spain, and Portugal before they eventually settled in Brooklyn, New York. When Vera was eleven, her father left the family. Her mother took odd jobs to support them. Vera graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn College in New York in 1955. 

Nine years later, Katz moved to Portland with her former husband, artist Mel Katz, and their infant son, Jesse. She cared for Jesse, prepared elaborate dinner parties, sewed her own clothes, and renovated her home, but she also longed to advocate more directly for social justice. After four years, she entered politics as an activist, volunteering for Robert Kennedy’s presidential primary campaign. When Kennedy died she stayed active, lobbying the Legislature on behalf of migrant workers. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, along with other women, she picketed the Portland City Club, protesting their exclusion of women, and effectively pushing the Club into admitting women.

Building on this success, Katz embarked on a political career that would span more than three decades—twenty years as a state representative and twelve years as the mayor of Portland. As one of the pioneering women in Oregon politics, Vera broke new ground, opening doors for future generations of women. Katz was first elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in 1972. During her tenure she became the first woman to chair the Ways and Means Committee, as well as Oregon’s first woman to serve as Speaker of the House, and the only three-time Speaker. When Republicans took control of the House, Vera decided it was time for a change. In 1992, she launched a successful mayoral campaign, starting the first of three terms as Portland’s third female mayor.

During her career, Katz championed women’s causes, education, and community development. While in the Legislature she forged the first women’s caucus, which was able to push through anti-gender discrimination bills as well as bills strengthening rape laws. Katz also introduced the Schools for the Twenty-First Century Act, which affected discussions of education reform across the country. Throughout her years as mayor, Katz prioritized funding for revitalizing the central city. She was instrumental in developing many landmarks, including the Oregon Convention Center, Pearl District, Chinese Classical Gardens, PGE Park, the Eastbank Esplanade, and the South Waterfront district, as well as expanding public transportation.

As Speaker, Katz was known for her fairness and ability to run a bi-partisan House. John Kitzhaber describes her as “One of the last great speakers of the Oregon House of Representatives.…She built a powerful base of understanding, and respect, and support across the aisle. She ran the House like the House of Representatives. It wasn’t the Democratic caucus, it was the House of Representatives.” In characterizing Katz’s political style, Oregon Public Broadcasting’s political reporter Colin Fogarty comments on how Katz handled political and legislative conflicts: “Whatever conflict she had with you she never took it personally and she never attacked you personally.” Larry Campbell, Republican minority leader when Katz was Speaker, respected her honesty and integrity: “She was tough, she didn’t agree with me on many, many things but she was always fair and she basically always let me know where she was. Vera Katz never told me an untruth and I could count on what she said.” Her achievements are especially impressive, for as the first female Speaker of the House, Katz confronted a traditionally male organization and as Fogarty notes, one in which the old boys’ network was very much alive. “It was not an enlightened organization but she fit right in because she was good at what she did.”

In 2000 Mayor Katz was diagnosed with breast cancer. Rather than quit, she incorporated her private battle into her public persona. In commenting on Katz as Mayor, Alison Frost notes, “It is widely acknowledged that she has a direct, forceful, go get ‘em style but you also hear at the same time people talking about her being maternal and having heart.” She raised public awareness by working on the Race for the Cure and joining the nationwide Mayor’s Campaign Against Breast Cancer. In 2004 doctors found adenosarcoma—a rare and aggressive form of cancer. With this news Katz announced that she would not seek a fourth term, ending thirty-two years in public office. In her twelfth and final State of the City address, Katz left us with her philosophy on Portland, “Here, we haven’t been, and should never be, afraid of big ideas of thinking out loud, or of robust debate. This is essential to the spirit of Portland.”