Robert Charles Doerr (October 27, 1914 – December 5, 2013) was an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

. He served as the 53rd

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

, from 1956 to 1958. Doerr was the city's oldest living mayor at the time of his death in December 2013. Doerr's grandfather Charles served on the San Jose City Council. His father, Fred Doerr, who was also a member of the city council, also served as the mayor of San Jose from 1928 until 1930. Robert Doerr lived with his family at a home at Fifth and William Streets during the 1930s. He earned a bachelor's degree from

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...

. In 1950, Doerr and Alden Campen, a city landowner and World War II veteran, ran together as candidates for the

San Jose City Council The San Jose City Council, officially San José City Council, is the legislature of the government of the City of San Jose, California. As the Mayor of San Jose, Sam Liccardo casts the 11th vote on matters before the council and acts as chair ...

. The two men promised that the city would acquire the

San Jose Water Company SJW Group ("SJW") is a water utility processing, distribution, wholesale and retail company based in San Jose, California, San Jose, California. It serves 228,000 connections that serves over 1 million residents in regions of California, and approx ...

if elected. The San Jose Water Company countered Campen's and Doerr's campaigns by running a series of negative ads which portrayed them as socialists. Campen lost the election, but Doerr was elected to the council. Doerr served on the city council during the 1950s. During the early part of the decade, Doerr proposed a new tax on the city's

parochial school A parochial school is a private primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathematics and language arts. The ...

s. The tax proposal, which was opposed by the city's

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

community, was defeated following an effort led by John P. McEnery, the father of a future San Jose mayor,

Tom McEnery Thomas Andrew McEnery (born September 23, 1945) is an American author, businessman, and teacher from San Jose, California, who served as the 61st mayor of that city from 1983 to 1991. McEnery attended Santa Clara University, graduating with a B. ...

. Doerr supported the policies of city manager,

A. P. Hamann Anthony P. Hamann (September 26, 1909 – March 27, 1977), better known as A. P. Hamann or ''Dutch'', was the city manager of San Jose, California, USA, from 1950 to 1969. During his tenure, San Jose grew from a small agriculture-based city ...

, who spearheaded much of the city's urban expansion during the 1950s and 1960s. Hamann also had

San Jose City Hall San José City Hall is the seat of the municipal government of San Jose, California. Located in Downtown San Jose, it was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Richard Meier in a Postmodern style. It consists of an 18-story tower, an ic ...

moved to a new location outside

Downtown San Jose Downtown San Jose is the central business district of San Jose, California. Downtown is one of the largest tech clusters in Silicon Valley, as well as the cultural and political center of San Jose. History The town was first settled in 1777. T ...

in 1958. Doerr served one term as Mayor of San Jose from 1956 to 1958. At that time, the Mayor was chosen from members of the city council, rather than through a

direct election Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they desire to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are cho ...

. As mayor (and a World War II veteran), Doerr pushed for closer ties between the city and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He established a

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

relationship between San Jose and

Okayama is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1889. , the city has an estimated population of 720,841 and a population density of 910 persons per km2. The total area is . The city is ...

. He traveled to Okayama to mark the occasion, where he delivered a speech in

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

from memory. The city of San Jose also celebrated its centennial in 1957 during his tenure as mayor. Doerr resided at the Atrium senior home in

South San Jose South San Jose is the southern region of San Jose, California. The name "South Side" refers to an area bounded roughly by Hillsdale Avenue and Capitol Expressway to the North, Camden Avenue to the West, Highway 101 and Hellyer Avenue on the east ...

during his later life. He died on December 5, 2013, at the age of 99.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doerr, Robert 1914 births 2013 deaths Mayors of San Jose, California San Jose City Council members Educators from California California Democrats San Jose State University alumni American military personnel of World War II