Royce Pollard (born 1939) is an American politician who served as the six-term mayor of

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...

. He served seven years on City Council and became mayor in 1996. He lost a reelection race to Tim Leavitt in 2010.

Early history

A native of

Burlington, Vermont Burlington is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Chittenden County. It is located south of the Canada–United States border and south of Montreal. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 44,743. It ...

, Pollard served in the U.S. Army beginning in 1961, including deployment during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

; he is a member of the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

and the

Vietnam Veterans of America Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc. (VVA) is a national non-profit corporation founded in 1978 in the United States that is committed to serving the needs of all veterans. It is funded without any contribution from any branch of government. VVA is th ...

. His final post was as

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

of the

Vancouver Barracks Established in 1849, the Vancouver Barracks was the first U.S. Army base located in the Pacific Northwest. Built on a rise 20 feet (6 m) above the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) trading station Fort Vancouver. Its buildings were formed in a line adjac ...

, from which he retired in 1988 as a lieutenant colonel. Subsequently, the Pollard family settled in Vancouver and he was elected to the City Council a year later in 1989. Pollard is married, and has two sons.

As mayor

After serving for seven years on the

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

, Pollard was elected mayor in January 1996. He then served consecutive terms as mayor until 2010. Cumulatively, he held

public office Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

in the city for around 20 years, shaping much of its development in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. His most notable exploits have been a major revival of Vancouver's once-dilapidated downtown core, shepherding the city's growth by 100,000 residents, and championing a controversial project to replace the

Interstate Bridge The Interstate Bridge (also Columbia River Interstate Bridge, I-5 Bridge, Portland-Vancouver Interstate Bridge, Vancouver-Portland Bridge) is a pair of nearly identical steel vertical-lift, Parker through-truss bridges that carry Interstate 5 ...

and expand the

MAX Light Rail The Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) is a light rail system serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Owned and operated by TriMet, it consists of five color-designated lines that altogether connect the six sections ...

system into Clark County. In addition to

mass transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

, Pollard has long supported

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

modes of transportation such as walking and

biking Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

. Pollard was a promoter of the moniker of "America's Vancouver" for the city, in order to differentiate it from the larger but younger city of

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. The mayor was also a staunch defender of Vancouver's independence from nearby

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. In a highly publicized gesture in 2005, he purchased and destroyed

coffee mug A mug is a type of cup typically used for drinking hot drinks, such as coffee, hot chocolate, or tea. Mugs usually have handles and hold a larger amount of fluid than other types of cup. Typically, a mug holds approximately of liquid. A mug is ...

s with Portland logos at Vancouver

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...

after the company failed to remove them from stores.

Post-mayoral life

Pollard was named First Citizen of Clark County.

Footnotes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pollard, Royce 1939 births Living people Mayors of Vancouver, Washington American military personnel of the Vietnam War Politicians from Burlington, Vermont Military personnel from Vermont United States Army officers Washington (state) city council members

Early history

As mayor

Post-mayoral life

See also

Footnotes

References