Recognized for his sturdy opinions and willingness to combat for his metropolis, former longtime Vancouver Mayor Royce Pollard died Monday. He was 85 years previous.
“I believe his greatest accomplishment was giving our community a stronger sense of self. … In many ways, he woke us up and opened our eyes to our potential and possibilities,” Former Vancouver Metropolis Supervisor Pat McDonnell wrote in 2010.
Pollard was first elected Vancouver mayor in 1995 and served till 2010.
Pollard embraced “America’s Vancouver,” and underneath his boisterous management, the town grew from the eleventh largest within the state to the fourth.
“His contributions have left a lasting impact on the city,” Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle mentioned.
Pollard was born in Burlington, Vt., and joined the Military in 1961.
In 1965, he married Margaret Cooper. They moved 19 occasions throughout his service, residing in Vermont, Georgia, Washington, Vietnam, Alabama, New Mexico, Kentucky, West Germany Kansas, New York and Korea.
In Vietnam, he commanded a rifle firm after which was the operations officer for an infantry battalion.
For 5 years in South Korea, Pollard commanded a small, extremely categorized group that searched North Korea for underground tunnels.
As a lieutenant colonel, in 1985, he was made commander of the Vancouver Barracks.
As Pollard recounted in 2010, when he was instructed of the switch, he replied: “Christ, I didn’t know we had a place in Canada.”
“No, it’s along the Columbia River,” his superior replied.
Pollard first started showing in The Columbian due to the Vancouver Barracks’ Christmas Tree lighting and demolition coaching. He took on extra management roles locally earlier than he retired from the Military in 1988.
He ran for Vancouver Metropolis Council in 1989 and received.
As mayor, Pollard constructed relationships with lawmakers on the state and federal ranges. He employed a lobbyist in Washington, D.C., and traveled there often to push for federal grant alternatives for the town.
“No one knew who the hell we were,” he instructed The Columbian in 2010. “People in Olympia didn’t know us, people in D.C. didn’t care about us. I guess I was the lightning rod.”
Pollard wished Vancouver to have its personal id as a substitute of being generally known as a suburb of Portland — and he was prepared to make a scene to do it.
In 2005, Pollard walked right into a Starbucks in Uptown Village and acquired two memento Portland mugs from the espresso store. He smashed them on the ground in protest — and cleaned up earlier than he left.
Espresso mugs that say Portland shouldn’t be bought in “America’s Vancouver,” Pollard mentioned.
Many credit score Pollard for the town’s cleanup of Esther Brief Park. Beneath his management, the town additionally invested in and redeveloped Officers Row.
In 2010, Pollard misplaced the mayoral election to Tim Leavitt.