Gordon Faber
{{Short description|American mayor (1931–2014)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Gordon Faber
| image = Gordon Faber at Westside MAX opening 1998.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Faber in 1998
| office = Mayor of Hillsboro, Oregon
| term = 1993–2001
| preceded = Shirley Huffman
| succeeded = Tom Hughes
| constituency =
| office2 = Member of the Hillsboro City Council
| term2 = 1981–1985
1987–1993
| preceded2 =
| succeeded2 =
| constituency2 =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1931|04|02|mf=yes}}
| birth_place = Greensburg, Pennsylvania
| death_date = {{death date and age|2014|8|18|1931|04|02|mf=yes}}
| death_place = Hillsboro, Oregon
| nationality = American
| spouse = Barbara Loftin (1951–?); Barbara (B. J.) Jeddeloh (1990–2014)
| party =
| relations =
| children = 3
| residence = Hillsboro, Oregon
| alma_mater = Willamette University
Lewis & Clark College
| occupation = Retired
| profession =
| religion =
| signature =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
Gordon C. Faber (April 2, 1931 – August 18, 2014) was an American politician and businessman in the U.S. state of Oregon. A native of Pennsylvania, he grew up in Hillsboro, Oregon. He joined the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War and was a small business owner before becoming a real estate agent and entering politics. He served on Hillsboro's budget committee and city council before serving two terms as mayor from 1993 to 2001. The Gordon Faber Recreation Complex in the city's northeast corner is named in his honor.
Early life
Gordon Faber was born on April 2, 1931,{{cite news|title=Gordon Faber [paid obituary]|url=http://obits.oregonlive.com/obituaries/oregon/obituary.aspx?pid=172458129|accessdate=2014-09-30|work=The Oregonian|date=September 9, 2014}} in Greensburg, Pennsylvania to Ben Faber. The family moved to Hillsboro, Oregon, in 1934 where he grew up. As a boy he was a member of the Boy Scouts, but since Hillsboro did not have a city pool he was unable to earn his swimming merit badge.{{cite news|last=Williams|first=Elisa|author2=Don Hamilton|title= Oregon's Intel chips in |work=The Oregonian |date= July 16, 2000 |page=A1}} He attended the local schools and graduated from Hillsboro High School in 1949{{cite news|last=Fentress|first=Aaron N.|title= Hillsboro's mayor says city can handle growth |work=The Oregonian |date= February 9, 1999|page=B2}} before enrolling at Lewis & Clark College in neighboring Portland. Faber attended the school for a year and a half and then joined the United States Air Force when the Korean War began. In the Air Force he was assigned to the Armed Forces Special Weapons project and spent nearly four years with the unit. He married Barbara Loftin in 1951,{{cite news|title= Faber-Loftin (marriage announcement) |work=The Sunday Oregonian |date= June 17, 1951 |at=Section 3, page 6}} and in time the couple had three children (Mark, Rod, and Bob).
Following his military service he returned to Oregon and college. Faber entered Willamette University in Salem, where he graduated with a degree in economics in 1956. He then returned to Hillsboro and worked for his father in the family's plumbing and electrical business that included a retail appliance store.{{cite news|last=Colby|first=Richard N.|title= Hillsboro mayor faces competition for position |work=The Oregonian |date= August 21, 1996 |page=C2}} Later he bought out his brother and then father from the business, but sold it in 1985. Faber then worked as a car salesman before entering the real estate field as a sales agent for Barbara Sue Seal Properties. He was also a member of Hillsboro's Rotary International club, including serving as president from 1984 to 1985.[http://www.clubrunner.ca/CPrg/DxProgramHome/programhome.aspx?cid=2763&pid=21569 Past Club Presidents.] Hillsboro Rotary Club. Retrieved on August 23, 2009.
Political career
Faber's political career began when he served on Hillsboro's budget committee. In 1981, he joined the city council where he served a four-year term ending in 1985 alongside later mayor Shirley Huffman.[http://www.ci.hillsboro.or.us/CityCouncil/History/CouncilorHistory.aspx City Council: City Councilor History.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912222327/http://www.ci.hillsboro.or.us/CityCouncil/History/CouncilorHistory.aspx |date=2011-09-12 }} City of Hillsboro. Retrieved on August 23, 2009. After a two-year absence he returned for a second four-year term in 1987, followed by another term that would have run until 1995. In July 1992, Faber announced he would run for mayor of Hillsboro to replace Huffman, who could not run again due to term limits.{{cite news|title=Faber enters race for Hillsboro mayor|work=The Oregonian |date=July 9, 1992|page=D2}}
During the campaign season he openly opposed the Oregon Citizens Alliance’s ballot measure that was seen as anti-gay rights. He ran unopposed and won the election that November, while the ballot measure was defeated.{{cite news|last=Potter|first=Connie|title=West Zoner: Hillsboro mayor isn't one to duck|work=The Oregonian |date= February 11, 1993 |page=1}} Faber took office in 1993, and left the city council at that time after spending ten years on the council.[http://www.ci.hillsboro.or.us/CityCouncil/History/MayorHistory.aspx City Council: Mayor History.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090925014023/http://www.ci.hillsboro.or.us/CityCouncil/History/MayorHistory.aspx |date=2009-09-25 }} City of Hillsboro. Retrieved on August 23, 2009.
=Mayor=
File:MAX in Downtown Hillsboro.JPG
File:Gordon Faber Recreation Complex Hillsboro.JPG
As mayor in April 1995, he cast the tie-breaking vote that allowed for the construction of an apartment complex in the Jackson School neighborhood that was opposed by the neighborhood, but allowed by the existing zoning of the property.{{cite news|last=Colby|first=Richard N.|title= Hillsboro approves apartments |work=The Oregonian |date= April 20, 1995 |page=B2}} Hillsboro mayors do not hold a vote on the city council, but do break ties. Later state legislators Jim Hill and Bruce Starr also voted in favor of allowing the complex, while later mayor Jerry Willey voted against the complex. After the vote Faber announced he would not seek a second term as mayor, but changed his mind and announced he would run for a second term in July 1996.{{cite news|title= Hillsboro's mayor ready to run again|work=The Oregonian |date= July 18, 1996 |page=C2}} He presided over the ribbon cutting at the apartment complex when it opened in August 1996,{{cite news|last=Colby|first=Richard N.|title= West Zoner: Mayor officiates as complex celebrates its grand opening |work=The Oregonian |date= August 29, 1996 |page=1}} and later called the vote the toughest decision he had to make as mayor.{{cite news|last=Boone|first=Jerry|title= Development decisions hard for councils|work=The Oregonian |date= July 10, 2006 |page=B1}}
In the November 1996 election he defeated retired sheet metal worker Gordon B. Sherman, winning 84% of the vote.{{cite news|last=Colby|first=Richard N.|title= Experience a factor in 3 council races |work=The Oregonian |date= October 18, 1996 |page=D4}} He advocated for the expansion of the urban growth boundary, including bringing in the South Hillsboro Reserve area. "I view the city as a living, breathing thing. And if it doesn't grow, it dies. I think growth was necessary to keep the town alive and healthy."
Faber worked to defeat a proposal to site a new women's prison in Hillsboro in 1997. Oregon governor John Kitzhaber insisted a prison be built in the Portland metropolitan area in either Hillsboro or at the site of the former Dammasch State Hospital in Wilsonville.{{cite news|last=Foster|first=J. Todd|title= New prison choice pits Hillsboro, Wilsonville|work=The Oregonian |date= April 13, 1997 |page=D1}} The Wilsonville location was selected in May 1997,{{cite news|last=Bodine|first=Harry|title= Hillsboro prison opponents relieved|work=The Oregonian |date= May 16, 1997 |page=B2}} though the prison (Coffee Creek Correctional Facility) was later built north of the former state hospital.{{cite news|last=Tims |first=Dana |title=Building begins on new prison for women |work=The Oregonian|date=April 22, 2000}} Faber joined Kitzhaber in 2000 on a visit to Japan, where Faber visited Hillsboro's sister city of Fukuroi as well as the headquarters of many of the Japanese-based companies with facilities in Hillsboro.{{cite news|last=Anderson|first=David R.|title=West Zoner: In Japan, Faber will visit companies sited locally |work=The Oregonian |date= May 18, 2000 |page=1}}
On January 2, 2001, he left office and was succeeded by Tom Hughes.{{cite news|last=Anderson|first=David R.|title= West Zoner: Faber remains Hillsboro booster as he leaves his post |work=The Oregonian |date= December 21, 2000 |page=1}} While Faber was mayor, the city grew from approximately 40,000 residents to 72,630 and became the fifth most populous in the state. During his tenure the MAX Light Rail’s Blue Line opened to Hillsboro, the city created the Ronler Acres urban renewal district that led to a new campus in the city from Intel as well as the construction of Hillsboro Stadium, and the Hillsboro 2020 Vision plan was created. The Gordon Faber Recreation Complex includes the stadium and the Hillsboro Ballpark, and is named in his honor.
Later life and family
After leaving office he planned to learn to play a musical instrument, learn to use a computer, and take some college level history classes. Faber suffered a heart attack a few years after leaving office, but survived.{{cite news|last=Faber |first=Gordon |title=West Zoner: Praising emergency response|work=The Oregonian|date=June 19, 2003|page=11}} His marriage to his first wife, Barbara, having ended, Faber remarried in 1990 to B. J. Jeddeloh (also Barbara). Faber was known for his sense of humor, which included an episode where he carried an axe while wearing an executioner's hood to the performance review of the city's manager. A scholarship is given in his name by the Hillsboro Community Foundation for local students pursuing nursing careers.[http://www.hillsborocommunityfoundation.org/gordonfaber.html Gordon Faber Scholarship.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726151034/http://www.hillsborocommunityfoundation.org/gordonfaber.html |date=2011-07-26 }} Hillsboro Community Foundation. Retrieved on August 23, 2009. In 2014, he began receiving hospice care at home due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.{{cite news|last1=Hammill|first1=Luke|title=Former Hillsboro Mayor Gordon Faber enters hospice care in his home|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/hillsboro/index.ssf/2014/07/former_hillsboro_mayor_gordon.html|accessdate=3 July 2014|newspaper=The Oregonian|date=July 2, 2014}} Gordon Faber died on August 18, 2014, at home at the age of 83 due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.{{cite news|last1=Hammill|first1=Luke|title=Gordon Faber, respected former mayor of Hillsboro, dead at 83|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/hillsboro/index.ssf/2014/08/gordon_faber_respected_former.html|accessdate=23 August 2014|work=The Oregonian|date=August 22, 2014}}
References
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Category:Mayors of Hillsboro, Oregon
Category:Businesspeople from Oregon
Category:Willamette University alumni
Category:Lewis & Clark College alumni
Category:People from Greensburg, Pennsylvania
Category:Hillsboro City Council members (Oregon)
Category:United States Air Force airmen
Category:Respiratory disease deaths in Oregon
Category:Deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Category:20th-century American businesspeople