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

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

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. w ...

. He served as the 53rd

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

, 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, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

. 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 A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of t ...

. 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. It serves 228,000 connections that serves over 1 million residents in regions of California, and approximately 17,000 connec ...

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 school, private Primary school, primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathem ...

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

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community, was defeated following an effort led by John P. McEnery, the father of a future San Jose mayor, Tom McEnery. Doerr supported the policies of city manager, A. P. Hamann, who spearheaded much of the city's urban expansion during the 1950s and 1960s. Hamann also had San Jose City Hall moved to a new location outside

Downtown San Jose Downtown San Jose is the central business district of San Jose, California, San Jose, California, United States. Downtown is one of the largest tech Business cluster, clusters in Silicon Valley, as well as the cultural and political center of Sa ...

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 want to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are chosen ...

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

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. 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 inte ...

relationship between San Jose and

Okayama is the prefectural capital, capital Cities of Japan, city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The Okayama metropolitan area, centered around the city, has the largest urban employment zone in the Chugoku region of western J ...

. 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 :Neighborhoods in San Jose, California, region of San Jose, California, San Jose, California. The name "South Side" refers to an area bounded roughly by Hillsdale Avenue and Capitol Expressway to the North, Camden ...

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doerr, Robert 1914 births 2013 deaths 20th-century mayors of places in California 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