Shane Bemis (born c. 1972) is an American politician who is the former mayor of

Gresham, Oregon Gresham ( ) is a city in the Willamette Valley, Located in Multnomah County in the U.S. state of Oregon, bordered by Portland to the northwest and partially in the southwest. It was first settled in the early 1850s by the Powell brothers. It ...

, Oregon's fourth-largest city. He was elected mayor in 2006, at the age of 34, becoming the youngest mayor in Gresham's history. Prior to serving as mayor, Bemis served as a city councilor for Gresham for one term between 2003 and 2007.

Early life

Shane Bemis was born in

Billings, Montana Billings is the most populous Lists of populated places in the United States, city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, i ...

, into a politically active family and ultimately chose to become politically. Raised in Billings, he moved to Gresham when he was fifteen years old. After graduating high school, he attended Marylhurst University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in communications. In his twenties, Bemis opened a Bellagio's Pizzeria franchise in Gresham. He credits his business pursuits with his belief in bringing a "business-oriented" approach to local governance in Gresham.

Political career

In 2002, Bemis ran for councilor in position #6 against John W. Dillow and won the election by a nearly two-to-one margin. After serving one term, Bemis ran for mayor in 2006 and was elected mayor over incumbent Charles Becker, by a margin of 7,417 votes to 5,208. In 2007, Mayor Bemis pushed

TriMet The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) is a Transit district, transit agency that serves most of the Oregon part of the Portland metropolitan area. Created in 1969 by the Oregon Legislative Assembly, Oregon legi ...

, the local transit agency, to tackle crime along the MAX light-rail line. This effort resulted in the creation of a transit-police precinct in Gresham. Bemis was named by the ''

Portland Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes ''The Business Journals'', which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States with each market ...

'' as one of the region's "Forty Under 40 Award" recipients in 2007. The award honors 40 people in the region under the age of 40 who have shown great accomplishments in their professional lives and made outstanding contributions to their communities. Bemis is a prominent local business person in Gresham, where he is a restaurateur. Bemis was mentioned as a potential Republican candidate for the 2016 Oregon special gubernatorial election, but ultimately declined to run. Bemis announced his retirement on June 16, 2020, citing the need to spend time with his family and keep his restaurant business viable during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

References

External links

An opinion piece on Shane Bemis from ''The Oregonian''
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Bemis markets Gresham to solar industry

Mayor Bemis calls for volunteers

Gresham hosts green economic summit * Living people 1972 births 21st-century mayors of places in Oregon Mayors of places in Oregon Politicians from Gresham, Oregon Oregon city council members Oregon Republicans {{Oregon-mayor-stub