Neil Goldschmidt was credited with starting Portland on its path to becoming a magnet for the young, hip and liberal before becoming U.S. Cabinet Secretary and Governor of Oregon.
But between converting a busy highway into a popular riverfront park and developing the seeds of a robust public transportation system, Portland’s bushy-haired, whiskered mayor had a secret double life. In the 1970s he had an illegal sexual relationship with the teenage daughter of an assistant for years.
Goldschmidt died Wednesday at his home in Portland. The Oregonian reported, family members said. He was 83.
The newspaper said the reported cause was heart failure.
At the age of 32, Goldschmidt was elected the youngest mayor of a major American city in 1972. Seven years later, he left City Hall to become President Jimmy Carter’s transportation secretary. He served one term as governor of Oregon, from 1987 to 1991.
Goldschmidt announced in 1990 that he and his wife, Margie, were separating and that he would not seek a second term. He said, “It will take more of myself than I am willing to give.” He never sought elected office again. The decision by one of Oregon’s most respected politicians was shocking and left many wondering why he would abandon a career on the rise.
The question may have been answered when Goldschmidt admitted on March 6, 2004 that while he was mayor, he had a sexual relationship that began when the girl was 14. Under Oregon law at the time, the sexual encounters would have been considered statutory rape. due to the girl’s age, but he escaped punishment because the statute of limitations had expired.
Goldschmidt confessed to The Oregonian as the rival Willamette Week was preparing to publish an article that would expose the abuse. He claimed the relationship – which he called an “affair” – lasted about a year. Later newspaper reports showed that it had taken up to three years. In interviews published after her death in 2011, the woman told newspapers that it actually lasted more than a decade and contributed to a tragic life of alcohol and drug abuse.
The abuse came to light months after Goldschmidt took two high-profile positions: as chairman of the Oregon Board of Higher Education and as a point person for a Texas company trying to acquire Portland General Electric. He withdrew from public life.
“In the 35 years since I abandoned this young woman, her family and my family, the pain has never gone away,” Goldschmidt told The Oregonian in an email after the victim died in 2011.
When the abuse became public, Goldschmidt’s portrait was moved from a prominent spot in the Capitol to a hidden library. In 2011, it was placed in storage at the state historical society.
The scandal reverberated among Oregon’s political elite, where rumors swirled about who knew Goldschmidt’s secret and kept it quiet.
As governor, Goldschmidt led the state as it recovered from nearly eight years of recession following the decline of the timber industry. He was credited with reforming Oregon’s workers’ compensation system and pursuing international trade opportunities.
Goldschmidt was born in Eugene on June 16, 1940. After graduating from South Eugene High School, Goldschmidt attended the University of Oregon, where he received a degree in political science in 1963.
As chairman of the student council, he went directly to the then government. Mark Hatfield to seek more support for higher education. While in law school in Berkeley, California, Goldschmidt pushed for campus reforms and marched for civil rights in Mississippi.
“He was like a machine gun,” Hatfield once told The Oregonian. “He had as many ideas as he could pull.”
Goldschmidt was a legal aid attorney in Portland from 1967 to 1969. He began his political career as a city commissioner in 1971 and was elected mayor the following year.
The bushy, sideburned Goldschmidt was known as a bourgeois visionary. During the Goldschmidt era, Portland’s critically acclaimed light rail transit system was conceived and built. He nurtured strong neighborhoods and provided the spark for downtown revitalization.
Portland sports fans remember that Bill Walton drenched him in beer after the Trail Blazers won their first – and only – NBA championship in 1977.
He left in 1979 to head the U.S. Department of Transportation and rose to national prominence for helping save ailing automaker Chrysler Corp. After Carter lost his re-election bid, Goldschmidt returned to Oregon, where he headed Canadian operations for athletic apparel giant Nike, Inc.
In 1986, Goldschmidt entered the race for governor of Oregon, tying with Republican Norma Paulus in one of the state’s closest gubernatorial contests.
The campaign was waged against the backdrop of the state’s continued economic distress and high unemployment. Goldschmidt, backed by business support and his own business experience, won with 52 percent of the vote. Analysts attributed his victory to his economic program and his record of reducing crime as mayor of Portland.
During his time in office, Goldschmidt was willing to place more emphasis on economic growth and less on environmental protection, a reversal of state policy from a decade earlier, when many residents feared the growth.
He also issued an executive order that gave gays protected civil rights status within the state government. However, voters repealed that order in 1988.
His governorship did not win universal praise. Critics said his words exceeded his achievements and others said he lacked patience and was bored by the bureaucracy. He was also haunted by the highly publicized murder of a state prison official, which led to allegations of corruption in the prison system.
An independent investigation ordered by Goldschmidt revealed problems in the prison system, but no connection to the murder.
After leaving office, he founded the Oregon Children’s Foundation and volunteered for the literacy program in the schools. He served on many committees and boards and started his own law practice in downtown Portland focusing on strategic planning.
He is survived by his second wife, Diana Snowden; their daughter; two children from a previous marriage; and a stepchild.
—-
The late Associated Press reporter Steven DuBois contributed to this obituary. DuBois died in 2021.