Forms part of the Oregon Labor Oral History Program.
Collection is open for research.
Gift of the Pacific Northwest Labor History Association, April 2018 (Lib. Acc. 29242).
Charles Randall "Randy" Leonard was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1952. He attended Portland Community College, then completed a bachelor's degree at Portland State University. He was an intern for Oregon State Representative Ed Lindquist during the 1975 legislative session, then continued working for Lindquist as a paid staff member until 1977. The next year, he became a firefighter with the Portland Fire Bureau, and he later served as president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 43, also known as the Portland Fire Fighters Association. From 1993 to 1998, he continued to serve as president of the union while also serving in the Oregon State Legislature. He served in the Oregon Senate from 1993 to 1999, and then in the House until 2002. He was next elected to Portland city government, serving as a city commissioner until 2012, and at varying times oversaw the bureaus of development services, emergency services, water, and fire.
In 1974, Leonard married Jeanie Norby. They had three children, and divorced in 1981. In 2010, he remarried to Kathryn Whelan.
Sources: Information provided by Leonard in his interview; "Meet your Portland City Commissioner: Randy Leonard," by David F. Ashton, East Portland News, accessed July 12, 2024,
Forms part of the Oregon Labor Oral History Program.
An incomplete transcript (333 pages) and a typescript index (22 pages) are available for in-person use at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Oral history interview with Randy Leonard, by Jim Strassmaier, SR 11025, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
This oral history interview with Randy Leonard was conducted by Jim Strassmaier in seven sessions, from January 12 to March 2, 2018. The interview was conducted as part of the Oregon Labor Oral History Program, which collects oral histories of individuals who have advocated for working people of Oregon, including public figures, union members, and workers. In addition to the audio recording of the interview, this collection includes one color digital photograph of Leonard, taken by Strassmaier at the time of the interview.
In this interview, Leonard discusses his family background and early life in Portland, as well as his education. He describes how working as an intern and staff member for Oregon State Representative Ed Lindquist inspired his later careers as a firefighter and legislator. He discusses his experiences as a firefighter with the Portland Fire Bureau, and speaks extensively about serving as president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 43, also known as the Portland Fire Fighters Association. He then discusses his tenure in the Oregon Legislature from 1993 to 2002, including his campaigns, serving on the Senate labor and business committee, legislation he worked on, and legislators he served with. He next speaks about his years on the Portland City Council from 2002 to 2012, including mayors he worked with and issues and ordinances he worked on. He also speaks extensively about his experiences overseeing the Portland Water Bureau.
Copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA,
Tape 1, Side 1, through Tape 2, Side 2. In the first interview session, conducted on January 12, 2018, Randy Leonard discusses his family background, including his maternal family's involvement in the development of Florence, Oregon, and the lives and careers of his parents. He talks about his early life in Portland, including growing up with a parent who had an undiagnosed mental illness. He discusses his early education, dropping out of school to join the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, and returning to finish high school after an injury. He also talks about his experiences at Portland Community College and Portland State University. He talks about his siblings, and about their families and careers. He then describes how he became an intern and later a paid staff member for Oregon State Representative Ed Lindquist, and speaks extensively about how that experience inspired his later career as a firefighter and legislator. He also talks about increasing partisanship in the Legislature since his time as an intern in the 1970s.
Tape 3, Side 1, through Tape 4, Side 1. In the second interview session, conducted on January 19, 2018, Leonard discusses his political beliefs and identity as a Democrat, then speaks further about his experience on the staff of Representative Ed Lindquist during the 1975 and 1977 legislative sessions. He talks about legislators he worked with, including Earl Blumenauer and Dick Magruder. He speaks about his marriage to Jeanie Norby and about raising a family. He shares his reasons for joining the Portland Fire Bureau in 1978, describes the hiring process, and briefly discusses his involvement in the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 43, also known as the Portland Fire Fighters Association.
Tape 5, Side 1, through Tape 7, Side 1. In the third interview session, conducted on January 26, 2018, Leonard discusses his experiences during training to become a firefighter. He discusses his 24-year career with the Portland Fire Bureau. He talks about fires he responded to, about rescuing people from burning buildings, and about arriving on scenes where people died. He discusses the normalization of receiving counseling after difficult fire rescues. He speaks extensively about serving as president of the Portland Fire Fighters Association, describes the changes he made to the association, and talks about his accomplishments as union president. He discusses the relationship between the Portland Fire Fighters Association and other first responder unions in Portland. He also talks about the Portland Fire Fighter Association's increased involvement in Portland politics during his time as president, and shares his reasons for not seeking re-election in 1998. He describes the harassment women firefighters experienced during the 1990s.
Tape 8, Side 1, through Tape 9, Side 2. In the fourth interview session, conducted on February 2, 2018, Leonard continues to discuss serving as president of the Portland Fire Fighters Association. He also shares his reaction to reports of Neil Goldschmidt's sexual abuse of a minor. He talks about his campaign to be appointed to a seat in the Oregon State Senate in 1993, and about his re-election campaign the next year. He also speaks about his decision to appoint Erin Janssens as the first woman fire chief of the Portland Fire Bureau during his final year as a Portland city commissioner in 2012. He discusses his experience as a member of the Democratic minority in the Oregon Legislature during the 1990s.
Tape 10, Side 1, through Tape 11, Side 2. In the fifth interview session, conducted on February 16, 2018, Leonard continues to discuss his experience as a member of the Democratic minority in the Oregon Legislature during the 1990s. He talks about opposing anti-labor legislation, about his unsuccessful campaign for Senate minority leader in 1995, and about his relationship with Republican legislators such as Randy Miller and Gordon Smith. He also speaks about the career of his second wife, Kathryn Whelan. He talks about serving on the Senate labor and business committee, about legislation he worked on, and about legislators he served with. He then discusses his campaign for the Oregon House of Representatives in 1998.
Tape 12, Side 1, through Tape 13, Side 2. In the sixth interview session, conducted on February 23, 2018, Leonard discusses serving on the Portland City Council from 2002 to 2012. He talks about campaigning on making changes to Portland's permitting process during the 2002 election, and about former Governor Neil Goldschmidt's role in Leonard's campaigns. He describes changes he tried to make to the Bureau of Development Services' enforcement of billboard regulations, and the opposition he faced from Mayor Vera Katz. He also speaks about working with Mayor Tom Potter. He talks about several issues he worked on as commissioner, including fluoridating city water, changing the city's permitting process, attempting to turn Portland General Electric into a public utility, and opposing Portland's cooperation with the Joint Terrorism Task Force. He also talks about working with mayors Charlie Hales and Sam Adams, and shares his reasons for recommending Dan Saltzman to succeed him as fire commissioner.
Tape 14, Side 1, through Tape 16, Side 1. In the seventh and final interview session, conducted on March 2, 2018, Leonard continues to discuss his tenure on the Portland City Council. He talks about serving on the council with Erik Sten; about the election of Nick Fish to the council in 2008; and about ordinances he worked on, including the renovation of Civic Stadium for use by the Timbers soccer team, and moving the city archives to a building at Portland State University. He also speaks further about working with mayors Tom Potter and Sam Adams, and shares his thoughts about a scandal involving Adams's sexual relationship with a teenage legislative intern. He extensively discusses his experience overseeing the Portland Water Bureau, including controversy surrounding a plan to cover Portland's water reservoirs, the history of the Water Bureau, and the installation of public bathrooms known as "Portland Loos." He closes the interview by talking about his children, their families, and their careers, and about his marriage to Katy Whelan in 2010.