Mayor Kitty Piercy
Educator, Advocate, Public Servant

After over thirty years of living, working, and serving in this state, Kitty Piercy is an Oregonian at heart. Kitty grew up in Virginia, Ohio, and Michigan and, in 1964, graduated from Western Michigan University with a teaching degree in Elementary Education.

Kitty’s Political Work Begins

Immediately after her college graduation, Piercy accepted a two-year Peace Corps assignment in Asmara, Ethiopia. After teaching high school English there, Kitty returned to the United States where her passion for education continued in 4th and 5th grade classrooms in Louisiana, Michigan, and finally, Oakland, California. It was during her Political Science graduate work at California State University at Hayward that she first felt the compelling draw of public service, an interest that inspired her from that point forward.

In 1970 she married David Piercy, another educator and returned Peace Corps volunteer, and in 1971, they welcomed their first child Andrew. The young family moved for a two-year position to the island of Saipan in the Marianas Island chain. There they took in several youngsters and adopted their second son, Vincent. The next stop was Eugene where Kitty returned to teaching. In 1979 they adopted their youngest child Jessica.

While teaching in Eugene, Kitty saw the need for citizens to step forward and take the lead in important issues. Her public life as a leader and activist was informed by her deep desire to advocate for children, schools and a healthy community. She was the chair of the school district’s Community School Advisory Committee as well as the city’s first neighborhood Public Safety Station advisory committee. At the same time, her interest in issues of women’s health grew, as she understood the integral link between healthy mothers, strong families, and safe neighborhoods.

Kitty has been honored by the City of Eugene as the recipient of two awards acknowledging her contributions to the welfare of women in her community.

She helped with numerous political and issue campaigns, served on the boards of Centro LatinoAmericano, Planned Parenthood and was the president of the state board of Directors of NARAL for three years.

Service in the State Legislature

In 1994 Kitty took her advocacy and communication skills to the Oregon State Legislature when she became a state representative for House District 39. She served the full three terms allowed by law, moving quickly through the leadership ranks of her Caucus. She became House Minority Leader in the 1999 session.

She wanted the voices of Eugene families to be heard in the halls of the legislature. As House Minority Leader, Kitty worked hand-in-hand with Governor Kitzhaber and the legislative leadership to address the growing budgetary crisis and create changes in state funding responsibilities. It was an intensely challenging experience and one that Kitty relished completely. From health care to education and from housing to jobs, Kitty was at the table.

Kitty was a highly respected legislator and a true public servant who stayed true to her core beliefs. She received the Rose Otte award in recognition of her work for Oregon children and families. She worked diligently to preserve school funding, a clean environment, health care and jobs for Oregon families. She served on committees dealing with health and human services, childcare, hunger, juvenile crime prevention, mass transit and election law. They all required balancing budget constraints with meeting community needs and responsibilities.

Term limits brought an end to Kitty’s legislative career but not to her commitment to the families of her neighborhood and town. Leaving her legislative role only gave her more time to serve the community where she and her husband David, a retired Eugene School District Deputy Superintendent, had raised their family, which now includes two granddaughters.

Mayor of Eugene

In 2004, Kitty ran for and was elected Mayor of Eugene, with the motto, “A Mayor for ALL Eugene.” In the last 3 years, she has worked hard to fulfill that motto. She has brought people together from all over the political spectrum to work on issues important to the citizens of Eugene.

One of the first projects she worked on as Mayor was the Sustainable Business Initiative (SBI). It is important to Kitty to utilize the talent and knowledge of Eugene’s residents to ensure that Eugene continues to be a great place to live years from now. She focused on Eugene being one of the most sustainable communities in this country, and focused on the triple bottom line – people, planet, and prosperity. To that end she led an 18 month initiative to look at how the city could support the growth of businesses that produce sustainable products as the kind of economic development that fits Eugene. This includes green building, recycling, natural foods and products, alternative fuel and alternative energy. The SBI also looked at how the city could support and foster all businesses adopting more sustainable practices. And over the last eight years through the purchase of hybrid vehicles and use of biodiesel fuel Eugene has decreased its city CO2 emissions by 10%. Eugene has taken strides toward carbon neutrality and zero waste, but Kitty knows we still have a long way to go and is committed to the task.

After years of debate, development of the West Eugene Parkway was in a stalemate. As it became clear the funding was simply not there, and that federal approval was likely never to occur, Kitty asked business owners, environmentalists, neighbors, agencies, and elected officials to start afresh on solutions for those vexing West Eugene traffic and transportation problems. They responded by forming the West Eugene Collaborative (WEC). Now they are working together, to solve the longstanding traffic and transportation challenges in West Eugene while protecting our biologically rich wetlands.

In addition to the WEC and SBI, Kitty has also brought together the Blue Ribbon Committee on Homelessness, the West Broadway Advisory Committee (on downtown), and the Cultural Review Committee.

Kitty has also enjoyed working hand in hand with more than 800 mayors across the country in support of the U S Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement, using their mutual power to push for changes at the Congressional level.

Kitty has continued to focus on civil and human rights so Eugene will be a welcoming community for everyone. Kitty will work to make Eugene an official Human Rights City, one that embraces human rights in every decision we make. She has supported increased communications with community members all across Eugene, by moving the Mayor’s One-on-One monthly outreach into the community. At her urging, Eugene has increased the role of neighborhood associations and sister cities. Eugene now has an Independent Police Auditor and a Civilian Review Board.

Kitty is a member and past chair of two important groups that reflect her abiding concern for children and families: The Lane County Commission on Children and Families and the Oregon Commission for Child Care. In the latter role, Kitty directly advises the Governor and the legislature on the importance of high quality childcare for the economy of Oregon. Kitty leads Lane County’s development of a support system for our children and families, one that emphasizes strengthening families and early intervention and prevention services. Such attention can greatly reduce the enormous budgetary impact of social services and incarceration.

Kitty has also been a member of the state Commission for Children and Families, linking local efforts with those at the state level and the Oregon Coalition for Runaway and Homeless Youth where she advocated for an effective state response to the many homeless youth in our state.

Kitty serves on the board of Wayne Morse Historical Park Corporation. Her understanding of the economic and political impact of teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections guided her work as Public Affairs Director of Planned Parenthood Health Services of Southwestern Oregon. In addition, Kitty gave a decade of board service to Laurel Hill Center, an agency that provides services to the mentally ill.

Kitty Piercy has spent her life making time for what matters. She is an expert at getting people of diverse opinions to sit at the same table and hammer out solutions to problems that affect everyone. She has done so in committees, on boards, in legislative leadership and while working for community solutions. Most of all she understands that all of these pieces are linked and connected into the fabric of our community, into the fabric of our state. Working apart, separating one need or one person from another is expensive and Kitty knows we cannot afford it.

Kitty’s first term in office reflected her belief in working together and her love of Eugene. These guiding principles underlie her enthusiasm for being Eugene’s mayor, and are reflected in her campaign for a second term in office.

Click here to read Kitty's Public Service