Royce Pollard

Royce Pollard
Pollard at the 2008 Relay for Life in Vancouver
56th Mayor of Vancouver, Washington
In office 1996–2010
Preceded by	Bruce Hagensen
Succeeded by	Tim Leavitt
Personal details
Born	1939 (age 78–79) Burlington, Vermont

Royce Pollard (born 1939) was the six-term mayor of Vancouver, Washington, the fourth largest city in Washington state. After a career as a U.S. Army officer ending in the late 1980s, he served a seven-year stint on the City Council. He was first elected mayor in the mid-1990s, and stepped down as mayor in January 2010, after losing a reelection race to Tim Leavitt.

A native of Burlington, Vermont, Pollard served in the U.S. Army beginning in 1961, including deployment during the Vietnam War; he is a member of the American Legion and the Vietnam Veterans of America. His final post was as Commander of the Vancouver Barracks, from which he retired in 1988. Subsequently, the Pollard family settled in Vancouver and he was elected to the City Council a year later in 1989. Pollard is married, and has two sons.

After serving for seven years on the City Council, Pollard was first elected mayor in January 1996. He then served consecutive terms as mayor until 2010. Cumulatively, he held public office in the city for around 20 years, shaping much of its development in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. His most notable exploits have been a major revival of Vancouver's once-dilapidated downtown core, shepherding the city's growth by 100,000 residents, and championing a controversial project to replace the Interstate Bridge and expand the MAX Light Rail system into Clark County. In addition to mass transit, Pollard has long supported green modes of transportation such as walking and biking.