Pat Farr
Pat Farr has a long history of service in Lane County and in Oregon, having held executive management positions in private, nonprofit and public sectors.
Community Service / Involvement
Professional Background
Educational Background
Special Interests and Concerns
He has been elected to the Oregon House of Representatives, the Eugene City Council and the Bethel School Board. Legislatively he was Assistant Majority Leader, vice-chair of House Education and a member of the House Revenue Committee and Joint Committees on Tax Reform and Education. As City Councilor he served as Council President and chaired the watershed Council Committee on Homelessness and Youth.
His community involvement includes membership on the Oregon Food Bank Board of Directors, SELCO Credit Union Board of Directors, Oregon Health Practices Research Northwest Board of Directors, the Oregon Hunger Relief Task Force, the Oregon Commission for Child Care, The Home Center Industry Training Advisory Council, the City of Eugene Budget Committee and the FEMA funding governing board.
He left the State Legislature to become Executive Director of FOOD for Lane County, where he rescued a fiscally and publicly troubled agency for insolvency, leading the nonprofit through an unstable financial and difficult public image period to become a secure and sustainable leader in Oregon not for profit organizations. During the 110th Congress he was recognized on the floor of the US Senate for having dedicated himself to bettering the lives of Oregonians.
His private industry work includes nearly two decades of executive management with Jerry’s Home Improvement Centers, where he helped the small hardware store become an industry giant. He was General Manager of the All In One True Value chain of Hardware Stores and of Gray’s Garden Centers.
His public service includes the Lane County Human Services Commission, the Intergovernmental Housing Policy Board, the Eugene Human Rights Commission and the Eugene-Springfield Metro Partnership Board of Directors.
His writing includes being published in trade journals, newspapers and he is a chief contributor for the Forum Lane on-line blog, is completing a book on the history of local area business success and has finished his first novel.
Community Service / Involvement
- Lane County Commissioner, 2013-Present
- Representative, Oregon House of Representatives, House District 14, 2003-2004
- Eugene City Council, Ward 6, 1995-2003
- Bethel School Board, 1993-1995
- Oregon Food Bank, Board of Directors
- Oregon Hunger Relief Task Force
- Oregon Commission on Child Care
- Member, Oregon House Revenue Committee
- Member, Oregon Interim Joint Committee on Tax Reform
- Vice-Chair, Oregon House Education Committee
- Member, Lane County Human Services Commission;
- Member, Intergovernmental Housing Policy Board
- Chair, Council Committee on Homelessness and Youth
- Member, Council Committee to Finance Affordable Housing
- Member, Council Committee on Economics and Environment
- Member, Council Committee on Telecommunications
- SELCO Board of Directors
Professional Background
- Merchandise Manager, Sales Manager, Human Resource Director, Jerry’s Home Improvement Center
- General Manager, All in One True Value Hardware Stores
- General Manager, Gray’s Garden Centers
- Executive Director, FOOD for Lane County
- Platoon Leader, Company Commander, Oregon Army National Guard
Educational Background
- Beck Road Private School, Sheffield England
- Tillamook High School
- University of Oregon
- Lane Community College
- Oregon Military Academy
Special Interests and Concerns
- Jobs and Economy
- Transportation and land use
- Public Safety