Vera Katz Rides The Bus — April 3, 1993

Upon the untimely demise of former mayor Vera Katz, mastermind of the Eastbank Esplanade and initiator of Portland’s ritzy Pearl District, we present this video fact: she didn’t have a driver’s license. She failed her test and never re-tried. She took the smelly bus to the mayor’s office every day, and Tri-Met was able to use that fact in their ads for the next several years. “I express my North-West-Ness by riding Tri-Met!” she’d say. I’d wince.

If you should be biking along the Espalanade one day and see a statue of an old lady with wide eyes and a creepy Joker grin, tip your hat and pay your respects, because that’s Katz. Not literally.