{{Short description|American politician (1921–2000)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2011}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Connie McCready | image = Connie McCready.jpg | office = 46th Mayor of Portland, Oregon | term_start = September 5, 1979 | term_end = November 24, 1980 | predecessor = Neil Goldschmidt | successor = Frank Ivancie | office2 = Portland City Commissioner | term_start2 = March 19, 1970 | term_end2 = September 5, 1979 | predecessor2 = Stanley W. Earl | successor2 = Mike Lindberg | constituency2 = | state_house3 = Oregon | district3 = 6th | term_start3 = 1967 | term_end3 = 1969 | predecessor3 = | successor3 = | constituency3 = Portland | party = Republican | birth_date = {{birth date|1921|08|20|mf=y}} | birth_place = Pendleton, Oregon, U.S.<ref name=obit/> | death_date = {{death date and age|2000|12|22|1921|08|20}} | death_place = Portland, Oregon, U.S. | education= University of Oregon | spouse = Albert L. McCready | profession = Journalist }} '''Constance McCready''' (born '''Constance Averill''', August 20, 1921 – December 22, 2000) was an American journalist and politician from Portland, Oregon, in the United States. She held several elected offices in Oregon during her career, including the Oregon House of Representatives, the Portland City Council, and culminating with a partial term as Portland's mayor. To date, McCready remains the last Republican to serve as mayor of the city.
==Early life== She was born in Pendleton, Oregon on August 21, 1921, the daughter of conservationist Edgar Francis Averill.<ref name=obit>Heinz, Spencer. [http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:ORGB:ORGB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0EB08CCCEAAF90F8&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated4&req_dat=0EECDDDB0C95858C Ex-mayor Connie McCready dies.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230806083328/https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/easy-search?p=WORLDNEWS&t=product%3AAWNB |date=August 6, 2023 }} ''The Oregonian'', December 23, 2000</ref> The family moved to Portland and she graduated from Grant High School.<ref name=obit/> McCready graduated from the University of Oregon in 1943. After college she worked as a reporter for ''The Oregonian'', Portland's main daily newspaper, later becoming the Home and Garden editor for the paper. In 1945, she married Albert L. McCready and the two had three daughters.<ref name=obit/>
==Politics== In 1967 and 1969, she served in the Oregon House of Representatives as a Republican representing Portland.<ref>{{cite web| title=Oregon Legislative Assembly (54th) 1967 Regular Session| publisher=Oregon State Archives| date=August 21, 2007| url=http://records.sos.state.or.us/ORSOSWebDrawer/Recordpdf/6785334| access-date=August 6, 2023| archive-date=February 1, 2022| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220201070626/http://records.sos.state.or.us/ORSOSWebDrawer/Recordpdf/6785334| url-status=live}}</ref>
McCready was appointed to the Portland City Council in 1970, to fill a vacancy caused by the death of commissioner Stanley W. Earl,<ref name=oreg-1970mar12>{{cite news|title=McCready Gets Official Nod|newspaper=The Oregonian|date=March 12, 1970|at=Section 2, p. 17}}</ref> and was sworn in on March 19, 1970.<ref name=oreg-1970mar20>{{cite news|title=Woman Gets Fire Duties; McCready Joins Council|newspaper=The Oregonian|date=March 20, 1970|at=Section 1, p. 22}}</ref> She proceeded to serve as a commissioner (city council member) until 1979, being elected in 1972 and re-elected in 1976. McCready was the second woman to serve on the City Council.
In 1979, by a vote of her fellow city commissioners, McCready was appointed to the position of mayor of Portland upon Neil Goldschmidt's resignation to become United States Secretary of Transportation in the Carter Administration. She assumed office as mayor on September 5, 1979.<ref name="mccready takes office">{{cite news|last=Jenning|first=Steve|title=Mayor McCready takes office|newspaper=The Oregonian|date=September 6, 1979|page=1}}</ref> She was the second of three women to hold the post. McCready was mayor during the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens when Portland was blanketed by ash on three occasions, and eventually threatened businesses with fines if they failed to remove the ash from their parking lots.<ref>Painter, John Jr. The 1980s. ''The Oregonian'', December 31, 1989.</ref> She was defeated in the May 1980 primary by Frank Ivancie, whose succession to the office took effect on November 24,<ref name="proud of record">{{cite news|last=Williams|first=Linda|title=McCready proud of record, goals met|work=The Sunday Oregonian|date=November 23, 1980|page=B5}}</ref> at which point McCready retired from politics.<ref>{{cite web| title=Women's History Month Blog: Connie McCready| publisher=portlandonline.com (City of Portland)| date=March 20, 2007| url=http://www.portlandonline.com/omf/index.cfm?a=bejbjc&c=eeafd| access-date=August 1, 2007| archive-date=September 29, 2007| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929111339/http://www.portlandonline.com/omf/index.cfm?a=bejbjc&c=eeafd| url-status=live}}</ref>
A Republican, she was noted for her maverick political views which often deviated from the party line, including staunch support of the Equal Rights Amendment and gay rights.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}
McCready died in 2000 of complications from a stroke.<ref>[http://flash.uoregon.edu/S01/obits.html Flash: In memoriam] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080827222956/http://flash.uoregon.edu/S01/obits.html |date=August 27, 2008 }}, University of Oregon: Volume 16, No. 3, Spring/Summer 2001</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
{{s-start}} {{succession box | title=Mayor of Portland, Oregon | before=Neil Goldschmidt | years=1979–1980 | after=Frank Ivancie }} {{s-end}} {{Mayors of Portland, Oregon}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCready, Connie}} Category:1921 births Category:2000 deaths Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers Category:20th-century mayors of places in Oregon Category:Journalists from Oregon Category:Mayors of Portland, Oregon Category:Republican Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives Category:Politicians from Pendleton, Oregon Category:Portland City Council members (Oregon) Category:The Oregonian people Category:University of Oregon alumni Category:Women mayors of places in Oregon Category:Women state legislators in Oregon Category:20th-century American women politicians Category:Women city councillors in Oregon Category:20th-century American journalists Category:20th-century members of the Oregon Legislative Assembly