Dan Ryan | |
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![]() Ryan in 2021 | |
Member of the Portland City Council from District 2 | |
Assumed office January 1, 2025 Servingwith Sameer Kanal and Elana Pirtle-Guiney | |
Preceded by | office established |
Portland City Commissioner | |
In office September 9,2020 –December 31,2024 | |
Preceded by | Nick Fish |
Succeeded by | office abolished |
Member of the Portland Public Schools Board of Education,Zone 4 | |
In office 2005–2008 | |
Preceded by | Derry Jackson |
Succeeded by | Martin Gonzalez |
Personal details | |
Born | [1] | June 21,1962
Political party | Democratic [2] |
Education | University of Oregon (BA) |
Dan Ryan (born June 21,1962) is an American non-profit executive and politician who is a member of the Portland City Council from District 2. Ryan was elected in a 2020 special election to succeed Nick Fish,who died of stomach cancer on January 2,2020. Ryan was re-elected in 2022. [3] [4]
Ryan is the third LGBT person elected as a commissioner of Portland,and the first to have been diagnosed with HIV. [3] [5]
Ryan was born in North Portland,Oregon,the youngest of eight children. Ryan was the first in his family to graduate from college. Ryan earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Oregon and took graduate courses at The New School. [6]
Prior to announcing his candidacy for Portland City Council,Ryan worked as an administrator at Portland State University,where he managed the school's first capital campaign. Ryan served as a member of the Portland School Board from 2005 to 2008,and was the CEO of All Hands Raised,an education non-profit,from 2008 to 2019.[ citation needed ]
In early 2020,Commissioner Nick Fish died of stomach cancer. Ryan announced his campaign to run for the upcoming special election. He faced 17 other candidates. [7] As the top two candidates,Ryan and former County Commissioner Loretta Smith advanced to a runoff as neither received over 50 percent of the vote. [8] [9] In the November runoff,Ryan prevailed with 51.2 percent of the vote. [3] [4] Upon his election,Ryan called for an end to the 2020 Portland protests and committed to establishing a "peace summit" between local politicians and activists. [10] Ryan assumed office on September 9,2020. [11] [12] Ryan became notable for his "safe rest village" program that involved large sites for sanctioned homeless camping. [13] [14] [15] As Commissioner,Ryan oversaw Portland Parks &Recreation,the Children's Levy,and the Portland Office of Arts &Culture,among other bureaus. He formalized the Portland Park Rangers as first responders,and established Portland's first World AIDS Day Proclamation. [16]
After Portland voted to restructure it's government from a city commission form of government to a mayor-council system in 2022,Ryan was the only incumbent Commissioner to seek re-election to the new City Council in the 2024 election. [17]
While living in New York City in 1986,Ryan was diagnosed with HIV. In 1996,Ryan was diagnosed with pneumocystis and was given between six months and a year to live. He then returned from Seattle,where he was living at the time,to his hometown of Portland,Oregon,expecting to die soon. [18] [19] Ryan is openly gay. [20]