Neil Goldschmidt, Oregon governor and sex abuser, dies at 83

Former Oregon governor Neil Goldschmidt, who as mayor of Portland was credited with starting the city on its path to becoming a magnet for the young, hip and liberal but whose reputation unraveled after it was revealed he sexually abused an aide’s teenage daughter for years, died June 12 at his home in Portland. He was 83.

Family members confirmed the death but did not provide a specific cause.

For much of the 1970s, Mr. Goldschmidt was seen as a rising star in Democratic politics. He was elected mayor in 1972, at age 32, becoming one of the youngest and most vigorous leaders of a major American city.

He converted a busy highway into a popular riverfront park and developed the seeds of a robust public transit system, including a widely praised light-rail transit system. He was credited with providing the spark for downtown revitalization. Portland sports fans recall Hall of Fame center Bill Walton drenching him with beer after the Trail Blazers won their first — and only — NBA championship in 1977.

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In 1979, Mr. Goldschmidt left City Hall to become President Jimmy Carter’s transportation secretary, earning national acclaim for helping to bail out ailing automaker Chrysler Corp. After Carter lost his reelection bid, Mr. Goldschmidt returned to Oregon, where he headed Canadian operations for athletic apparel giant Nike.

He served one term as Oregon governor, from 1987 to 1991, leading the state as it recovered from nearly eight years of recession following the decline of the timber industry. He was credited with reforming Oregon’s workers’ compensation system and pursuing international trade opportunities.

Mr. Goldschmidt was willing to place more emphasis on economic growth and less on environmental protection, a reversal of state policies of a decade earlier when many residents feared growth. He also issued an executive order that gave gays protected civil rights status within state government. Voters, however, revoked that order in 1988.

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Mr. Goldschmidt announced in 1990 that he and his wife, the former Margie Wood, were separating and he would not seek a second term, saying, “It will require more of myself than I am prepared to give.” He never sought elected office again. The decision by one of Oregon’s most revered politicians was shocking, and left many wondering why he would walk away from a career on the rise.

The question may have been answered when Mr. Goldschmidt admitted in 2004, that while he was mayor, he began years of taking sexual advantage of the teenage daughter of an aide. Some reports said she was 14 at the time, others 13.

Under Oregon law at the time, the abuse would have been considered statutory rape because of the girl’s age, but he escaped punishment because the statute of limitations had expired.

Mr. Goldschmidt confessed to the Oregonian as the rival Willamette Week was preparing to publish an article revealing the abuse. He claimed the relationship — which he called an “affair” — lasted for about a year.

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In interviews that were published after her death in 2011, at age 49, the woman said the abuse continued for more than a decade and contributed to a life of alcohol and drug abuse. Willamette Week’s reporter received the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting.

The abuse was revealed months after Mr. Goldschmidt had assumed two high-profile positions: as chairman of the Oregon Board of Higher Education and as a point man for a Texas firm trying to acquire Portland General Electric. He retreated from public life.

Neil Edward Goldschmidt was born in Eugene, Ore., on June 16, 1940. At the University of Oregon, he was student body president and received a degree in political science in 1963. He graduated from University of California at Berkeley’s law school in 1967, then spent two years as a legal aid lawyer in Portland.

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After leaving the governorship, he founded the Oregon Children’s Foundation and volunteered for its literacy program in the schools. He served on commissions and boards and started his own law practice in downtown Portland, which focused on strategic planning.

In 1994, he married Diana Snowden, a Portland utility executive with whom he bought a winery that produced a high-end pinot noir, according to the Oregonian. In addition to his wife and two children from his first marriage, a complete list of survivors was not immediately available.

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