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77 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, September 16, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 18, 2003 Colleagues say he’ll be missed By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune With nearly three decades of public service, Sen. Lenn Hannon left his mark on a lot of major projects in Southern Oregon. "His priority was always to get citizens what they needed," Medford Councilman Jim Key said. Hannon helped land state funds for Southern Oregon University’s library expansion, Medford’s planned sports park, the Bear Creek Greenway, a pavilion and theater at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Jackson County Circuit Court, and substance abuse and mental health treatment programs, to name just a few. "Lenn is so special," SOU President Elisabeth Zinser said. "He is the epitome of caring and effective public service. We’ll miss him terribly." Hannon played a key role in transforming the school into a university, bringing a languishing plan for a visual arts center to fruition, gaining funding for student-family housing, enabling growth of a computer science program and securing authorization of $20 million in bonds to pay for library construction, she said. Advertisement Beyond the specific projects, however, Zinser said, she most admired Hannon’s unwavering support of fair and equitable treatment of all and his work to unite Oregon’s many regions. Hannon’s seniority, knowledge, and direct-but-gentle honesty earned him respect throughout the state and from both political parties, Jackson County Circuit Court Administrator Jim Adams said. "He made sure the leadership knew about Southern Oregon issues," Adams said. Adams credited Hannon with the addition of two Circuit Court judgeships in the county and said the influential senator was instrumental in supporting a family-court pilot program that became a model for such endeavors. The senator also saw the link between the justice system and drug, alcohol and mental-health treatment programs and made sure all of the parts got support, Adams said. "You could pick any administrator in the system and they would all praise him for what he’s done for the state and the region," Adams said. "He is everything that is good about elected officials." Adams worries that legislative power is consolidating in the Willamette Valley and now is a tough time to lose a senior senator. "We’ve lost a huge piece in terms of credibility, prestige and power," he said. "These statesmen only come along once every decade or so." Key agrees. "This can’t do anything but hurt in terms of Southern Oregon’s position in the Legislature," Key said. "There’s no one on the horizon to fill his shoes immediately. It takes time to build the base he had." Paul Nicholson, executive director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, has known Hannon for 20 years. Hannon was always willing to listen and offer an honest evaluation, he said. "He always told me what he thought would happen in the Legislature," Nicholson said. "Sometimes he was right and sometimes he was wrong, but I always trusted his perception. "He knows every nook and cranny and just has extraordinary experience." Hannon was an instrumental supporter of the Oregon Arts Commission, received a Governor’s Arts Award and helped the festival get economic development funds to build the Allen Pavilion in 1991 and the New Theater more recently, Nicholson said. "Lenn was a major friend of the arts," he said. Businesses also received a helping hand from Hannon. "I owe Lenn a deep debt of gratitude for his help with my business," said Bryan Platt, chairman of the Jackson County Republican Committee. Platt owns Valley Vinyl, which does commercial upholstery and window tinting. He said Oregon laws had restricted his ability to tint windows until Hannon helped pass legislation that made it easier. Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4459, or e-mail [email protected] A long political career 1974: In his first political race, Hannon, then a Democrat, bests incumbent Lynn Newbry, a Republican, to take control of Senate District 26. Hannon wins by 37 votes. 1975: Frustrated by attempts to influence his votes on labor legislation, Hannon returns a $500 contribution to Oregon AFL-CIO organizers who backed him in 1974. 1978: Despite mounting criticism from local Democrats for his stands on gun control, abortion and other issues, Hannon fights off challengers to retain his seat. 1979: An effort to recall Hannon fails when critics miss a filing deadline. Critics wanted to unseat Hannon for refusing to support state control of federal land in Oregon. 1980: Hannon switches to the Republican Party, saying local Democrats worked against him in the 1978 election. The move makes him one of seven Republicans in the 30-member Senate. 1982: Two years after his party switch, Hannon staves off a challenge from Jay Mullen, a Democrat, who lost to Hannon in the 1978 Democratic primary. 1986: Hannon wins a fourth term in office. He defeats current Jackson County Commissioner Sue Kupillas, then an Eagle Point school board member. 1987: After 21 years, Hannon leaves his job as an equipment operator for the city of Ashland and goes to work as an insurance agent. 1990: In his closest race since 1974, Hannon edges then-Jackson County Commissioner Jeff Golden to retain his seat for a fifth term. 1993: The Oregon Citizens Alliance targets Hannon and other lawmakers in a recall effort that is dropped late in the year. Hannon irked the OCA when he supported a bill that prohibited local ordinances based on sexual orientation. 1994: Hannon handily wins his sixth term. After 20 years in the Legislature, Hannon is the senior Republican in the Senate. 1995: As Senate Republicans take control from the Democrats, Hannon is named president pro tem, traditionally awarded to the senior member of the majority party. 1998: In a bid for his seventh term as a state senator, and possibly his last because of a new term limits law, Hannon runs unopposed in the November election. 2001: Hannon settles in for what he expects to be his last legislative session and is named chairman of the powerful Joint Ways and Means Committee, which shapes state spending for the next two years. 2002: After term limits are ruled illegal, Hannon scraps plans to retire from the Senate and wins re-election to what would become his final term. 2003: In an unusual power-sharing agreement, Hannon becomes the co-leader of the Senate. 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