QuickTake:

Sean VanGordon, who juggles public service with a full-time job in the healthcare industry, knows the importance of planning and strategic thinking.

Correction: A previous version of this article understated the value of the expansion of Rosboro Forest Products. It was a $100 million expansion.

Before becoming the mayor of Springfield, Sean VanGordon had already spent over a decade serving the community. 

Where did this interest in public service come from?

“My grandmother was a social studies teacher, so I grew up in a household talking about economics and history and politics,” the Springfield mayor said during an interview at City Hall this week. “So I kind of grew up with an interest in public service.”

VanGordon, 45, spent his childhood in Anaheim, California. He and his family moved to Oregon when he was 14, first to Roseburg. He attended the University of Oregon, where he received a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science in 2001 and a master’s degree in economics in 2002. 

He loaded trucks at a UPS facility on Olympic Street in the mornings before class, and that’s when he fell in love with Springfield. He moved to the city in 2007 and still lives in the first house he bought. 

First impressions

“This community has a very can-do attitude,” he said. “And it really comes from the fact that it is a working-class town. You have to work together, right? And it is a very, very proud community.”

Pride, he said, that you can’t help but be inspired by. 

VanGordon got his start in public service on the Springfield Planning Commission in 2008. His time on that commission gave him exposure to what was going on in the city, and it taught him about Oregon’s complicated land use system. 

“I would tell you that the time I spent as a planning commissioner probably has made me a better mayor,” he said. 

One of his biggest takeaways? The importance of patience, of taking a step back and looking at all the steps one has to go through to accomplish city goals. 

“I think, in public leadership, you learn something new about either the community or yourself every single day, and that’s one of the really interesting and fulfilling parts of the job,” VanGordon said.

VanGordon joined the Springfield City Council in 2011 and served Ward 1, the Gateway area, for 10 years. In 2021, the council selected VanGordon to serve as Springfield’s interim mayor after former mayor Christine Lundberg stepped down from the position for personal reasons. VanGordon was elected to the position in 2022 and reelected in 2024, and both times he ran uncontested. He will be up for reelection in 2028. 

VanGordon and his wife, Elaine, whom he called his high school sweetheart, have 8-year-old twin daughters. The family enjoys playing soccer in the backyard, having water balloon fights and attending Drifters baseball games, and Sunday morning pancakes. 

In addition to serving as mayor, which is a volunteer position without pay, VanGordon has a full-time job working in financial planning for UnitedHealth Group. Because he collaborates with a global workforce, VanGordon starts his work every morning by 6.

Balancing the two “takes a lot of planning and a lot of organization,” he said. “I could not do it without Elaine. She’s patient, and she asks lots of questions about what’s going on for the week.”

Taking pride in progress

What is VanGordon most proud of in Springfield right now? 

First, he said, is road maintenance. Voters passed a bond measure in 2018 for street repairs, including work on Centennial Boulevard, and they approved the bond again last year to fund roadwork. 

“Voters renewed that bond because they saw that when we committed to invest in the roads they saw the benefit of that,” he said. “Also, they see the broader need to continue to invest in the infrastructure around this community.”

While he is proud of the revitalization of downtown Springfield and the many people who contributed to that work, “the success and progress in the community is much more widespread than downtown.” 

He mentioned the more than $100 million expansion of Rosboro Forest Products, “the backbone of our manufacturing community.”

‘The one that keeps me up at night‘

VanGordon is focused on the 42nd Street Levee. The Army Corps of Engineers is conducting a study to determine how to bring the aging levee up to federal standards. 

“Oftentimes, I tell people, that’s the one that keeps me up at night,” VanGordon said. 

The levee runs along 42nd Street and protects more than 24,000 Springfield residents from flooding on the McKenzie River, public documents show. 

The mayor also is leading the city in a discussion about fiscal stability. Springfield’s general fund has a projected $3 million budget deficit for fiscal year 2027. VanGordon convened a task force to address the deficit, and the task force recently released several recommendations to balance the budget, which the city council will discuss at a work session on June 30. The council is asking residents for input on the proposals. 

“You know, one of the things I’m very proud of with this community is when hard things come up, they’re curious,” VanGordon said. “People are open. People ask lots of questions. They provide lots of feedback.”