Harold M. Tollefson

Harold M. Tollefson (1911–1985) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the mayor of Tacoma, Washington (1954–1956; 1962–1967). He also served as president of the National League of Cities and Tacoma city councilor (1952–1958).

Early life, education, family, and early career

Tollefson was born in 1911 in Perley, Minnesota. His father, who had been a farmer in Minnesota, moved to Washington to find other jobs. In Tacoma, his father opened a grocery store. When Tollefson was five, his father died. The family kept the grocery store operating for a short while after losing their patriarch, but it ultimately closed. To keep the family afloat, his eldest two siblings withdrew from school and began working. Tollefson's second-eldest sibling was his brother Thor. The next-born were Harold himself, followed by his brother Erling. The youngest sibling was his sister Dorothy DeBord . Dorothy married Arthur DeBord, who served as an executive of the Federal Housing Administration in Long Beach, California. During his campaign, he pledged to honor the city's charter of the mayoralty being part-time job, rather than a full-time commitment,

Tolefson was inaugurated at approximately 9 AM local time on April 2, 1962. Unlike his first term as an appointed mayor, during his second term as an appointed mayor Tollefson was given a private office, a secretary, and a municipal vehicle. His mayoral salary was also higher, at $6,000 annually versus $2,400 during his previous tenure.

In 1962, Tollefson endorsed a "yes" vote in the referendum on Senate Joint Referendum 21 to amend the state constitution and abolish restrictions on land ownership. He also endorsed a "yes" vote on Referendum Number 33 to allow municipalities to hire certified or licensed public accountants for municipal audits as an alternative to having a state agency perform such audits.

In 1964, Tollefson publicly urged state voters to oppose Referendum 34, which would have legalized gambling in the state. The state's voters ultimately defeated the referendum, with 55.2% of votes being cast in opposition to the gambling proposal and 44.8% of votes cast in support of it. On the same day that the referendum was defeated, Tollefson was re-elected for another term as mayor. His re-election saw him defeat Julio Grassi, and secured him another 3.5 years in the position. By this time, Tollefson had publicly taken the position that the mayoralty needed to be treated as a full-time job, and that he had been wrong to argue otherwise two years prior. Tollefson argued, "The business of the city and business of the mayor seem to ever increase. State law gives the mayor many duties which don't appear in the charter."

Tollefson was regarded to be a friend of President Lyndon B. Johnson and a confidante of his vice president, Hubert Humphrey.

During Tollefson's mayoralty, a deal was struck for the city and county governments to share tenancy of the County-City Building. He also lobbied in support of the state legislature passing legislation to give cities and counties portions of state sale tax revenue, and advocated for funding the completion of Cowlitz River dams.

In 1967, Tollefson lost re-election to A. L. Rasmussen. His mayoralty ended on November 21.

National League of Cities and Washington Association of Cities Tollefson was a member of the executive board of the Washington Association of Cities. In late 1966, he was elected to serve as the organization's president for the year 1967, and did so.

In his positions within the National League of Cities and Washington Association of Cities, he advocated for expanded antigovernment cooperation. He also organized lobbying efforts by cities for funding of the Model Cities Program.