Tom Hughes

Tom was born in Hillsboro in the middle of WWII. He graduated from Hillsboro High School and then got a BS in History from the University of Oregon on his way to an MA in History from the University of Arizona. He then worked in Medford and SanFrancisco selling building.

Finally he returned with his wife Gayle and their daughter Karen to Hillsboro and he went to PSU to get his teaching credentials. He then spent 34 years as a teacher in the Beaverton School District, retiring in 2003.

 In 2000 he was elected Mayor of Hillsboro. He was re-elected in 2004 and served a second term before being termed-out. After two years working as a consultant for Tonkin Torp a Portland law firm, Tom was elected President of the Council of the Regional Government Metro in 2010.

After being re-elected in 2014, Tom served his second term and, when termed out, retired.

Tom isn’t an actor (unlike the Brit by the same name) but he loves live theater. He also believes that a city like Hillsboro needs performance art as part of the social scene. For that reason, he supported the conversion of a city owned building into a theater for Hillsboro Artists Regional Theater. Then he worked with Scott Palmer, the founding director to establish Bag N Baggage in the Venetian theater.

He has been on the Board since 2018.