Casey Ryan: Banker | Mayor

Stressful. Crazy. Lots of hard work. Exhilarating. Those are the words Casey Ryan uses to describe his successful run for Mayor of Troutdale. With four kids in tow, a full-time banking career, and involvement with numerous nonprofit organizations, Casey is ambitious yet clear about his priorities: “I balance my life in three ways: family first, work second, and then Mayor.”

Casey’s desire to bring positive leadership to Troutdale was the motivating factor behind his decision to run for office. After seeing the city council bogged down for years, Casey thought he might be able to make a difference. “Troutdale is an amazing community with many things going its way. We needed leadership that could harness the good parts and move us in a positive direction,” stated Casey.

The process of running for Mayor was trying, and Casey acknowledges he would have struggled without the support and counsel of his wife Sarah. While skeptical of the idea at first, Sarah was one of Casey’s greatest assets. During the campaign, Casey and Sarah knocked on over 1,500 doors to meet with Troutdale residents. “Sarah was my secret weapon,” recounted Casey. “People would see her and automatically be pleasant. They would think, no way a person that beautiful would marry a horrible person!”

Casey may joke about the reason, but something about him and his message struck a chord with voters. On November 8, 2016, the people of Troutdale delivered Casey a resounding victory. The first-time politician had defeated a two-term city councilor with a 60 percent margin. After the election, Casey was eager to put the campaign behind him and begin work on the challenges facing his community.

During his four-year term as Mayor, Casey is focusing on issues familiar to many expanding cities. “As our city grows, we need to assure that we are dealing with traffic issues, housing affordability and where people will work. And as with any city, we need to assure we are balancing our budget, providing a good quality of life for our citizens, and investing in our infrastructure for future generations,” said Casey.

While moonlighting as Mayor, Casey will continue his day job as senior vice president and regional manager at Riverview Community Bank, where he oversees the bank’s Oregon retail branches. He loves being a community banker, but it wasn’t always part of his master plan. He grew up dreaming of becoming a sports broadcaster. After high school, he was a bull rider at rodeos in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Canada. Following college, he spent much of his 20s in a variety of jobs as he searched for his calling in life. One of those jobs was selling cars, and he was pretty good at it. In 1998, Casey was the number two Isuzu Trooper salesman in the U.S., earning him a free trip to Las Vegas.

Casey’s career journey eventually led him to a position at U.S. Bank, and six years later at Riverview. Casey recalled, “That was the start of an amazing chain of events that changed my course in life. It was the first time in my work life that the job fit me like a glove.” Today, Casey is all about “spreading the gospel of Riverview to the non-believers,” as he likes to say.

​Casey may be a notable public official now, but he’ll never forget his roots. He grew up in rural Wallowa County, which he describes as the most beautiful part of Oregon. “Those mountains, clean air, and good hometown people hold a special piece of my heart. I am blessed to have been raised in a blue collar family where I learned how to work hard.” There is, of course, something else that holds an even bigger piece of Casey’s heart: his family. He is, first and foremost, a husband and father. For Casey, that is his greatest honor.

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