Jeffrey E. Graham was born on May 12, 1955 in Palo Alto, California, the son of George N. and Doris Graham, and moved to Watertown with his family in 1968. He graduated from Watertown High School and Jefferson Community College before graduating from the University of Missouri, School of Journalism in 1976. He worked in local radio and television news after college and served for a time as the media relations for the Army at nearby Fort Drum.
Mr. Graham was the City of Watertown’s longest serving Mayor, elected to five terms from 1992-99 and from 2004-2015. Among his accomplishments in office were playing a key role in retaining the New York Air Brake in the City, promoting the economic revitalization and holding the line on tax increases. He was instrumental in the City’s efforts to complete a more than $7 million reconstruction of Public Square which kicked off about $100 million in investment in downtown. He worked with the state officials and developers in the restoration of the Woolworth Building and the demolition of the former Mercy Hospital. During his tenure, he also worked to transfer oversight of the Watertown International Airport to Jefferson County, oversaw a major restoration of Flower Memorial Library and formed a consensus to get a $10.8 million overhaul of the Watertown Municipal Arena underway.
Mr. Graham continued his political interests by serving as a delegate to the 1992 Democratic National Convention. He later became a founding member of the New York State Independence Party and was that party’s U.S. Senate candidate in the race in 2000 against Hillary Clinton.
Mr. Graham served as president of the Watertown Local Development Corporation and as vice-chairman of the Watertown Citizens Advisory Board.
He kept a hand in local media as host of the daily talk show, the HOTLINE, heard on Station WATN and owned the Pearl Street Pub tavern (known by many as the “Mayor’s Bar”), located on Pearl Street in Watertown.
