After his last run for city council—versus Sam Adams,
in 2004—Nick Fish was exhausted and drained. “I was worn out from
that experience,” he says, sitting in his law firm’s conference room
overlooking Pioneer Courthouse Square. When Adams’ seat opened up last
fall—thanks to Adams’ bid for mayor—Fish decided to sit
this one out.
He had enough on his plate: family obligations, a busy labor law
practice, and hosting duties for his Outlook Portland public
affairs cable show.
But when a second open seat popped up last month, after Commissioner
Erik Sten announced his resignation, Fish gave it some thought. “Maybe
this is opportunity knocking,” he considered. Buoyed by his wife’s
encouragement—she asked him if he’d regret sitting out a short
special election campaign, he says—Fish jumped in, eager to win
the seat and “carry on the housing legacy” left by Sten.
With the primary election a little over 90 days away, Fish is
“trying to pull a campaign together,” he says. “How do you go from zero
to 60 with no warning?” His most formidable opponent to date is Sten’s
chief of staff, Jim Middaugh, who’s expected to officially qualify for
$150,000 in public campaign funds later this week. By comparison, Fish
had raised $2,850 as of February 12, according to state elections
records. “I need to raise $150,000,” he acknowledges, and says he’ll
put a soft cap on that amount.
He’s picked up endorsements from former Governor Barbara Roberts,
Metro President David Bragdon, Gretchen Kafoury, among others,
including several people who backed Adams when Fish ran against him,
like Vera Katz, Terry Bean, and Bonny McKnight. Fish says he’s
“building a coalition that can carry us through May” (though he’d like
to win the seat in the primary after a “quick sprint”).
In this short run, Fish is focusing on a theme of equity. “Too many
people do not enjoy the benefits of living in our livable city,” he
says, outlining disparities in neighborhoods, schools, and
transportation choices. In some parts of Portland, “the schools aren’t
great, roads aren’t being well maintained, there’s no MAX stop, and
they’re dealing with the challenge of crack houses.”
During Fish’s time as vice chair of the Housing Authority of
Portland, he was part of the team “that conceived and developed New
Columbia,” and he was a community advocate for “supportive housing” in
New York City. Fish says his years of work in affordable housing “have
prepared me to be the person who helps continue the momentum of the
last 18 years,” referring to Sten and his predecessor’s work.
Fish wants to close the minority homeownership gap, challenge
Portland’s private sector to “to do more to support our local plan” to
end homelessness, create a countywide housing authority, and explore
statewide funding solutions for affordable housing.
“What I’m really good at is helping people without power achieve
some measure of justice,” Fish says. Now, he wants to carry that baton
into city hall.