The news of Commissioner Nick Fish’s abrupt death on January 2 came as a gut punch to Portland. The community response to Fish’s passing showed just how valued he’d been in his adopted city, with messages of gratitude and grief coming from affordable housing advocates, civil rights lawyers, homeless groups, environmental activists, law enforcement officials, and everyone from lifelong Portlanders to immigrants—even from strangers who had once sat before him in City Hall and felt heard.
His departure is also a loss to Portland newsrooms.
Generally, politicians and journalists are equally wary of each other. That’s why, as a new City Hall reporter in Portland, I was skeptical of Fish’s immediate eagerness to introduce himself and get to know me.
I had my first meeting with Fish a week after I started this job, in March 2018. Wearing a colorful floral tie and clutching an oversized mug labeled “FUCK CANCER,” Fish flipped through past achievements in his decade at City Hall and pointed to a few goals on the horizon (he was particularly delighted with a plan to fuel city vehicles with human poop). He interrupted himself halfway through the conversation. “Enough about me,” he said. “What are you interested in writing about?”
