About Nick

Nick was born in New York on September 30, 1958, and grew up in the small rural Hudson River town of Millbrook.

In high school and college, Nick held a succession of odd jobs, including work as a prep cook at the Blimpie's sandwich shop, a memorable summer spent spreading manure on golf courses and a college stint driving the shuttle van for disabled students and staff.

Nick earned his bachelor's degree from Harvard in 1981. Shortly after graduation, he went to work as a legislative aide for Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank.

After receiving his law degree from Northeastern University, he went to work representing health care workers and unions in New York.

He was appointed to Manhattan Community Board Five, serving as chair for two years. As a neighborhood leader, Nick championed the renovation of the Times Square Hotel, then a run-down blight in a neighborhood known for porn shops and transients. Working with a community non-profit, Nick helped turn the hotel into thriving affordable housing, serving theater district workers, residents with AIDS, and formerly homeless individuals.

Nick, his wife Patricia and their then three-year old daughter moved to Portland in 1996, when Patricia was offered a job teaching history at Portland State University.

Since moving to Portland, Nick has worked as a labor and employment attorney, defending employees against illegal firings and discrimination and helping non-profits and small businesses succeed. He is now a partner at the Meyer & Wyse law firm.

During his twenty-year career as a lawyer, he has won anti-discrimination cases protecting HIV-positive patients, led a community coalition to save the Portland Women's Crisis Line and volunteered time for legal services for the poor.

For the past three years, Nick hosted "Outlook Portland with Nick Fish," a public affairs program broadcast on KRCW, Channel 3.

He has served as a Commissioner and Vice-Chair of the Housing Authority of Portland, where he played a leadership role delivering hundreds of units of affordable housing for our community.

Currently, he is on the boards of the Oregon Cultural Trust and Volunteers of America Oregon, as well as the advisory board of the Sidney Lezak Project, which encourages young people to become engaged in social justice movements. He also serves as a citizen representative on the Multnomah County Task Force on Vital Aging.

Nick, Patricia and their two children live in the Grant Park neighborhood of Northeast Portland. Their daughter is a 9th grader in the Portland Public Schools and an avid soccer player; their son, age 4, attends preschool.