News The Trib reported last week that the Portland Development Commission had selected a firm to develop the old Lents Little League site. Now comes more evidence the City of Portland has not forgotten about Lents even though an effort to relocate the Triple-A Portland Beavers to a proposed new baseball stadium at Lents Park is dead. On Monday, Aug. 17, Commissioner Nick Fish, who's in charge of ...   More

News This video making the rounds today in which U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) tells some woman waving an Obama-as-Hitler sign that having a conversation with her would be like arguing with a "dining room table" got a huge laugh from a former Frank staffer in Portland. That ex-staffer is city Commissioner Nick Fish, who in the early 1980s both volunteered for Frank's campaign and worked as a paid ...   More

News Commissioner Nick Fish's office is getting smaller by the day. This afternoon his chief of staff, Sam Chase, announced he would resign. Here's his statement. "After helping Nick in his election to City Council, I committed to launching his office as Chief of Staff. Our accomplishments in just over one year have been some of the most rewarding in my career-creating a new Portland Housing Bureau, ...   More

News On Friday, city Commissioner Nick Fish's chief of staff Sam Chase announced his departure after little more than a year on the job. Today, Fish — who faces re-election next May — announced his new chief of staff will be City Hall veteran Betsy Ames. Ames' City Hall experience dates back nearly 15 years to January 1995 when she was appointed as assistant ombudsman for then-Mayor Vera ...   More

News Four women doing incredible work in local non-profits each got a $4,000 check today as part of this year's Skidmore Prize ceremony hosted by City Club of Portland at the Governor Hotel. The prize winners (from left to right in the photo above) are Fowzia Abdulle, an advocate and case manager at Bradley Angle House's Healing Roots center; lawyer Jennifer Gilmore of Child Centered Solutions; Amy ...   More

News What better way to kill a few minutes if you're stuck at work this Christmas Eve than to head over to ORESTAR and check the state campaign finance website for who's been getting campaign donations Christmas week? Today's visit turns up Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish, who's up for re-election in 2010, collecting some significant donations for his campaign. Among the $1,000 donors of ...   More

News Real estate broker Fred Stewart, no stranger to seeking public office, just called (on his 45th birthday no less) to tell us he's turning his attention to making a run next year against City Commissioner Nick Fish. Not that Fish should be quaking in fear necessarily, given that Fish easily beat Stewart and three others in 2008 to complete the rest of Erik Sten's council term when Sten resigned ...   More

News Two months ago, Timbers/Beavers owner Merritt Paulson confused Portland officials when he told Beaverton pols this, according to The Oregonian: "[I]f I don't get a baseball deal done, I'm not going to finalize the deal with Portland. So MLS will not come to Portland unless I do a deal for a new baseball park." Paulson — who has since withdrawn his baseball stadium proposal in Beaverton— ...   More

News And his name is Walt Nichols, a 51-year-old bookkeeper who's chairman of the Mt. Scott Arleta Neighborhood Association. Fish (pictured below) now has three challengers for his re-election bid this spring to Portland City Council — Nichols, Jason Barbour and Sylvia Evans. Nichols (pictured above) says he doesn't plan to seek public financing because he considers it a drain on public ...   More

News Mayor Sam Adams and Commissioners Dan Saltzman and Randy Leonard voted this morning to give Merritt Paulson's company the green light to perform limited construction work at PGE Park -- even without a final financial agreement in place. Commissioners Amanda Fritz and Nick Fish voted no, with Fish noting that there are 81 issues still in dispute between the city and Paulson. The 3-2 split ...   More