November 18, 2015 

Last night, Nick was honored to join his colleagues to present the 2015 Spirit of Portland Awards.

The Spirit of Portland celebrates Portlanders and community groups who are making a difference in our city.

This year, Nick was proud to present five awards, to Po’Shines Café de la Soul, the Portland Area Business Association, Jennifer Delvin and the Community Watershed Stewardship Program team, Debbie Aiona from the League of Women Voters, and The Skanner founder Bernie Foster.

Po’Shines Café de la Soul won Business Community Partner of the Year. Po’Shines provides workforce training and restaurant experience to Portlanders in need.

Portland Area Business Association (PABA) won Business Association of the Year. PABA promotes equality and economic opportunities for Portland’s LGBTQ community. As Council liaison to small businesses, Nick is grateful to PABA for its dedication to our local economy and its commitment to equality.

As Commissioner in charge of the Bureau of Environmental Services (BES), Nick was thrilled to give Jennifer Devlin and her Environmental Services’ Community Watershed Stewardship Program team the Equity in Practice Award. They are focusing on providing environmental education for new Portlanders in underserved parts of our community.

Commissioner Fish was also proud to name two recipients for his Commissioner’s awards.

Debbie Aiona has been a strong and principled voice in our community, and an effective advocate in the fight to address Portland’s affordable housing crisis.

Bernie Foster is the founder of The Skanner. For the last 40 years, The Skanner has brought to light hard issues affecting African Americans and other minorities in our community. In 2011, The Skanner published award-winning stories about WWI hero Sergeant Henry Johnson. This spring, Nick was proud to join Bernie at the White House as President Obama posthumously awarded Sergeant Johnson the Medal of Honor.

Commissioner Fritz gave her Commissioner’s Award to the Portland Water Bureau and the Mount Tabor Neighborhood Association for their work in finding a solution for our historic Mt. Tabor Reservoirs. Thank you, Commissioner Fritz, for recognizing the hard work and dedication of the Water Bureau team.

Congratulations to all the awardees!