Nathan Vasquez

Nathan Vasquez grew up in a modest, blue-collar town in the foothills of Northern California. As a kid, he worked in the forests with his father, a forester, where his deep love for the environment and passion for stewardship took shape. His hometown was a small one, where neighbors relied on each other, and everyone played a role in caring for their community. Nathan learned the value of hard work, responsibility, compassion, and community firsthand, and took those lessons with him into his career.

In college, Nathan developed an interest in government, taking several internships in local and state level politics, wanting to understand how our systems can work to protect our natural environment and public spaces. Nathan earned a certificate in Environmental Law, along with his Juris Doctorate, at Lewis and Clark Northwestern School of Law. During law school, Nathan accepted an internship at MCDA, and realized that working in service to crime victims was how he wanted to spend his career.

Since 2001, Nathan has been employed as a prosecutor at MCDA. He was hired under Mike Schrunk and internalized Schrunk's famous motto: "Do the right thing for the right reason." Nathan has prosecuted nearly every type of crime in the Oregon Criminal Code - from misdemeanor trespass to aggravated homicide. The vast majority of his career has been dedicated to 'person crimes', working directly with victims of violent crimes and their families, doing all he could to give them closure and justice during the worst moments of their lives.

In 2018, Nathan took over the "Neighborhood Unit," which focused on community engagement, and pioneered MCDA's Strategic Prosecution Unit - a model that uses objective data to inform the decisions and actions of prosecutors and law enforcement, focusing on root causes of criminal behavior and creative solutions to prevent recidivism. His unit has led some of the most successful prison diversion programs, and also created the "High Volume System User" model to identify and
interrupt some of the most prolific repeat offenders in Multnomah County. Despite being a creative policymaker, at heart, Nathan remains an advocate - not a politician.

Continuing his commitment to victims and community, Nathan continues to actively prosecute some of our county's most complex and significant crimes. Nathan has repeatedly prosecuted and convicted repeat property offenders, perpetrators of gun violence, murders, sexual predators, and helped children escape their abusers.  Nathan has also worked to protect the free speech of our community members, successfully prosecuting Alan Swinney and Tusitala “Tiny” Toese – extremist Proud Boy leaders who traveled to Portland to commit violent crimes against our community.

Nathan has lived and worked in Multnomah County since 1999, where he has raised his two children. He is dedicated to improving our community and not only restoring safety in Multnomah County, but carrying forward a mission of community engagement, compassionate accountability, and scientifically validated interventions to keep our neighborhoods safe, healthy, and vibrant.