“Van Vechten” is a Dutch name which literally means “ready to fight,” “to struggle,” or “to zealously advocate.” As a criminal defense attorney, Tacoma City Council Candidate Chris Van Vechten has been a zealous advocate for more than 1100 clients who came from every cross-section of our community. During what was often the worst point in their lives, Chris was there for everyone from professional athletes and politicians, to kids in foster care and people living in tents.
Now Van Vechten is ready to fight for the people of District 3. District 3 needs someone with the right blend of compassion and front line common sense to move the needle on perennial issues like crime, homelessness, access to affordable quality housing, and businesses development/survival in Tacoma.
Chris Van Vechten moved to Tacoma from Portland in 2004 to attend the University of Puget Sound. He majored in American history, volunteered in the community, and worked as a legislative staff member for Tacoma’s own State Representative Dennis Flannigan.
Chris subsequently purchased a home in Hilltop and went on to earn a law degree from Seattle University School of Law. He owns and maintains his own law office on Hilltop as well. Prior to launching his practice, Chris worked as a Rule 9 prosecuting attorney with the Thurston County Prosecutor’s Office and later with the Lakewood City Attorney’s Office. Early in his legal career, Chris did pro bono work for tenants facing eviction via the Pierce County Neighborhood Legal Clinic, and briefly volunteered with the Northwest Justice Project’s Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation program.
Today Chris is a member of the Pierce County Superior Court’s Criminal Procedure Committee – which has spent the past several years trying to preserve the Sixth Amendment Rights of the accused and incarcerated in the midst of a global pandemic. Previously he served on the Tacoma Community Redevelopment Authority; Mayor Marilyn Strickland’s Public Education Task Force; the Pierce County Arts Commission, and was co-chair of the 27th District Democrats Endorsement committee in 2017. In 2009, The News Tribune credited Chris with leading a successful campaign to get Tacoma School Board meetings televised.
Chris is the father of a fierce first grader named Czarina who was born and raised on Hilltop; and the husband of the far more impressive Jen Van Vechten, who works in healthcare development and served on the front line during the first wave of the Covid 19 pandemic.
“I believe in solutions, not slogans. And that is what I’ll provide the voters with as a candidate in this race.”
The Tacoma Sun 