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Last week, WW told the tale of Michael Gregory, a Portland developer of low-income housing who would “rather kick myself in the balls 100 times” than repeat a journey through the city’s permitting process (“Permits Swamp,” May 17). City Commissioner Carmen Rubio pledges to cut the red tape that delays housing construction by assigning each project to one coordinator who shepherds permits through conflicting bureaucracies. That’s welcome news to many people: Gregory’s lament drew a raft of similar stories. Here’s what our readers had to say:
Raxnor, via Reddit: “It took me two months to get [the Portland Water Bureau] to review a revised set of plans with ZERO changes to the water system.
“Something that should have taken 15 minutes took two months. No amount of fee changes and other bullshit is going to fix a system that fundamentally doesn’t work properly right now.”
CentristForCommonSense, via wweek.com: “I have some advice for Portland’s city government. I lived in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, which pushed 3.5 feet of water into my house and about 134,000 other homes in the city. Fortunately, New Orleans realized that to solve this problem it had to take drastic measures. Building permits for gutting and remodeling were automatic and FREE. All you needed to get approved for one was a plan you could draw yourself on a piece of notebook paper. The only inspection mandated was electrical, to ensure the place wasn’t a fire hazard. In addition, the state handed out funds for this effort based on the pre-storm value of the home. It cost me $135,000 to have my 1,800-square-foot house gutted down to the studs, re-roofed and repainted, and the entire insides replaced. (Interior gas and water lines were undamaged and remained. HVAC was replaced.)
“Using this system, 81% of the homes in New Orleans were rebuilt—this in a city where 35% of the residents live below the poverty line. It’s been 18 years since the storm, and the homes have held up just fine. New Orleans went from a homeless population of 80% of the city (representing over 360,000 people) in 2005 to fewer than 500 individuals in 2021.
“Contrast this with Portland. Portland wants $50,000 for a PERMIT, which is about a third of what I paid for my whole HOUSE and lot in New Orleans 38 years ago. They are not trying to solve the housing crisis. They are trying to justify and enrich a bloated bureaucracy that stopped being a ‘city that works’ years ago.”
Glenn Johndohl, via email: “Really? Soviet-style bureaucracy? A ‘report’ by Redfin? Geez, I wonder what their incentive to write this report is? “Sloppy, biased reporting. You’ve done better work.”
poupou221, via Reddit: “Having worked in nonsensical-bureaucracy-heavy places such as West Africa and India, I think what’s special about Portland is this mix of nonsensical bureaucracy and unwillingness of the various government agents you deal with to go around the rule. Typically, these two things go hand in hand; nonsensical rules are addressed by corrupting officials. Here we have the worst of both worlds, nonsensical rules and by and large honest government employees that will stick to the rule no matter how ridiculous it is. It’s really a bad mix. There is a lot of corruption at the top here in Oregon, but I don’t see it as much further down. I would rather have common sense rules and no corruption, but that’s even harder to get, so I am trying to be reasonable here…”
THE CITY THAT CAN’T EXECUTE Terrific article [”Permits Swamp,” May 17]. An inside look into the bureaucracy that absolutely fucks with everyone’s life. I’ve lived here for nearly 15 years, having moved from Spokane, Wash., where I raised my kids. Oregon and Washington have, arguably, the best laws in the land. But in Oregon, nothing gets done. It’s not just [the Bureau of Development Services]. We can’t make a software program—despite expending billions—to run healthcare.gov. Our unemployment software breaks at the first sign of pressure. Our foster care system is the most dysfunctional in the land. Our schools suck. The list goes on. And voters are starting to rebel. After taxing themselves roughly $2 billion to pay to address homelessness—and seeing nothing for it—voters rejected by a wide margin the measure to tax capital gains this week to pay for lawyers for renters facing eviction. First time I’ve ever voted against a tax increase. Not because I don’t support it: Because I don’t trust government to execute it with any degree of competence.
Thanks for the insightful article into why government can’t execute.
Stephen Reichard
\North Portland
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