“You know it just, it, it’s, I mean, how can you be this dysfunctional,” says Kevin Howard, a developer. He is leaving Portland, a place he loves.
He’s fleeing anarchy, lawlessness, and an incompetent bureaucracy. Currently, there is an exodus from Portland, once a wonderful place to live. It’s a Democrat Hellhole now.
THE LAST STRAW
He just sold his last piece of property – worth $795,000 two years ago – for $412,000.
He sold it at a big loss, but Kevin says he had nothing left in the tank. This tiny piece of property, a former pizza parlor, has been a nightmare for the past three years.
Squatters kicked in the door the front door and lived in it, and I waited till they came out. He boarded it up, but it didn’t do much. They just broke in and were again living inside. They even set a fire in his dumpster. Mr. Howard got nowhere when he called the police.
He asked the police what a homeowner can do, and they said, “We’ll call the central city concern …they’ll probably come out and give them a cup of coffee and hot some hot soup.”
The Lien on His House
The developer looked into hiring a security guard, but that was too expensive – $15,000 a month – so he decided to get a fence. The wait was four months. They explained the wait is “because homeowners like mad are fencing their property to keep the, you know, the drug addicts and the homeless out.”
Kevin kept the place up, but the trash was piling up. The city hit him with a nuisance fine of $539.71. Kevin paid it. A month later, he got a bigger bill – the original amount plus a penalty. The city told him they lost his check, so he paid the bill again, plus the extra 100 bucks.
“Two weeks later, they sent me another bill for $639.71. I called them up, and they said, ‘Well, this might be a duplicate bill, but we’ve already put a lien on your property.’”
The fence was finally installed, and Kevin was able to clean up the property and eventually get the lien removed. Nonetheless, the drama dragged on for more than six months.
“I just remember the phrase the city that works – that’s the city that jerks. You know it just, it’s a, I mean, how can you be this dysfunctional?”
It was the final straw for Mr. Howard. He’s pulling up stakes.
The Bureau that fined him confirmed it was an error, and said the problem is resolved.
Maybe hiring people by their physical attributes and sexual persuasions is a bad idea.
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