Pricing Dignity

THE RESIDENTS of Dignity Village don’t seem to be bothered by the
constant rumble of air traffic overhead or the community’s far-flung
location next to the Portland Airport. But Randy Curl, elected chairman
of the village, says there’s something missing.

“Toilets that go ‘woosh,'” he says, gesturing to the two portable
johns up against the community building. Renting the toilets costs $250
a week, and village residents are planning to build a permanent
bathroom as part of other improvements. But building more permanent
facilities hit a snag when the city declined to waive $22,600 in permit
fees recently. Tom Erickson, a Vancouver contractor and volunteer for
Dignity Village, is appealing to Mayor Sam Adams and the city council
to either reduce the fees or waive them entirely.

Erickson says the city isn’t acting in bad faith. Instead, city hall
can’t justify waiving fees while laying off city workers—the
Bureau of Development Services, which looks after permitting, went from
301 employees in July to 148 last Thursday, October 1, in the latest
round of cuts. Erickson understands the dilemma.

“You work for the city because you don’t ever think you’ll be laid
off,” Erickson says.

Dignity Village is home to 58 of Portland’s homeless, living in
small sheds and shacks while looking for work or working toward moving
out of the village. All the residents serve the community in some way,
acting as security guards, construction workers, or whatever is needed.
Residents elect leaders, like Curl, annually.

Erickson says Hank McDonald, a building inspector with the city who
has helped Dignity Village get fees waived in the past, told him it was
politically impossible to let $22,600 slide while so many city workers
have been let go in the past few months. Repeated calls to McDonald’s
office were not returned.

Still, Erickson doesn’t want to leave the impression that he’s angry
with anyone at the city. “If there was an SOB, I’d tell you,” Erickson
says. “It’s just that the economy is so bad.”