Hey, a million here and a million there; pretty soon you're talking real money.
On a clear morning, Duff can sit on the wraparound front porch of a brand-new two-bedroom home and take in vistas of three mountains: Mount Hood to the east, and Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams to the north.
“It’s a view I’d never be able to afford if I didn’t have this job,” Duff says. “If I want the job, I have to live here. Poor me.”
Duff doesn’t own any of what he surveys. Instead, he’s just moved into a $456,000 house on top of Powell Butte, paid for by the Portland Water Bureau.
The total price tag of $1.1 million for the 1,527-square-foot house, the visitors’ center and landscaping falls on the city’s water ratepayers. The Portland City Council approved the project more than two years ago. But with Duff settling in and the visitors’ center set to open next month, the buildings are debuting as showcases of undisciplined Water Bureau spending, even as utility rates rise.
Yes, the water ratepayers really needed to pay for a 1500 square-foot house, at a cost of nearly half a million dollars, and pay a "caretaker" $50,000 a year plus benefits to live there. But the house is green&sustainable and has recycled materials in it, and since the reservoir's being built under a big natural area (otherwise known as a park), it only makes sense for ratepayers to pay for all of this stuff; it being critical to delivering water and all.
This "caretaker" job consists of opening and closing gates to the park, clearing out non-native plants, and picking up litter.
Randy Leonard and Sam Adams may be gone from Porkland City Hall, but their legacy continues.
