“People finally woke up to what was going on,” Dorothy said after the passage of Measure 37. “Their land was being stolen from them. That’s what I call it, ‘land-stealing.’ That’s why we got 61 percent.”

Measure 37 has also withstood constitutional challenge, but even so, the victory is not quite complete. Since going into effect, Measure 37 has suffered a continuing barrage of attacks from those Oregonians who seem wed to the dogma that all land should be controlled by an elite vanguard of the “Portlandtariat.” Usually no friends of taxpayers, their loudest argument against this reform is that property owners have filed claims totaling $7 billion against local governments, or the state, under 37.

Whew! That is a lot of money. So, what has 37 actually, really and truly cost Oregon taxpayers?

“Not a penny,” points out Hunnicutt. Governments have waived the regulations every single time. It causes one to wonder how important a regulation is to the public if there is such an unwillingness to pay for it.

Which brings us back to Dorothy English. Under Measure 37, Multnomah County must either waive their regulations on the development of her property or pay her the damages, which even the county admits to be over $1 million.

But county officials refuse to do either one, stalling. Waiting. Like vultures.

Having to fight one’s own government is tough for anyone, but especially for someone in her golden years. Dorothy English deserves to have her land or the money government officials owe her. Now.

“I’m so damn mad, and tired of fighting for what is right. I want my land to be mine, to do with whatever I want,” she says. “I don’t think that’s outrageous, do you?”