IMAGE: STEPHEN VOSS

In January, this up-and-coming power couple moved out of their North Missouri Avenue abode and began gutting the 1890 house to the studs. One problem: They didn't have a construction permit. Last month a city housing inspector who happened to be driving by saw workers carrying a structural beam into the house. A quick check showed that Cruz and Walsh had neither applied for nor received permits, so officials slapped a "Stop Work" order on the house Feb. 10.

Now, plenty of people forget to apply for permits, which carry a fee and trigger a visit from city inspectors, but these two aren't plenty of people. Cruz is a Multnomah County commissioner who, as we now know, spent much of the winter plotting same-sex marriages. She may have had other things on her mind, but that's not a convincing alibi for someone with her background. Cruz was once an aide to Erik Sten, the city's commissioner of housing.

Walsh has even less reason for skipping the necessaries. A contractor himself and a member of one of Portland's premier construction families, he grew up swinging a hammer and reading blueprints. But Walsh's genetic hardwiring failed him.

As Jackie Phillips, a spokeswoman for the city's permit office, notes, "State of Oregon building code requires certain work to be permitted and inspected," Phillips says. "If a permit was not required, we would not have posted a stop-work order."

To Walsh's credit, he's since applied for a permit and isn't making excuses. While routine demolition doesn't require permits, Walsh concedes that making structural changes--such as jacking up the foundation and placing new beams in the basement--is a different ballgame. "Most contractors would get a permit before starting any of the work," Walsh says. "This is embarrassing as hell. It's all my fault and really shouldn't reflect at all on Serena."