Community Activist Leaving Town

The flag is finally coming down in front of Hank Johnson’s West Central home, and he’ll never touch those potholes in his alley again.

Neither City Hall nor vandals will have Johnson to kick around anymore. His wife’s already left, and so did his son.

After 12 years in his home on the 1200 block of North Cannon, Johnson and his family are moving to King, N.C. His family has kin there.

“We’re history,” said Johnson, 61. “We’ll have fond memories of this place.”

And the city will probably remember Johnson. Fond memories are debatable.

Johnson garnered national media attention in May 1993, when he bought 16 tons of gravel for about $115 to fill potholes in the unpaved alley behind his home, defying the city in the process.

“I’m not gonna take the alley with me, either,” Johnson said. “I’m gonna take a lot of memories and leave a lot of other stuff behind.”

The city threatened Johnson with a $500 fine or a trip to jail, but then decided that the fill was OK after Johnson agreed to scale down his plans.

“The whole thing got blown out of proportion,” Public Works Director Brad Blegen said. “He was pretty determined and feisty, I guess. A nice enough fellow, I think.”

Johnson also fought vandals in 1991 who ripped down his flags, egged houses and smeared feces on cars. He threatened to move then.

He waited, and he fought some more. He fought with Washington Water Power Co. and the phone company over a power pole with a broken cross-arm. That got fixed. He fought the City Council to try to get the speed limit reduced on his street. That effort failed.

“Diplomacy doesn’t get you always where you want to go, and sometimes you got to push,” Johnson said. “I never did step on a toe until mine was stepped on first.”

Johnson finally decided to leave Spokane because of a combination of events. His rent increased from $215 to $425, and it may increase again. Blocks away, a congregate care facility for adults could be turning into a treatment center for troubled youths.

“Those last couple years, we could see the handwriting on the walls,” Johnson said.

Now, he’s clearing off the walls, packing up the boxes and retiring the flag he flew over his house every day. The movers arrive July 25.

He’s still trying to get a train reservation for his seeing-eye dog and him.

“Moving is such a disaster,” Johnson said. “I always said next time I moved, it was going to be me and Greyhound.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo