Posted by
Michael on Friday, October 05, 2007 7:50:27 AM
Writers get a lot of their ideas from others, and I'll have to
concede that I never would have thought to tackle Seattle's
techno-toilets if it weren't for a short blog written on the subject by nationally syndicated radio host and Seattle area resident Michael Medved:
The
city of Seattle has committed the staggering sum of $6.6 million for
three high tech public toilets for the homeless. The pricy privies,
with purportedly advanced but frequently malfunctioning self-cleaning
features, have already become a magnet for prostitutes and drug dealers
according to a report to the city council, while attracting at least as
much filth as traditional porta-potties—that would have cost the city
less than one-twentieth as much to lease and maintain. Meanwhile, the
Seattle Times describes city parks where human waste appears nightly on
benches, just yards from the gleaming techie toilets installed with so
much fanfare. The city council defends the inane program as a noble
attempt to “do something” for the homeless—illustrating the folly of
good intentions. In truth, any effort – public or private—that makes it
easier for transients to continue sleeping on the streets, only harms
these unfortunates – as well as deeply damaging the downtown
neighborhoods they invade and occupy. True compassion for the homeless
begins with an absolute refusal to allow them to continue living on
sidewalks, in alleys, underpasses, parks or empty lots, and certainly
must avoid any move at all to facilitate or prolong such urban camping.
Here's
my column, which I hope measures up somewhat:
Over the years, I've noticed a decrease in one thing throughout Seattle: a free restroom.
With
the rise of drug use by homeless downtown occupants and a migration of
transient University District inhabitants toward Capitol Hill, many
businesses have really put their foot down on making sure that only
customers are able to use their restrooms.
The downtown McDonald's has even hired a security guard to stand outside its restroom.
Some
of the bathrooms that have been publicly used, such as those in the
Pike Place Market or Westlake Mall, have been infamous for being used
by drug users. After many attempts to crack down, the Seattle City
Council went a different route and instituted high-tech public
restrooms that have been placed throughout Seattle.
DIFFERENCES IN PERSPECTIVE
The
restrooms, which have been called everything from "pricey privies" to
"space toilets," are strange-looking contraptions. If you walk by one,
you can see that it opens with a sliding door, an electronic voice
announcing whenever the contraption is free to use.
The city has
allocated $6.6 million to these technological portable toilets, and
when they were originally opened, they were met with fanfare.
A
news article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer from 2004 had the
headline "At Last, Relief is in Sight as Plush Public Potties Open
Downtown." The article described the bathrooms as similar to a "space
ride at Disneyland."
At the time of their opening, Seattle
Public Utilities (SPU) spokesperson Susan Stoltzfus said, "People will
be more likely to use them because they stay clean." According to the
Seattle Times, however, public benches are frequently marked by human
waste, left by inhabitants who didn't seem to find much use for the
portable potties set up for them.
Luigi Gephart, a homeless
resident of Seattle, told The Seattle Times that he calls the bathroom
a "revolving crackhouse," adding, "These are the worst bathrooms you
can go to."
In a blog by nationally syndicated talk show host
Michael Medved, who happens to reside in the Seattle area, he went all
out against the notion that these bathrooms were anything more than
another use of tax dollars or in any way helped the homeless.
Medved
declared, "True compassion for the homeless begins with an absolute
refusal to allow them to continue living on sidewalks, in alleys,
underpasses, parks or empty lots, and certainly must avoid any move at
all to facilitate or prolong such urban camping."
GETTING 'OUR MONEY'S WORTH'?
SPU
spokespeople have contended that the worst problems aren't with the
bathrooms themselves, but with public relations. SPU spokesperson Andy
Ryan said, "The real problem we're having with [the toilets] is that
there is a public perception we're not getting our money's worth."
The bathrooms are costly to remove as well, at about $500,000 each.
Whatever
the city decides, they should take into account the costs and benefits
over the possible benevolence their intentions may carry.
If the
toilets are supposed to fix public bodily performances, why is it that,
as reported in an article on the joke website Poopreport.com, there is
"more poop on the streets?"