Monday I got up at 5 am so I could get a loaf of bread baked and finish my day’s chores around the rentals in time make it to a 4 pm Chico Internal Affairs Committee meeting.
You know, Fall is going to come down hard this year, mark my words – get your gutters clean and take a tube of caulk around your eaves and windows. We swept the siding too, looks like it just got a fresh coat of paint. That’s always a good way to see stuff that needs attention, like bubbling paint, or rotten spots.
The bread turned out great, BTW. S’cuse me – that should be ‘BLT’. Our garden is finally putting out tomatoes now that the heat has let up.
And I made that 4 pm meeting. No Stephanie Taber!?! I thought she attended allllllll the meetings!
Maybe she didn’t think it was that important – committee member Ann Schwab did not make it either. I went, even though there was only one item on the agenda – a report on the status of Downtown public restrooms
In January the city decided to try leaving Downtown restrooms open 24 hours, in an attempt to curb (ha ha) public defecation and urination. This has been an increasing problem over the last five or more years. My old buddy ;), Downtown business owner Lon Glazner, used to post pictures of human poop he routinely found outside his back door.
Committee member Reanette Fillmer got a lot of laughs from liberals at a meeting when she described her disgust at having stepped in human poop on a trip to San Francisco. I looked at the shoes she wore to this meeting – ever see those commercials for “Shoedazzle!” – and I can understand her disgust. I would never wear open toed shoes out of the house, although, I can see the reason for her outrageous heels – throughout history, people have worn high shoes in an attempt to keep their feet out of urban filth. She should really invest in a good pair of sneakers, that can either be washed in bleach or thrown away. When I go Downtown, I wear my work shoes, the same shoes I wear when I pick up dog crap around my yard.
Committee members Fillmer and Coolidge were on hand, as well as $taffers Mark Orme Debbie Presson, and Public Works Directors Eric Gustafson, who was scheduled to give the report.
For some reason, city financial officer Scott Dowell slinked in at the beginning of the meeting – he was not scheduled to give a report. I can’t help but believe these $taffers use these meetings as an excuse to get out of work.
There were a couple of county behavioral health interns, and three other people, the only one I recognized was homeless advocate Patrick Newman. The other men spoke as though they were also homeless advocates, but I don’t know who they were.
Gustafson reported that in a three month trial that ended in March, 24 hour bathrooms were a disaster (my word for the multitude of problems he described). He said vandalism was “unsustainable” (his word). I know what he’s talking about – when I went to the Plaza one morning to help set up for an event, we found the toilet had been stuffed full of paper, and was blocked to over flowing. It was a disgusting mess, it was Saturday, and we expected hundreds of attendees.
The fellow who was “in charge” called city $taff, and about an hour later, a very grumpy man showed up with the usual tools (plunger, mop and bucket). He went in and dealt with the plug and made a cursory cleaning. The bathroom was still disgusting by my standards, and I never saw any of the event attendees enter it.
Let’s face it, those restrooms are for the transients, so they will stop bothering Downtown businesses. Gustafson reported that since the restrooms were no longer open 24 hours, instead opening at 7 am and closing at 9 pm, Starbucks has complained that they open their doors at 5 am to a “line waiting to use their restrooms.”
Anybody remember Sal Corona? Malvina’s Caffe? Ever happen to be in there on a busy night when somebody tried to sneak in and use the bathroom without buying a meal? Sal would put down his spatula and wipe his hands, come out into the busy dining room in his apron and confront them loudly. He’d have a grin on his face that said, “I’m gonna eat you!” He’d humiliate them out the door, even young women. God, I miss that man. He was the real mayor of Chico, for years, and Downtown died when he hung up his apron.
Gustafson said it costs $13,000 a year, just to clean the restrooms, and city staff puts about 3 hours a day into “emergencies” – vandalism. He says Rangel Park restroom is vandalized almost every day. The Downtown Business Association pays $10,000 of the janitorial costs, but “$taff time” is left to the taxpayers.
Gustafson mentioned right away that he wanted Portland Loo. Committee members received a written report – I wonder if Gustafson mentioned all the problems and cost overruns that have plagued cities who have bought and installed Portland Loo?
The main problems have been increased crime in the direct vicinity and the tab for cleaning. In one year Portland spent $99,000 cleaning two Loo’s, and the city was successfully sued by water and sewer rate payers for spending ratepayer money on the Loo’s. Prostitution and drug use increased so much in Seattle and San Diego that they removed their expensive Loo’s – over $500,000 total cost of purchase and installation for each unit. Seattle- I’ll give them credit for creative thinking – ended up offering theirs on E-bay for about $2500 a pop.
These units have to be hooked up to sewer and water. I didn’t see any mention of the specific costs there – what’s the water bill for one of these babies? Can they be broken in such a way that they leak constantly?
Gustafson didn’t talk about any of that stuff, and I didn’t ask questions because I wanted to get home and get back to my life. It’s better to ask these people for answers in writing, anyway. The clerk doesn’t record the whole conversation.
Well, here’s the real problem – a bunch of bums have taken over, not only Downtown, but all our public spaces. The county brings them here for the revenues, but the money never seems to be enough to deal with the problems they create. We have a police force that is understandably frustrated because the county DA won’t prosecute any of these criminals, who are processed in O’ville and released back onto the streets.
We are told we have to cater to these people, with free food, shelter, and 24 hour bathrooms for them to trash.
Here’s why – San Diego is currently having an out-of-control Hepatitis A outbreak.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/09/13/550674476/san-diego-washing-streets-with-bleach-to-combat-hepatitis-a-outbreak
In a report on our local Channel 7 news, they said five people are dead. NPR reports 15 dead and 400 infected.
Hepatitis A is spread, mainly, through the ingestion of fecal matter, but can also spread through urine, blood, semen and spit. Just like e-coli – infected people spread it by way of dirty hands. They touch surfaces, they poop and pee in the street, it spreads all over town.
What about Downtown food service and coffee businesses? What about Enloe Hospital? What about Butte County jail? What about the various homeless shelters?
Wasn’t it just last year that Torres Shelter had a bedbug problem? And one of the dorms at Chico State was infested. Yes, bedbugs bite, and they can spread any disease that is transmitted by way of blood.
Will Portland Loo solve this problem? No, it will just be another boondoggle – will we sell our old units on E-Bay? Will Starbucks start hosing out their bathrooms with bleach and water?
E-mail your county supervisor and tell them to stop bringing these people into our area. Write to your city council and tell them we want enforcement of the laws, we want people prosecuted for these so-called “quality of life” crimes.
Tell these people you will hold them directly and personally responsible for a Hepatitis A outbreak in this area.
Mike Ramsey needs to get a bitch slap in 2018. Like, don’t let the screendoor hit you on the ass, Mr. Ramsey.
Not only the transients, but public employees are stealing our quality of life, and that’s a crime.
