Thread by @MattHaneySF

PUBLIC BATHROOM THREAD

A year ago, I stood w community against filthy streets & assaults on human dignity, fought for 24 hour bathrooms. There were ZERO in SF

Despite DPW opposition, I added $ into budget, we got our first 3 24 hr “pilot” bathrooms.

sfexaminer.com/the-city/super…

It was clear they were an overwhelming success in the first 3 months at the 3 sites. Each were receiving 1000s monthly uses, saving city $ in cleaning costs, & providing for essential human right, human need. We immediately called for citywide expansion.

nbcbayarea.com/news/local/sup…

When the pandemic hit in March, as cafes, restaurants, libraries etc closed their bathrooms, I immediately introduced legislation requiring public bathrooms to be at 1 per 50 people on the streets, plus all to be 24 hour bathrooms.

nbcbayarea.com/news/local/sf-…

The legislation passed, and we now have over 50 24-hour public bathrooms in San Francisco, up from zero a year ago. And just three, 6 months ago.

All are staffed. And we have dozens more that are not 24 hours. We just extended the emegency legislation for another 60 days.

The reality is that this is a permanent need in our city. It must be here during pandemic. It must be here after pandemic. It should’ve been here before pandemic. This is common sense, a basic human right. I will continue to prioritize 24 bathrooms this budget cycle and beyond.

They are used by people living on the streets, yes. They are also used by families, people on walks, seniors, taxi drivers, delivery workers, uber drivers, EVERYONE. They’re for you too. They are now throughout the city, and we need to keep them.

I say all this to remind people that these weren’t here before, and they need to be defended. And also that organizing works—TL and SOMA folks especially made these a top demand, despite dept resistance, they organized, we worked together and now it’s an accepted reality.

Though we refer to all of them as “pit stops”—some are permanent green fixtures that automatically clean themselves, others are trailer style, and some are standard porta potties. All are staffed and provide same services and cleaning standards. All are “pit stops.”