Council Approves Bathroom Etiquette

By Gene Williams
Staff Writer

March 10 – Sleeping, bathing and washing clothes will be harder to do in public restrooms after the City Council Tuesday night approved an ordinance to ban those activities.

Saying that there have been “many complaints,” a high percentage of which “involve the use of restrooms for inappropriate purposes,” City Attorney Marsha Moutrie told the council that the ordinance will direct staff to establish rules promoting the “cleanliness, safety and availability” of the facilities.

Before voting, council members tried to deflect criticism that the ordinance unfairly targeted the homeless.

“These are rules that everybody must abide by,” said Council member Ken Genser. “There is nothing that discriminates against any particular class of people.”

Fellow Council member Kevin McKeown agreed. “This has purely to do with behavior, not with poverty, not with housing status,” McKeown said, adding that the ordinance is designed to preserve the facilities for their intended use.

“I’m sure it shocks some people who think I’m way too soft on homelessness, but this has nothing to do with homelessness,” McKeown said.

But some of those who testified argued that the issue was one of Civil Rights.

“I remember seeing signs that said no Negroes could use the public restrooms,” said Ron Taylor, a 60-year-old homeless advocate who made an unsuccessful council bid a decade ago. “And this kind of ordinance brings back that.

“People have civil rights,” Taylor added. “You’re violating them when you pass ordinances like this.”

Taylor’s wife, Christine Shamus, told the council, “It’s my opinion that public restrooms mean public restrooms. Do you really want signs on the door that say ‘housed’ and ‘unhoused’ ?

“And who’s going to be in charge?” Shamus asked. “ Are we going to have bathroom monitors?”

Jerry Rubin, another former council candidate, argued it was unwise for the City to embark on a policy “that could have some first amendment implications,” adding that “there must be laws on the books already” to deal with the issue.

Genser responded, “I’ve heard the testimony tonight and I’m somewhat surprised.”

Genser urged opponents to read the ordinance, which he said called for a citation similar to a parking ticket.

The ordinance, Moutrie said, came in response to complaints from residents who are reluctant to use the public facilities, especially with their kids. Some worried that the restrooms “particularly in the parks, are being monopolized by a small number of individuals,” Moutrie said.

But some homeless advocates wanted to know how widespread the complaints were.

“How many complaints do you really have?,” Taylor asked “Do you have the same person calling in over and over complaining? People have to have the right to use the restroom.”

The issue was never addressed.

The ordinance was approved with a vote of 6 to 0. Mayor Pam O’Connor was absent.