When it comes to public accommodations, maybe San Francisco authorities should pick up the phone and call Barberton.

The tips from the Midwest could save them about a million dollars – and that's just the cost of installing a toilet, like the one San Francisco planned to install in one of its neighborhoods earlier this year for $1.7 million.

Barberton showed Monday that it can be done for a fraction of the cost on the West Coast when the City Council approved the addition of two restrooms in McCafferty Park, accounting for about 7.1 percent of the total estimated cost of San Francisco's only luxury restroom.

Of course, the City by the Bay's costs weren't just driven up by the restrooms themselves. It also included $60,000 for site improvements unrelated to sanitation, $125,000 for project and construction management, $2,000 for plantings, and $27,600 for unforeseen expenses—because when it comes to public restrooms, you can never be sure.

Barberton's structure will cost about $120,000, with the city providing water and sewer services, said Don Patterson, city parks director.

Limiting toilet supplies

The cost to San Francisco attracted widespread attention earlier this year, as media outlets around the world mercilessly ridiculed officials. Even Governor Gavin Newsom got involved, threatening to withhold state funding for the project.

In Barberton, however, when it comes to public restrooms, typical Midwestern frugality and common sense prevail.

Patterson said he wasn't sure why the cost of a toilet in the Golden State was so high.

“That's a good question,” Patterson said. “I don't know who they're dealing with out there.”

“I don’t want to badmouth them”: Director of Barberton Parks works to keep costs down

Patterson said the city strives to be frugal in its projects.

“The spending of government money is a very sensitive issue for me,” Patterson said. “It's taxpayers' money.”

More:Will the new group revitalize downtown? Main Street Barberton organizers talk about their mission

The parks director said the city is also planning restrooms for another park this year. He expects the Decker Park project to go before the City Council in April. He expects installation to occur about six months after City Council approval.

He refused to criticize San Francisco for its toilet farce.

“I don’t want to badmouth them,” he said.

More:6 reasons why you should subscribe to the Akron Beacon Journal

Leave a message for Alan Ashworth at 330-996-3859 or email him at ataashworth@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @newsalanbeaconj.

The post Barberton exhibits San Francisco how to save cash on $1.7M public bathroom appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

On Sunday, people in San Francisco's Noe Valley neighborhood celebrated the opening of a public restroom that made headlines with its estimated cost of $1.7 million before it was eventually built for a much lower price.

About 100 people filled Noe Valley Town Square to celebrate a brand new bathroom that drew international ridicule in 2022 for the astronomical pricePublic outcry forced the city to flush the idea down the toilet.

“Noe Valley, let’s hear our ‘not $1.7 million bathroom,’” event organizer Leslie Crawford shouted to the cheering crowd.

The organizers wanted to have some fun at the celebration and incorporate everything related to the toilet – there was even a live jazz band that renamed itself “American Standard” for the day.

“We couldn't bring Toto here, so…” laughed Crawford. “When everyone's laughing at you, you have to take the power back and laugh at yourself.”

Crawford admitted that San Francisco deserved all the crap it got when the city first announced the estimated $1.7 million cost of building the toilet. People thought it was the perfect example of government waste.

“This is absurd because the pipes were already in the ground when they built it. [town square] out,” said Noe Valley resident Todd Siemers.

“I found it a little ridiculous myself, everyone thought that,” added local resident Linda Maes.

A private company finally donated a prefabricated bathroom. But the cost still came to $200,000. The city said union workers would have to connect water lines and build other infrastructure to prepare everything.

We asked the people who used it: “How did it go?”

“I'm excited that they have a bathroom now,” said resident Zach D'Angelo. “And I give it a 10 out of 10.”

“It's great, it's a relief,” laughed Maes. “And we can relieve ourselves when we need to. We don't have to go into a [nearby] Restaurant.”

“It was spacious and clean and wonderful,” Siemers said.

And Crawford is glad that, at least for a while, there will be no more toilet jokes about San Francisco.

“This is a great ending to our story,” Crawford said.

The city said the bathroom is about 50 square feet. It has a metal toilet and a changing table.

More from CBS News

And Lin

Da Lin is an award-winning journalist with KPIX 5 News. He joined KPIX 5 in 2012 but has been covering news in the Bay Area since 2007. Da grew up in Oakland and spent five years as a news reporter for three other television stations in Texas, Southern and Central California before returning to the Bay Area. He also spent five years as a reporter for KRON 4.

The post San Francisco public rest room as soon as priced at $1.7M opens to fanfare, reduction for lowered value appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Der faszinierendste Teil des Louvre ist vielleicht nicht die Venus von Milo oder die Mona Lisa (viel Glück beim Durchstreifen der Handyhorden auf letzterer), sondern eher der weniger befahrene und schwach beleuchtete Keller. Hier findet man die Fundamente der mittelalterlichen Burg, die einst hier stand. Aber Sie werden noch mehr finden. Du wirst finden … Mist.

Hier finden Sie Reste von Mittagessen aus dem 12. Jahrhundert oder anderen Krimskrams, der über die Zinnen in den Burggraben geworfen oder in den Abort geworfen wurde. Im Wesentlichen handelt es sich hierbei um die Dinge, die in der Toilette heruntergespült wurden. Es stellt sich heraus, dass man von der Basis her viel über die Gesellschaft lernen kann.

Das stimmt immer noch. Das stimmt hier in San Francisco auf jeden Fall. Das Leben besteht im Wesentlichen aus einer Reihe von Toilettengängen – und die Ausgabegewohnheiten dieser Stadt für Toilettenpapier verraten viel über das städtische Leben und die städtischen Ausgabegewohnheiten. Sie können auch von Grund auf viel über San Francisco und sein Budget lernen.

Im Jahr 2011 stellte Ihr bescheidener Erzähler beim Stadtverwalter einen Antrag auf öffentliche Aufzeichnungen über alle Ausgaben für Toilettenpapier. Sechs Jahre später tat ich es noch einmal. Es sind noch sechs Jahre vergangen, also habe ich es letzten Monat erneut getan.

Im Jahr 2011 gab San Francisco 833.113 US-Dollar für Toilettenpapier aus. Bis 2017 war diese Zahl stark auf 1,19 Millionen US-Dollar gestiegen – ein kräftiger Anstieg um 43 Prozent in nur sechs Jahren. Bei diesem Tempo hätten die Ausgaben für Toilettenpapier im Jahr 2023 1,7 Millionen US-Dollar erreichen sollen. Aber das wird nicht der Fall sein.

Die guten Leute im Büro der Stadtverwaltung – die auf unser Geheiß Toilettenpapierausgaben aus größeren Verträgen herausgeholt haben – kamen auf einen Betrag von 1,03 Millionen US-Dollar für 2022 und 550.599 US-Dollar in den ersten sechs Monaten des Jahres 2023. Das ist viel weniger. Selbst inflationsbereinigt haben 1,19 Millionen US-Dollar im Januar 2017 eine Kaufkraft von 1,5 Millionen US-Dollar heute. Und Toilettenpapier ist heute sicherlich teurer als noch in der jüngeren Vergangenheit. Also was ist passiert?

Fotoillustration von Junyao Yang

Nun, 2020 ist passiert. Und 2021 und 2022 und bisher 2023. Gott steh uns im Jahr 2024 bei. Die Pandemie übt weiterhin einen transformierenden Einfluss auf diese Stadt aus.

Bürgermeisterin London Breed hat versucht, Privatarbeiter zurück in die heruntergekommenen Büros in der Innenstadt zu locken: „Es ist Zeit, die Pyjamas auszuziehen oder, wenn Sie an Covid-Pfunden zugenommen haben, in die Innenstadt zu gehen und neue Hosen zu kaufen“, sagte sie bei einem Treffen im Jahr 2022 Veranstaltung im Salesforce Park (ohne Salesforce – ein unauffälliger Seitenhieb).

Um es festzuhalten: Breed hat sich nicht dafür entschieden, diese Aussage mit einem Hupenstoß zu unterstreichen. Sie werden es nicht glauben, aber ihr Ansatz hat nicht funktioniert: Nicht nur, dass Angestellte im privaten Sektor immer noch von zu Hause aus arbeiten, es ist mehr als klar, dass eine beträchtliche Anzahl von Angestellten im öffentlichen Sektor immer noch von zu Hause aus arbeitet – und zu Hause die Toilette putzt . Das verraten die Toilettenpapierdaten. Aber es verrät mehr.

Im Jahr 2011 flossen rund 56 Cent von jedem Dollar, den die Stadt für Toilettenpapier ausgab, nicht in die Entlastung der städtischen Arbeiter, sondern in die Vorräte am San Francisco International Airport. Bis 2022 wurde dieses Verhältnis noch ungleicher: 79 Cent von jedem Toilettenpapierdollar in San Francisco gingen an den Flughafen.

Es überrascht nicht, dass der Flughafen heute mehr für Toilettenpapier ausgibt als noch vor 13 Jahren: Die Inflation war erheblich und insbesondere Toilettenpapier kostet mehr. Es ist auch nicht verwunderlich, dass der Großteil des Toilettenpapiers an SFO geht: San Francisco hat Zehntausende Mitarbeiter, aber SFO hat zig Millionen Passagiere.

Doch das Überraschende ist: Die Passagierzahl des Flughafens im Jahr 2022 liegt nur unwesentlich über der Passagierzahl im Jahr 2010. Und doch ist der Anteil des Toilettenpapiers, der an den Flughafen und nicht in den Rest der Stadt geleitet wird, explodiert.

Die Toilettenpapierdaten sind eindeutig: Sie deuten darauf hin, dass eine beträchtliche Anzahl von Stadtarbeitern, wie der Bürgermeister es ausdrücken würde, ihre Pyjamas tragen – und vermutlich Hosen online kaufen.

Im Jahr 2010 gingen etwa 56 Prozent des Toilettenpapierbudgets von San Francisco an den Flughafen.

Bis 2022 soll dieser Anteil nach Angaben der Stadtverwaltung auf mindestens 79 Prozent gestiegen sein.

Im Jahr 2010 gingen etwa 56 Prozent des Toilettenpapierbudgets von San Francisco an den Flughafen.

Bis 2022 soll dieser Anteil nach Angaben der Stadtverwaltung auf mindestens 79 Prozent gestiegen sein.

Diagramm von Will Jarrett. Daten des Stadtverwalters.

Das Budget von San Francisco ist groß. San Francisco gibt viel für Toilettenpapier aus. Das ist weder aufschlussreich noch erhellend. Es geht weniger darum, ein Kaninchen aus dem Hut zu ziehen, als vielmehr darum, ein Kaninchen aus einem Kaninchenstall zu ziehen.

Vielmehr helfen die Toilettenpapierzahlen von San Francisco dabei, einen Haushalt zu kontextualisieren, der in seiner Weite nahezu unnahbar ist. Der kommunale Preis für Toilettenpapier von fast genau 1 Million US-Dollar ist ebenfalls schön und ordentlich; Es ist einfach, es mit anderen Kosten zu vergleichen.

Wenn Sie also einen Blick auf die 94 Posten werfen, die die 42 Millionen US-Dollar ausmachen, die der Aufsichtsrat während der Add-Back-Sitzung im Juni im laufenden Geschäftsjahr umverteilt hat, werden Sie feststellen, dass alle bis auf acht davon in etwa gleicher Höhe Ausgaben darstellen Menge Toilettenpapier oder weniger – bei vielen sogar deutlich weniger. Praktisch die einzige Berichterstattung in den Medien und die öffentliche Auseinandersetzung mit dem Budgetierungsprozess von San Francisco und dem daraus resultierenden gigantischen Budget wird auf Diskussionen über diese Toilettenpapier-großen Kosten verwendet – während praktisch alles andere im 14,6-Milliarden-Dollar-Budget nur oberflächlich unter die Lupe genommen wird.

Wir stellen vor Toilettenpapiermaß (TRM): Der Beitrag von Mission Local zur altehrwürdigen amerikanischen Tradition, Dinge mit etwas anderem als dem metrischen System zu messen.

Eine Toilettenpapierrolle entspricht 1.031.093 US-Dollarder Betrag, den San Francisco im Jahr 2022 für Toilettenpapier ausgegeben hat. Mal sehen, wie sich das im Verhältnis zu anderen Ausgaben verhält, um die im diesjährigen Haushalt gefeilscht wird.

Gründung der Amt für Wiedergutmachung war einer der umstrittensten Punkte im diesjährigen Haushaltsprozess. Für alle damit verbundenen Personal- und Verwaltungskosten wurden 2 Millionen US-Dollar pro Jahr bereitgestellt.

Straßenreinigung in der Mission wurde mit Kosten von 225.000 US-Dollar pro Jahr wieder in den Haushalt aufgenommen – weniger als ein Viertel des TRM der Stadt.

Der SRO-Kooperation und das Code Enforcement Outreach-Programm Beide wurden zunächst aus dem Budget gestrichen. Beide Programme halfen einkommensschwachen Menschen bei der Wohnungssuche: Ersteres durch die Unterstützung von Familien in SROs und Letzteres dadurch, dass Vermieter dazu gedrängt wurden, sich mit Problemen auseinanderzusetzen.

Nach Aufschrei und vielen Debatten wurden die Programme zu einem Preis von 4,8 Millionen US-Dollar pro Jahr wieder aufgenommen.

Insgesamt ist die Ergänzungen 2023–24 summieren sich auf rund 42 Millionen US-Dollar. Dies war im Vergleich zu typischen Jahren ein hoher Wert und kam nach mehreren Wochen des Hin und Her zwischen Abteilungen und Vorgesetzten zustande.

Nicht alle städtischen Kosten werden so genau unter die Lupe genommen. Der Ergänzung zum Polizeihaushalt Durch die im März genehmigte Maßnahme erhielt die Abteilung zusätzliche 25 Millionen US-Dollar zur Finanzierung der Überstundenkosten. Die Aufsichtsbehörden stimmten dem Vorschlag mit 9 zu 2 Stimmen zu.

Der Addback-Prozess monopolisiert die Zeit gewählter Führungskräfte und die Medienberichterstattung über den Haushalt, verblasst jedoch selbst neben den kleineren Abteilungen der Stadt in der Bedeutungslosigkeit.

Im November erfolgt die Finanzierung des Öffentliche Bibliothek war der beliebteste Vorschlag auf dem Stimmzettel und erhielt über 80 Prozent der Stimmen. Der Betrieb der Abteilung kostet jährlich rund 200 Millionen US-Dollar – etwa 194 TRM.

Und Kosten, die in der Budgetsaison kaum Beachtung finden, wie zum Beispiel das Gesundheitswesen, machen oft einen weitaus höheren Betrag aus.

Die Finanzierung für Zuckerberg San Francisco General beträgt 1,2 Milliarden US-Dollar und macht etwas mehr als ein Drittel der Gesamtfinanzierung des Gesundheitsministeriums aus. Das reicht aus, um 1.164 Einwohner San Franciscos ein Jahr lang mit Toilettenpapier zu versorgen.

Wir haben viel über den Haushalt, die liliputistische Rolle des Aufsichtsrats darin – und entsprechend auch die Brobdingnagische Rolle des Bürgermeisters – geschrieben. Es ist etwas übertrieben zu sagen, dass der Beitrag des Vorstands dem Wert von Toilettenpapier im Stadthaushalt entspricht. Aber nur ein bisschen. Die verfügbaren Gelder, um die sich die Obersten im Juni stritten, beliefen sich nur auf etwa 1,7 Prozent der vom Bürgermeister kontrollierten verfügbaren Gelder.

Das soll nicht heißen, dass der Bürgermeister schlecht und die Bürgermeister gut sind oder umgekehrt. Das liegt einfach in der Natur des starken Bürgermeistersystems der Stadt – und unser starker Bürgermeister ist am stärksten, wenn es um die Festlegung eines Budgets geht. In San Francisco ist die Budgetierung ein kontroverser Prozess. Von Entwurf.

Gibt es für Bürgermeister einen Anreiz, Organisationen, von denen sie wissen, dass die Oberbürgermeister Zeit und Mühe aufwenden werden, um die Mittel wieder aufzufüllen, absichtlich und strategisch zu streichen? Ja. Werden Abteilungen, die zu Kürzungen verpflichtet sind, dazu angeregt, beliebte Programme zu streichen, von denen sie wissen, dass die Vorgesetzten Zeit und Mühe aufwenden werden, um sie wieder aufzufüllen? Auch ja.

Wie wir bereits erwähnt haben, ist der Add-Back-Prozess ein Spektakel. Konkurrierende Gemeindegruppen müssen sich aufstellen und bei öffentlichen Anhörungen erbärmliche Geschichten erzählen, wie eine verrückte kommunale Version von „Queen for a Day“. Der Reality-TV-ähnliche Festzug von angeschlossenen gemeinnützigen Mitarbeitern, die sich in den Hallen versammeln und um Geld werben, „wird von Bürgermeistern genutzt, um zu zeigen, dass der Vorstand es nicht ernst meint, und das tun sie auch“, bemerkt ein ehemaliger Bürgermeistermitarbeiter. „Aber das ist albern. Der überwiegende Teil der Ausgaben erfolgt in den Ressorts, wo Sonderinteressen bereits ihren Anteil bekommen haben.“

Ja, bei Add-Backs stehen die Leute Schlange für Almosen. Aber wenn Sie ein bestimmtes Maß an Einfluss erreicht haben, müssen Sie sich für nichts mehr anstellen. Und wenn das Budget den Vorstand erreicht, ist es im Wesentlichen zu mehr als 99 Prozent fertiggestellt. Der kommunale Groll über Gelder auf Toilettenpapierniveau in einem Budget von 14,6 Milliarden US-Dollar, das fast vollständig festgelegt ist, ist die Art und Weise, wie wir hier budgetieren – und darüber in den Medien berichten.

Das muss nicht sein. Der Budgetierungsprozess ist langwierig. Und obwohl es kein Spektakel ist, ist es auch nicht undurchsichtig. Beachten Sie: Es macht wenig Sinn, die Berichterstattung oder Eingaben zum Budget zu vernachlässigen, bis es zu 99 Prozent fertig ist. Besonders im kommenden Jahr, das der schlechteste Haushalt seit der Großen Rezession zu werden verspricht und ein kommunales Dokument verspricht, das dem Buch der Offenbarung würdig ist.

„Der überwiegende Teil der Ausgaben erfolgt in den Ressorts, wo Sonderinteressen bereits ihren Anteil bekommen haben.“

In San Francisco gibt es keine „Null-basierte Budgetierung“, bei der die Ausgaben in jeder Amtszeit gerechtfertigt sein müssen; Wir schreiben weniger jedes Jahr ein Skript als vielmehr mit einem riesigen Google-Dokument herum. Bei einem so großen Budget wie dem von San Francisco ist das zwar verständlich, aber es ist alarmierend, wie wenig die Budgetdiskussion dieser Stadt tatsächlich leistungsorientiert ist. Budgetposten verhärten sich, und die Diskussionen konzentrieren sich tendenziell viel mehr auf das Personal und die Personalkosten als darauf, was das Personal tatsächlich für diese Kosten leisten soll.

Das wird etwas sein, worüber man bei den kommenden theatralischen Auseinandersetzungen um Werbebuchungen zum Toilettenpapierpreis nachdenken sollte, nachdem bereits 99 Cent von jedem Dollar verteilt wurden. Milliarden an eingebackenen Dollars werden im Wesentlichen durchgesegelt sein. Aber so machen wir die Dinge.

Das muss nicht sein. Sie können in der Tat von Grund auf viel über San Francisco und sein Budget lernen. Vielleicht ist es auch an der Zeit, unseren Status Quo in die Toilette zu spülen.

Grafiken von Will Jarrett.

The post San Francisco spends HOW MUCH on rest room paper? appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

In October 2022, San Francisco Raised eyebrows when the city budgeted $1.7 million for a single public restroom in the city's Noe Valley neighborhood. According to city officials, the high price was due to high construction prices in San Francisco as well as remaining supply chain issues.

But shortly afterwards the state intervened, which scrapped the planned bathroom after outrage spread over the high cost to taxpayers. Fifteen months later, there is still no place to pee in the public square where the toilet was originally planned – and it doesn't look like there will be one any time soon.

“Why isn’t there a toilet here? I just don't understand her. Nobody has them,” said a resident told The New York Times last week. “It’s another example of the city not being able to do it.”

San Francisco has the most expensive Construction costs worldwide – and that is hardly surprising. To build a public toilet in Noe Valley, a place that already had the plumbing necessary to install a toilet, developers had to overcome a dizzying number of regulatory requirements. This includes obtaining approval from the Arts Commission's Civic Design Review Committee, passing review under the California Environmental Quality Act, and approval from the city's Rec and Park Commission and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. As if that wasn't enough, the project would also be subject to a “community feedback” phase.

Even after receiving approval, the city would not be free to simply find the cheapest acceptable bathroom — likely a prefabricated option — and connect it to city plumbing. According to a year 2022 San Francisco Chronicle Article, Prefab bathrooms violate the city's public works agreement. In addition to the cost, the city would also have to use union labor to build the bathroom.

While the $1.7 million price tag was rightly criticized, if the project had been allowed to move forward, the budget might not have been set too high. The regulatory burden in San Francisco for new construction—even something as simple as a single-stall bathroom—is just so high.

Even the San Francisco government has acknowledged that the Noe Valley bathroom fiasco was a sign that the city is over-regulated. “It is worth changing the current laws around construction projects such as toilets that slow things down,” said a spokesman for Mayor London Breed Just.

However, this is far from the first time that local governments have allocated absurdly large sums of money to fund public toilets. In 2017 New York City spent 2 million dollars in a public park toilet. And last year, Philadelphia caused controversy when it announced it would spend $1.8 million on six modular buildings Portland loo bathrooms over the next five years — a model that cities across the country have spent millions on in recent years.

The post California Stopped San Francisco’s $1.7 Million Rest room. The Metropolis Cannot Construct One thing Cheaper. appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

The San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department has a new price for a controversial $1.7 million public restroom at a park in the city’s Noe Valley neighborhood.

A generous donation helped bring the restroom’s price down to $300,000.

The planned restroom was supposed to be built in a corner of Noe Valley Town Square Park, which would be a much-welcomed addition for some people who spend their lunch or bring their kids to the area.

“It would be definitely nice to have a bathroom available, not relying on local businesses,” San Francisco resident Amanda Specht said.

But the original cost was a shock and triggered backlash.

“It is outrageous and I’m not surprised by the outrage,” Specht said. “But, it’s San Francisco.”

The controversy over the seemingly bloated price tag became so intense Gov. Gavin Newsom paused the distribution of state funds that had been earmarked for the public restroom. The much lower price the city will have to shell out for the restroom comes after a pair of companies teamed up to donate a prefabricated restroom to San Francisco and offered to pay the delivery and most of the installation costs.

A San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department spokesperson said they will be reaching out to the governor’s office and ask for a portion of the money it paused for project back to help fund a similar project at Precita Park.

The recreation and parks department plans to spend $300,000 to hire a landscape design firm to draw up the plans for the site, including mechanical, electrical and plumbing work. In addition, the work would include handling permitting, environmental review and other administrative costs.

The hope is to have the new restroom installed by late summer.

The post New Worth for $1.7M San Francisco Rest room – NBC Bay Space appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Questions are being raised over the price tag of a public toilet in San Francisco.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the single toilet is costing the city $1.7 million. It will be located near 24th Street in Noe Valley’s main commercial corridor.

Supervisors said they got the funding from the state budget to build the restroom per requests of families in the area.

In a joint statement issued to the newspaper, the Park and Rec Department of Public Works said there are several reasons for the costs, including the cost to build in the city and the rising construction costs for materials.

“It’s crazy. It’s just sort of an artifact of everything going crazy in the city,” said former San Francisco resident, Michael Papanek. “How could it possibly be 1.7 million dollars?”

There was supposed to be an announcement by state and local public officials Wednesday, proclaiming their success in securing the funding from the state.

But they abruptly canceled it once word of the price tag got out.

Questions are being raised over the price tag of a public toilet in San Francisco.

“It sounds so fishy,” said Dalia Martinez, former San Francisco resident. “And given that they were gonna announce it today and they just bailed, it’s just, so suspicious.”

The only elected official who has responded to any of our questions about the project, and the price tag, is assembly member Matt Haney. He was able to get the $.17 million from Sacramento.

“I’ll defer questions about the cost for the bathroom to Rec and Park,” he said in a statement. “The cost also seemed shockingly high to me. They told me they couldn’t build it for less, so if I wanted a public bathroom there, that’s how much I had to deliver.”

NBC Bay Area reached out to Park and Rec for a breakdown of costs but have not heard back.

The restroom would be completed until 2025.

NBC Bay Area’s Sergio Quintana gives us a closer look at San Francisco’s plan to construct a $1.7 million bathroom.

The city already operates a whole bunch of free public restrooms, some of them even available 24 hours a day and fit within the 150-square-foot footprint at Noe Valley.

The cost to the city is nothing.

According to the San Francisco Department of Public Works, it has a deal with the company JC Decaux to provide the self-cleaning public potties for free in exchange for advertising revenue made from the units.

By the end of this year, brand new ones will be getting installed throughout San Francisco to replace the aging ones — all for free.

The post San Francisco is Spending $1.7M on a Public Rest room – NBC Bay Space appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Questions are being raised over the price tag of a public toilet in San Francisco.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the single toilet is costing the city $1.7 million. It will be located near 24th Street in Noe Valley’s main commercial corridor.

Supervisors said they got the funding from the state budget to build the restroom per requests of families in the area.

In a joint statement issued to the newspaper, the Park and Rec Department of Public Works said there are several reasons for the costs, including the cost to build in the city and the rising construction costs for materials.

“It’s crazy. It’s just sort of an artifact of everything going crazy in the city,” said former San Francisco resident, Michael Papanek. “How could it possibly be 1.7 million dollars?”

There was supposed to be an announcement by state and local public officials Wednesday, proclaiming their success in securing the funding from the state.

But they abruptly canceled it once word of the price tag got out.

Questions are being raised over the price tag of a public toilet in San Francisco.

“It sounds so fishy,” said Dalia Martinez, former San Francisco resident. “And given that they were gonna announce it today and they just bailed, it’s just, so suspicious.”

The only elected official who has responded to any of our questions about the project, and the price tag, is assembly member Matt Haney. He was able to get the $.17 million from Sacramento.

“I’ll defer questions about the cost for the bathroom to Rec and Park,” he said in a statement. “The cost also seemed shockingly high to me. They told me they couldn’t build it for less, so if I wanted a public bathroom there, that’s how much I had to deliver.”

NBC Bay Area reached out to Park and Rec for a breakdown of costs but have not heard back.

The restroom would be completed until 2025.

NBC Bay Area’s Sergio Quintana gives us a closer look at San Francisco’s plan to construct a $1.7 million bathroom.

The city already operates a whole bunch of free public restrooms, some of them even available 24 hours a day and fit within the 150-square-foot footprint at Noe Valley.

The cost to the city is nothing.

According to the San Francisco Department of Public Works, it has a deal with the company JC Decaux to provide the self-cleaning public potties for free in exchange for advertising revenue made from the units.

By the end of this year, brand new ones will be getting installed throughout San Francisco to replace the aging ones — all for free.

The post San Francisco is Spending $1.7M on a Public Rest room – NBC Bay Space appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

A single-toilet public restroom planned for San Francisco’s Noe Valley Town Square is expected to take two years to build, but it’s already causing a stink.

The reason: its $1.7 million price tag.

The estimated cost has garnered plenty of headlines for the restroom as well as some backlash from state officials who wanted a better explanation than what the city was giving.

The San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department admits the price tag for the single restroom is attention-grabbing, but officials promise the reason behind the estimate is “more nuanced and less sensational.”

The project is still in the early phase of its timeline and there are no designs for the proposed restroom at the town square, located in central San Francisco. The square hosts a Farmer’s Market and other popular events on weekends.

The proposed single toilet restroom would be in a 150-foot-square enclosure and is expected to be completed by 2025, according to the city.

“We will consider various options, including installing a pre-fabricated restroom,” the city’s parks department said in statement. “In the end, the project may well be delivered for far less, with leftover funding put toward further improvements or maintenance.”

“We estimate high — not because we want to spend more money, but because we want to ensure we can deliver projects to communities even if we are hit with unexpected costs,” officials said.

A planned ceremony for the restroom was canceled this week after Assemblyman Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), who secured state funding for the project, heard the city’s reasoning behind the high cost.

“The cost is insane. The process is insane. The amount of time it takes is insane,” Haney told the San Francisco Chronicle.

The city explains that construction costs have risen in the last two years due to the pandemic, inflation and the global supply chain issues, according to the city’s statement. That includes a rise in costs for fuel, materials and hiring workers who can “earn a living wage and benefit.”

“That’s in a city that is the most expensive in the world in which to build,” the city said in its written statement.

The city is also concerned about unexpected costs from the utility company PG&E. In legal filings, the city and county claim PG&E has stalled numerous projects over the years as it forced its customers to purchase specialized equipment to handle large amounts of electricity.

San Francisco’s public utility owns a power supply system that is then sold to its customers, but the power lines are owned and maintained by PG&E. This January, a federal appeals court directed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reevaluate PG&E’s requirements for San Francisco customers, according to court documents.

When the town square opened in October 2015, the site featured plumbing for a bathroom, but no funding to build the facility, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

Haney secured the necessary $1.7 million to build the restroom, which will go toward not just the construction, but also the planning, permits, reviews and management of the project, according to the city.

“They told me $1.7 million, and I got $1.7 million,” Haney said. “I didn’t have the option of bringing home less of the bacon when it comes to building a toilet. A half a toilet or a toilet-maybe-someday is not much use to anyone.”

The project’s 2025 completion timeline would factor in time for architectural plans to be drawn up and time for community feedback. Eventually, the project would make its way to the city’s Recreation and Park Commission and then the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors.

The post San Francisco plans to spend $1.7 million for one bathroom appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

PHOENIX (Stacker) – From New York City to the Navajo Nation, people across the country are facing climate-driven water scarcity, exorbitant utility bills, aging or incomplete infrastructure, community disinvestment, and political inertia, all of which limit or completely cut off Access to essential water resources.

America’s water gap exacts a significant price on the well-being of individuals and the overall economy. More than $8.5 billion is lost annually as a result of time spent collecting water, high health care bills related to injuries, waterborne illness, and mental health challenges associated with water insecurity, according to a June 2022 report from nonprofit DigDeep. The water gap persists in all 50 states, from urban to remote communities, but it is not socially or geographically random. Water insecurity is associated with other socioeconomic disparities and disproportionately impacts communities of color. According to DigDeep, Indigenous households are 19 times more likely than white households to live without plumbing. Black and Latino households are twice as likely.

While rural homes are the most likely to lack running water, the majority of Americans residing in unplumbed homes live in cities. Plumbing poverty in urban areas is getting worse. Researchers found the average tenant in San Francisco living without piped water spent 44% of their income on rent in 2017. Water connection fees in San Francisco can cost several thousands of dollars—a financial burden low-income renters cannot afford, and negligent landlords may not want to pay. While urban residents considered “plumbing poor” are hidden in plain sight, rural residents impacted most severely by the water gap are almost entirely hidden from the nation’s collective consciousness. In colonias along Texas’ southwestern border with Mexico, tens of thousands of people live without access to running water or sewer service. Any water they can access is believed to be unsafe, and contaminated with arsenic, E. coli, and other harmful toxins.

Over the last 40 years, federal water infrastructure funding has fallen from 63% to roughly 9% leaving communities without the financial resources to upgrade and expand water and sewage systems. However, the White House says the recent infusion of money via President Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Job Act will speed up progress in prioritized underserved communities. Passed in November 2021, the law allocates roughly $50 billion for programs designed to improve state and local drinking water and wastewater treatment infrastructure. The Environmental Protection Agency also distributed $154 million to tribal territories and Native Alaskan villages. The average per-state funding for all 50 states was $138.7 million. Even for the millions of Americans with access to basic plumbing and running water, utility bills are unaffordable. A 2018 analysis by the Guardian found that across a sampling of 12 major US cities, water and sewage bills had increased by an average of 80% in just eight years, with low-income households bearing the greatest burden.

In 11 out of the 12 cities included in the study, 100% of people with incomes below 50% of the federal poverty threshold could not afford their water bills. According to the study, water bills exceeding 4% of household income are considered, for this analysis, unaffordable. This problem is not isolated just to the lowest-income households. Over the next eight years, average Americans neglected by federal funding are likely to feel the pressure of high-cost utilities in cities with low-quality water and wasteful infrastructure.

Stacker determined the 10 metro areas in the US most lacking in complete plumbing facilities based on the percentage of people in each metro without this basic access. The data is sourced from the 2020 five-year American Community Survey US Census Bureau. The census question asks whether a housing unit has hot and cold running water, a bathtub or shower, as well as other questions about kitchen appliances. Puerto Rico was excluded from these results. At a county-by-county level, the reasons why people lack access to basic plumbing are not closely or consistently tracked. Where we could find specifics, we have listed those here. Where we could not, we’ve provided contextual information about the state of that metro area’s water and sewage infrastructure.

#10. Dubuque, IA

• Total housing units: 41,518 (93.1% occupied)
• Households lacking complete plumbing facilities: 290 (0.8% of occupied housing units)

Throughout the state, Iowans are at an increased risk of water contamination. A 2017 study revealed that 1 in 5 infants in the state is born with high levels of lead in their blood, pointing to the dangers of tainted drinking water. Dubuque, however, reported no public drinking water violations in 2021.

Agricultural pollution is a major source of contamination for private well owners, resulting in water with harmful levels of bacteria and nitrates. Dubuque residents identified drinking water protection from private sources as one of the most critical health concerns in the next 3-5 years, according to the county’s Poverty Prevention Plan.

#9. Houma-Thibodaux, LA

• Total housing units: 87,081 (88.4% occupied)
• Households lacking complete plumbing facilities: 711 (0.9% of occupied housing units)

Louisiana’s southeastern parishes, like Lafourche and Terrebonne, are prone to hurricane damage, which can knock out critical community infrastructure. Beyond threats to water and sewage systems from natural disasters, the state’s water quality is a consistent problem, with upwards of 1,600 boil advisories across the state annually.

Louisiana will receive $7 billion from Biden’s infrastructure bill, with nearly $6 billion earmarked for roads, highways, and bridges. The remainder will be spent on water infrastructure improvements, among other things.

#8th. Laredo, TX

• Total housing units: 84,553 (90.3% occupied)
• Households lacking complete plumbing facilities: 722 (0.9% of occupied housing units)

Laredo made headlines early in 2022 when a water line break caused nearly two weeks of water shortages and boil advisories for thousands of residents. While this was a short-term problem amid a much larger water crisis, it is a prime example of the impact of aging, unmaintained water infrastructure.

Webb County, where Laredo is located, was previously embroiled in controversy when the $12 million Rio Bravo Water Treatment Plant opened without properly functioning systems. The plan was intended to provide clean drinking water to 8,000 people in neighboring towns. Instead, plant operators falsified water quality reports, permitting substandard, unsafe water to flow through the system and into the homes of residents.

#7. Hammond, LA

• Total housing units: 56,449 (86.0% occupied)
• Households lacking complete plumbing facilities: 431 (0.9% of occupied housing units)

Like many other Louisiana regions, Hammond is not spared from the damage and devastation caused by natural disasters. In the wake of Hurricane Ida, sewage system breakdowns were a persistent problem in the region. Neighboring St. Tammany Parish, where almost all residents use bottled water due to poor piped water quality, has received $23 million to improve its water system.

#6. Grant’s Pass, OR

• Total housing units: 39,362 (93.0% occupied)
• Households lacking complete plumbing facilities: 312 (0.9% of occupied housing units)

In 2018, Grants Pass began replacing its nearly 86-year-old water treatment plant with a new facility, acknowledging that, while it is still doing its job adequately, the old plant would not be able to withstand an earthquake.

The new plant is expected to be finished by the end of 2023. The city has also undertaken a $20 million wastewater treatment project. As a result of these major infrastructure projects, Grants Pass residents will see an approximate $20 increase in their utility bills over the course of the next four years.

#5. McAllen-Edinburg Mission, TX

• Total housing units: 281,380 (86.7% occupied)
• Households lacking complete plumbing facilities: 2,961 (1.2% of occupied housing units)

Leaky canals supplied by a diminishing Rio Grande River are creating water scarcity issues in the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metro. These canals that supply the region lose about 40% of the water they carry due to aging infrastructure.

Water officials predict the demand for water in the area will double over the next 50 years as the population continues to grow. The region has already experienced rapid population growth between 1990 and 2020, increasing sixfold to 871,000.

#4. Anchorage, AK

• Total housing units: 160,311 (86.7% occupied)
• Households lacking complete plumbing facilities: 1,824 (1.3% of occupied housing units)

Alaska’s extreme environment makes piping water to remote regions—and even relatively urban areas like Anchorage—challenging and expensive for both builders and residents paying the bills.

Historically, installing indoor plumbing in a single home could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. As an alternative, people may use honey buckets—large buckets to collect waste. But this type of sewage disposal is conducive to spreading disease. Invasive pneumococcal rates in southwestern Alaska are among the highest in the world due to a lack of running water and proper sanitation.

#3. Farmington, NM

• Total housing units: 51,299 (85.0% occupied)
• Households lacking complete plumbing facilities: 926 (2.1% of occupied housing units)

Farmington is situated on off-reservation Navajo trust land, and between three American Indian reservations belonging to the Navajo, the Ute Mountain Indians, and the Southern Utes. A short drive away, more than 40% of Farmington’s neighbors in Navajo Nation households do not have running water in their homes and 30% lack access to clean drinking water. Instead, they must haul water, sometimes from Farmington, for their cooking and sanitation needs.

Lack of water and plumbing puts residents at greater risk for infectious diseases, and it is in large part why the Navajo Nation reported a higher per capita COVID-19 mortality rate than any state in the US

#2. Flagstaff, AZ

• Total housing units: 66,807 (73.4% occupied)
• Households lacking complete plumbing facilities: 1,749 (3.6% of occupied housing units)

Coconino County, home to Flagstaff, relies on groundwater for 70% of its water supply. As climate change and population growth put pressure on various water sources throughout the state, residents in Flagstaff and beyond will face increasing water scarcity in the coming decades.

Longtime Flagstaff residents are familiar with this issue. In 2002, the Upper Lake Mary reservoir, from which Flagstaff got a significant portion of its water supply, dried out almost completely due to drought, causing shortages.

#1. Fairbanks, AK

• Total housing units: 44,270 (81.8% occupied)
• Households lacking complete plumbing facilities: 1,980 (5.5% of occupied housing units)

In parts of Fairbanks, permafrost keeps the ground frozen year-round, making it impossible for builders to lay water and septic systems. As a result, people turn to “dry cabins”—housing units without any plumbing—for the sake of practicality and as part of a lifestyle. The Fairbanks region has a large dry cabin community.

Immediately to the north of Fairbanks is the vast Yukon-Koyukuk region, which has the nation’s highest total percentage of homes with inadequate plumbing due to its harsh environment and inaccessibility.

Copyright 2022 Stacker via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. This article has been re-published pursuant to a CC BY-NC 4.0 License.

The post Metros with the most individuals with out fundamental plumbing service, together with piped consuming water and a rest room appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

A single-toilet public restroom planned for San Francisco’s Noe Valley Town Square is expected to take two years to build, but it’s already causing a stink.

The reason: its $1.7 million price tag.

The estimated cost has garnered plenty of headlines for the restroom as well as some backlash from state officials who wanted a better explanation than what the city was giving.

The San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department admits the price tag for the single restroom is attention-grabbing, but officials promise the reason behind the estimate is “more nuanced and less sensational.”

The project is still in the early phase of its timeline and there are no designs for the proposed restroom at the town square, located in central San Francisco. The square hosts a Farmer’s Market and other popular events on weekends.

The proposed single toilet restroom would be in a 150-foot-square enclosure and is expected to be completed by 2025, according to the city.

“We will consider various options, including installing a pre-fabricated restroom,” the city’s parks department said in statement. “In the end, the project may well be delivered for far less, with leftover funding put toward further improvements or maintenance.”

“We estimate high — not because we want to spend more money, but because we want to ensure we can deliver projects to communities even if we are hit with unexpected costs,” officials said.

A planned ceremony for the restroom was canceled this week after Assemblyman Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), who secured state funding for the project, heard the city’s reasoning behind the high cost.

“The cost is insane. The process is insane. The amount of time it takes is insane,” Haney told the San Francisco Chronicle.

The city explains that construction costs have risen in the last two years due to the pandemic, inflation and the global supply chain issues, according to the city’s statement. That includes a rise in costs for fuel, materials and hiring workers who can “earn a living wage and benefit.”

“That’s in a city that is the most expensive in the world in which to build,” the city said in its written statement.

The city is also concerned about unexpected costs from the utility company PG&E. In legal filings, the city and county claim PG&E has stalled numerous projects over the years as it forced its customers to purchase specialized equipment to handle large amounts of electricity.

San Francisco’s public utility owns a power supply system that is then sold to its customers, but the power lines are owned and maintained by PG&E. This January, a federal appeals court directed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reevaluate PG&E’s requirements for San Francisco customers, according to court documents.

When the town square opened in October 2015, the site featured plumbing for a bathroom, but no funding to build the facility, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

Haney secured the necessary $1.7 million to build the restroom, which will go toward not just the construction, but also the planning, permits, reviews and management of the project, according to the city.

“They told me $1.7 million, and I got $1.7 million,” Haney said. “I didn’t have the option of bringing home less of the bacon when it comes to building a toilet. A half a toilet or a toilet-maybe-someday is not much use to anyone.”

The project’s 2025 completion timeline would factor in time for architectural plans to be drawn up and time for community feedback. Eventually, the project would make its way to the city’s Recreation and Park Commission and then the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors.

The post San Francisco plans to spend $1.7 million for one bathroom appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.