On Monday Oshawa Corporate Services Committee voted on the Washroom motion (pictured below) to 'receive for information' which means no action. It will still go before Council May 24. Hopefully 6 members of Council will realize the benefits and approve a vote that turns this around.
It seems the Mayor, who regularly uses the promotional phrase "the 'Great City of Oshawa" might consider the Winston Churchill quote "The price of greatness is responsibility."
City Council should recognize its responsibility to provide access to safe and clean washrooms to the public. Giving people the dignity to use public washrooms and finding a way to implement a program requires the will of Council. It is doable and imo could be launched as a pilot project for this summer.
Even though it seems staff calculated an exorbitant cost of $42K a month! for security attendants and cleaning services for the 24/7 public use of the City's accessible washrooms (which are opposite the City Security office inside the south entrance doors) it seems reasonable to expect it could be accomplished for much less.
The cost for the failed porta-toilets in the downtown last summer and extra street washing was high. Compare what the Mayor spent on that to what can be accomplished by using the City Hall indoor accessible toilets.
Last year the Region chipped in up to $40,000 and it was to be extended into 2022 if need be.
Recall what was the Mayor was quoted as saying in the INDURHAM publication last year:
“We’ve washed the streets, washed the alleys. The reason we have to do that is the amount of human waste that we are seeing not only on public property, but on private property,” said Carter.Oshawa has invested in washroom facilities in the immediate area, putting up three temporary toilets across the city and funding the installation of washrooms and showers into the Backdoor Mission, located in the Simcoe Street United Church.
However, Carter said the temporary bathrooms “were not only destroyed, they were lit on fire and in many circumstances were tipped over and brought into the middle of intersections and caused a great deal of havoc.”
As a result, “the contractor has refused to even rent to us or even be able to service those facilities,” said Carter.
In the long-term view, Oshawa is looking at public, self-cleaning washrooms. Carter says the city is following Ajax in exploring this option, noting the estimated cost of $400,000 for such a facility.
Consider how the City could install swipe access cards to monitor the use of the City's indoor accessible washrooms, and limit the time inside the washroom to 5 minutes as is the practice at some shelters, If anyone leaves drug needles, they could lose their washroom privileges.
Most people may not realize the extent of camera coverage inside City Hall. The City Security office has state of the art equipment with numerous cameras and computer screens tracking every movement inside City Hall except for washrooms.
According to the Commissioner of Corporate Services, new security staff would need to be hired (even with the additional $$$$$$ added 3 months ago to the LOGIXX Corporate Security contract for expanded security.) https://pub-oshawa.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx...
The Commissioner of Corporate Services also noted that the guards need to be trained in administering NARCAN. But it was a part of the last corporate security agreement that the security officers be trained in administering NARCAN.
How is it that the downtown businesses are expected to open their washrooms to the public, and the City takes no responsibility to provide citizens the dignity of access to a clean and safe toilet. Notice when a municipality doesn't want to do something the price is high? Could it be a pre-election avoidance of controversy?
https://healthydebate.ca/.../paucity-of-public-washrooms/
It seems the Mayor, who regularly uses the promotional phrase "the 'Great City of Oshawa" might consider the Winston Churchill quote "The price of greatness is responsibility."
City Council should recognize its responsibility to provide access to safe and clean washrooms to the public. Giving people the dignity to use public washrooms and finding a way to implement a program requires the will of Council. It is doable and imo could be launched as a pilot project for this summer.
Even though it seems staff calculated an exorbitant cost of $42K a month! for security attendants and cleaning services for the 24/7 public use of the City's accessible washrooms (which are opposite the City Security office inside the south entrance doors) it seems reasonable to expect it could be accomplished for much less.
The cost for the failed porta-toilets in the downtown last summer and extra street washing was high. Compare what the Mayor spent on that to what can be accomplished by using the City Hall indoor accessible toilets.
Last year the Region chipped in up to $40,000 and it was to be extended into 2022 if need be.
Recall what was the Mayor was quoted as saying in the INDURHAM publication last year:
“We’ve washed the streets, washed the alleys. The reason we have to do that is the amount of human waste that we are seeing not only on public property, but on private property,” said Carter.Oshawa has invested in washroom facilities in the immediate area, putting up three temporary toilets across the city and funding the installation of washrooms and showers into the Backdoor Mission, located in the Simcoe Street United Church.
However, Carter said the temporary bathrooms “were not only destroyed, they were lit on fire and in many circumstances were tipped over and brought into the middle of intersections and caused a great deal of havoc.”
As a result, “the contractor has refused to even rent to us or even be able to service those facilities,” said Carter.
In the long-term view, Oshawa is looking at public, self-cleaning washrooms. Carter says the city is following Ajax in exploring this option, noting the estimated cost of $400,000 for such a facility.
Consider how the City could install swipe access cards to monitor the use of the City's indoor accessible washrooms, and limit the time inside the washroom to 5 minutes as is the practice at some shelters, If anyone leaves drug needles, they could lose their washroom privileges.
Most people may not realize the extent of camera coverage inside City Hall. The City Security office has state of the art equipment with numerous cameras and computer screens tracking every movement inside City Hall except for washrooms.
According to the Commissioner of Corporate Services, new security staff would need to be hired (even with the additional $$$$$$ added 3 months ago to the LOGIXX Corporate Security contract for expanded security.) https://pub-oshawa.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx...
The Commissioner of Corporate Services also noted that the guards need to be trained in administering NARCAN. But it was a part of the last corporate security agreement that the security officers be trained in administering NARCAN.
How is it that the downtown businesses are expected to open their washrooms to the public, and the City takes no responsibility to provide citizens the dignity of access to a clean and safe toilet. Notice when a municipality doesn't want to do something the price is high? Could it be a pre-election avoidance of controversy?
https://healthydebate.ca/.../paucity-of-public-washrooms/
