Public bathroom cuts still loom across San Diego
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A precious commodity. Photo: Claire Trageser/Axios
There's bad news for families, runners and anyone who drinks a lot of coffee: Many San Diego public bathrooms are still on the chopping block in the mayor's revised budget proposal.
The big picture: Mayor Todd Gloria's updated budget, released Wednesday, restores some of the bathrooms threatened to be cut last month but would still close public facilities in downtown, Balboa Park and Mission Bay.
Zoom in: The budget would halve bathrooms in those popular public places, cutting them from 66 to 33, according to Voice of San Diego.
- The cuts would include 13 of 28 restrooms in Mission Bay Park and six of 17 comfort stations in Balboa Park, as well as some homeless service station facilities.
- The city says the move would save $3 million. But it would fly in the face of Gloria's 2021 pledge to add more restrooms.
- The mayor's office didn't respond to a request for comment. In a press release about the revised budget, Gloria said it "still includes difficult choices," but it focuses on protecting key neighborhood services.
The proposed bathroom cuts come as the city grapples with a yawning $146 million budget deficit.
Yes, but: The revised budget would restore services at five beach bathrooms and build a new bathroom at a Mt. Hope neighborhood park.
Context: The mayor suggested closing bathrooms to save money last year, but the City Council put them back in the final budget.
💭 Claire's thought bubble: It is basically impossible to find a public bathroom downtown. Once, after a press conference, I popped into Zzan Downtown, a Korean restaurant on Fifth Avenue, and asked to use their restroom.
- The waitress told me I could pay $5 for the bathroom code. Desperate as I was, I agreed.
- She even had a button on the cash register to ring me up for "bathroom use."
Zoom out: The revised budget would also restore some cuts to recreation centers, library hours and December Nights.
- It proposes funding these by increasing the estimate of how much the city would get from hotel taxes, according to a news release, and by collecting $4.3 million more in rent from city golf courses, which Gloria said the city can do because of "new legal guidance."
But funding for arts organizations and the Office of Child and Youth Success would still be cut.
What's next: The City Council will review the updated budget and vote on it next month.