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May 22, 2008
Seattle's High-Tech Toilet Boondoggle
In Seattle, yet another government solution fails miserably:
Seattle's $5 million experiment with high-tech toilets is over. The City Council decided Monday to remove all five of the public restrooms, saying the silver cylinders became a hideout for illegal drug use and prostitution.
"It has taken the unseemly behavior out of shadows of the alleys and put them under the glare of the public toilets," said Councilmember Nick Licata, who voted in 2001 to install the restrooms and now wants them removed.
The idea was that the fancy toilets would prevent bums from defecating in the streets, though portable toilets were available at the time. The new toilets were supposed to be fully automated. But they became clogged with trash.
The Downtown Seattle Association observed more, rather than less, human waste on the streets after the restrooms opened.
But maybe it's harsh to call the experiment a total failure:
Utility ratepayers paid for the toilets, which added $2.59 to the average $465 annual sewer bill for a single-family home. The removal of the toilets won't affect sewer bills.
If this means that the additional charge on each sewer bill remains in effect indefinitely, bureauweenies have found yet another source of revenue — like the phone tax meant to help pay for the Spanish-American War, which wasn't repealed for 108 years.
Remember, more of our money gobbled up by the government means less that we'll be tempted to waste on our own frivolous needs.
On a tip from Burning Hot.
Posted by Van Helsing at May 22, 2008 1:18 PM
Comments
"The City Council decided Monday to remove all five of the public restrooms, saying the silver cylinders became a hideout for illegal drug use and prostitution."
That should have been 100% predictable.
Posted by: forest at May 22, 2008 1:29 PM
yeah, who wants to shoot up out in a rainy alley way when they can have a little silver shelter!!! The Bureauweenies are full of more excrement than the silver cylinders!
Posted by: HoosierArmyMom at May 22, 2008 2:39 PM
No doubt Seattle residents can look forward to at least a one-time 'dump removal' assessment for the special handling and disposal of these units. Certainly they'll need to be hauled off to a hazardous waste landfill since they're filled with used hypodermics and bodily fluids. Clearly, this was a sh**ty idea!
Posted by: The Anti-Nannier at May 22, 2008 3:09 PM
An adjacent story asks the $64,000 question: Were High-Tech Toilets Worth $6.6 Million?
HAHAHAHA!
"The real problem we're having with [the toilets] is that there is a public perception we're not getting our money's worth," said Andy Ryan, a spokesman for Seattle Public Utilities.
A report submitted by the utility to the City Council last fall cited the $360-per-toilet, per-day cost to lease and maintain them, and compared it with the $16 a day it costs to operate a humble port-a-potty.
Yeah, it's just a perception problem! The perception that the BureauNazis take money from the producers of society and waste it so that the leeches of society can defecate all over it.
Then there's this picture with the hilarious caption,
In Seattle's Hing Hay Park, busker Greg Spence Wolf performs while a person trying to use the public toilet pries open malfunctioning doors.
It looks more like someone trying to peek into the toilet for prurient purposes.
Also in the story, they mention they "self cleaning" feature of the toilets had to be disabled. Why? Because tracked-in dirt was turning to mud and scraps of paper were turning into sludge.
Our government tax dollars at work. And BHO is preaching the gospel of even more of this insanity.
Posted by: Lyle at May 22, 2008 3:33 PM
I bet without those things, the number of AIDS cases in Seattle drops a percentage point or two.
Posted by: Jimbo at May 22, 2008 4:00 PM
I was more interested in the phone tax link! Did you ever do an artical on that? If so, it's worth repeating to teach the moonbats a lesson about taxing "the rich".
I sent the link to the Spanish/American War Centennial site, they should appreciate it.
Posted by: KHarn at May 22, 2008 4:25 PM
Human waste in the streets? Ah, the city life.
Where's ol' One Sheet Sheryl Crow? There is never an ecotard around when you need one.
Posted by: SCP at May 22, 2008 5:07 PM
The European Court of Human Rights is about to hear a case on a chimpanzee's, uhm, human rights? Yeah it really is that absurd.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23486466-details/European+Court+agrees+to+hear+chimp's+plea+for+human+rights/article.do
Posted by: mega at May 22, 2008 5:13 PM
Next stop: Marriage.
Posted by: Lyle at May 22, 2008 5:30 PM
Check out this movie coming next year:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1230204/
Gotta indoctrinate them when they're young.
Posted by: Kristy at May 22, 2008 5:47 PM
The global warming moonbats corrupt a few more unsuspecting young souls. And being CNN, they choose to celebrate the kids' misplaced enthusiasm rather than correct their mistake. At least a few of commenters know the score, only to be shouted down by the leftists in the crowd.
Posted by: CoderInCrisis at May 22, 2008 8:36 PM
And another! A Hollywood liberal view of the 2000 Florida recount. The Democrats come off as the heroes, which should surprise no one.
Posted by: CoderInCrisis at May 22, 2008 8:45 PM
