S.F. board OKs ban on public urination

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 07/02/2002 | Ilene Lelchuk & Julian Guthrie

[Pokey78]

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to potty train the public Monday with a ban on answering nature's call in public, in response to growing complaints about unpleasant sights and smells on city sidewalks.

The board's unanimous vote came as a surprise after months of rancor. Even the most liberal supervisors went along with the ban on public urination and defecation, despite lobbying by homeless advocates and calls for more public toilets.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

This ban is an affront to the homeless and will be struck down by the local judiciary in short order.

[Timesink]

JCDecaux public toilets...

These babies are EXTREMELY expensive. I'm amazed they shelled out for one, much less 25.

[abishai]

This is just discrimination against the publicly incontinent!

[wimpycat]

Only in a place like San Francisco would this even be a subject for debate.

[ContentiousObjector]

The fact this wasn't already illegal speaks volumes about the state of San Fransisco.

[BikerNYC]

Violators could be fined $50 to $500.

As George Carlin once said, "Vommiting is free!"

[TomGuy]

Ok, I have a question:

If a homeless person is on the street, and "has to go" and goes, how the he|| is he/she going to have money to pay the $50 to $500 fine? A homeless person probably has to "go" at least a few times a day. If a homeless person is walking around with an extra daily $600-700 to pay fines for peeing, etc., would they not be able to rent a home, thus no longer be homeless, thus not need to pee on the curb?

Oh, this is a liberal Board of Supervisors. Nevermind. [Slapping self for use of logic.]

[Petronski]

Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now,
Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go!

[Focault's Pendulum]

I imagine that if a homeless person is fined, he or she will have to panhandle to pay the fine.

On the other hand the city could wind up with the cleanest windshields in the country.

[Paul Atreides]

San Francisco: The Paris of the United States.

[Pokey78]

Bravo! hehe

[maximus@Nashville]

I had heard San Francisco described as a sewer before, but I had no idea it was in a literal sense.

[Chesterton]

"(A law) demonstrates we live in a civilized society," said Supervisor Tony Hall, who wrote the proposal in January when he discovered that San Francisco had no such ban.

And the rest of America issues a rather unenthusiastic golf clap for San Francisco. Welcome to 12th century...only 9 more to go...

[JosephW]

I don't know what to say. I'm still laughing. This will be on my mind all day now.

[TontoKowalski]

My thoughts exactly. Where else in America do we have serious debate over whether people should be able to pee in the street?

[Pythagoras]

If a dirty bomb ever goes off in the United States lets hope............nah I am not even that cruel :).

[ContentiousObjector]

I am,

[Mr. Jeeves]

Very literal. Talk show host Michael Savage has described San Francisco quite accurately as "the world's largest open-air insane asylum."

[NormsRevenge]

What? No Incentive ? - Maybe we need to issue plastic gallon jugs to these folks and pay 'em by the gallon for using the jugs.