Civic Center : County Now May Unlock Restrooms

The bag ladies of the Santa Ana Civic Center may not find their usual restrooms locked after all.

A week ago, county officials closed the ground-floor restrooms in the county Hall of Administration building to the public after county employees had complained about harassment from transients--mostly bag ladies but also a few men--who were using the facilities.

As a result, only two hard-to-find restrooms in the building were to remain open for the transients, who were washing and taking baths in the facilities, splashing water on the floor and yelling at anyone trying to evict them, according to some public employees.

However, the locked-door policy was questioned Friday by Thomas F. Riley, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, who said: “It would have been better if this had been passed around earlier to think about it.”

‘Inconsistent Position’

The supervisor added that he learned of the bag-lady controversy by reading about it in the newspapers. Riley, who has been active in raising funds for a planned hotel to provide rooms for homeless women, said locking the restrooms “did seem a little bit inconsistent a position to take.”

Vergil Best of the county’s General Services Agency focused attention on the problem two weeks ago, when he said that about 100 office workers on the ground floor of the Hall of Administration had agreed to a 90-day trial closure of the two main public bathrooms.

Compromise Plan

As a compromise, Riley has circulated to his colleagues a letter that he plans to send on Monday to county officials, directing that “the facilities currently most available to the public, specifically those near the vending machines in the main hall, should remain so.”

Meanwhile, a lock will be put on a men’s room and a women’s room that now bear the sign “employees only” and are located near a room for members of the press. A men’s room and a women’s room at the northeast corner of the building will also be locked, with keys provided to county employees.

“Generally, if you’re not an employee or work here in the building, you wouldn’t know where it (a restroom) is anyway,” Riley said.