No ‘Privy Matter’ : Council-Only Toilet Project Fades Away

The Santa Ana City Council has quietly abandoned a plan to build private restrooms in the council chambers.

Council members voted in February to get bids from contractors to build members-only restrooms. The plan sparked criticism from the public, especially when Councilman John Acosta said that the restrooms were intended to provide some privacy for council members, who must share restrooms with the public under the current set-up.

“The issue has come to a head,” Acosta joked Tuesday. “It’s not a privy matter any more.” He added that a staff report had indicated that the toilets would be used not just by council members but also by staffers and members of city committees and commissions using the council chambers.

Portable Design

At a March 3 council meeting, Acosta provided a humorous reply to the public criticism by introducing a makeshift portable toilet. Declaring that he had decided to “take a new stand on the issue of toilets,” Acosta unveiled the model, which, he pointed out, came equipped with a year’s supply of Santa Ana Magazines, brakes on the rear wheels and a Cal-OSHA-approved seat belt.

Although four companies offered bids on the project--Double J Contractors coming in with the lowest proposal at $15,995--the council decided to forget the idea altogether. “We flushed the toilet proposal last night,” Mayor Dan Griset said.

Other members of the City Council could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Some council members seemed to be embarrassed when Acosta introduced his portable model a month ago. In fact, Vice Mayor P. Lee Johnson, Griset and Councilmen Dan Young and Wilson B. Hart left the room until the toilet was wheeled away.

As for Acosta, he stressed that he has no qualms discussing this or any other city issue. “John Acosta’s not afraid to say the word ‘toilet.’ But I guess there are some people on the council who are,” he declared.