Public Toilets for Homeless Not Enough

Maybe it is me, but I find this statement by L.A. Councilman Nick Pacheco (“Council Supports Pay-Toilet Proposal,” July 25) very disconcerting: “I’m really excited that we are on the verge of putting on line a program to assist our homeless and to really give them a decent way to take care of themselves on the streets.”

Let’s face the facts. There are blocks and blocks of people living on downtown streets east and west of and on San Julian Street. The makeshift dwellings on our streets make those in Third World countries look nice. The people who live in them are more concerned with surviving than worrying about where they relieve themselves.

The program to provide public toilets is geared mainly to the concerns of the merchants and businesses downtown. If the City Council really wanted to alleviate the problem and help the people take care of themselves on the streets, it could set up tents on vacant lots with beds, showers and, of course, since the council is fixated on it, public toilets.

Until then, the City Council shouldn’t pat itself on the back for doing nothing to alleviate the human misery that predominates just blocks away from its new, sparkling chambers in City Hall.

Michael P. Rives

Los Angeles