The Courthouse Poop

Every 40 or 50 years the fancy people who guide our city counsel set out to redo Courthouse Square in downtown Santa Rosa to make it more business friendly. About two years back they chopped down the big trees and pulled up the grass and then poured concrete over the space. 

I figure that this was supposed to help in two ways. The hideous flat area would support booths for an endless stream of pseudo events, drawing tourists etc. The rest of the time the area would be so miserable that the badly shod homeless would go sit somewhere else (which of course did not happen).

Now the Santa Rosa is considering putting a public restroom in Courthouse Square, and--no surprise--the fancy people object. They enjoy punishing the poor, making them hold it. They hope that having no toilet will force the homeless to walk to Petaluma. But the homeless already have no restroom. They haven't gone anywhere. They won't leave.

I no longer shop downtown. You have to pay to park there, and there is no public restroom.