It is not government's role to provide bathrooms for people. Providing bathrooms for oneself is a fundamental part of being a mature, responsible adult, and the state should not be spending taxpayer money to do that. Instead, let's figure out why grown-up adults cannot even do so little as to provide a toilet for themselves, and work to fix those conditions, instead of merely addressing the symptoms. What is wrong with people that they cannot even take care of their most basic functions?

The Bicycle Advisory Committee which meets at 7pm got the same treatment.

The phrase "public good" or "public interest" is a corollary to greed or self-interest. I see self-interest as a primal imperative that is tied to the elementary feature of the individual will to live. Thus I would prefer to see folks avoid painting something as some sort of dialectic between good and evil and instead to paint motivation for public involvement as one of seeking a solution that represents an overlapping and shared mutual self-interest. On the need to address restrooms I had offered a comment -- since deleted -- to the Portland Mercury Militancy Squad that included this option: "Oh yeah -- a nonmilitant way to advocate something might be to rent a port-a-potty and put a big sign on it that reads PEE FREE. Then drive around towing it on a trailer to each of the members of the Portland Business Alliance and announce your presence. " If I could have afforded the rental and the time I could have used it as a political stunt, that also met a particular need. If the driver would be a volunteer, to get a message out, then the PEE FREE function would highlight the controversy and would come at a much lower price than 46 grand. For a $46,000 gift someone could rent a few motor homes and offer mobile PEE FREE and SHOWER FREE and perhaps even food and clothing exchange/cleaning services. (Rather than "security" services.) There are now four StrayMans behind my home within 10 feet of my living space and they have no public toilet and their restlessness leads them to chatter loudly into the wee hours of the night. I can't very well send them to city hall to pee? da29vid, Let me offer the extreme proposition that government should NOT EXIST (as in anarchy) and then let you articulate a reason for government to exist -- based on some argument consistent with mutual self-interest? If the breadth of your argument is too wide, in opposition to any spending, I could wildly conclude that you might even object to the existence of courts to enforce private contracts. (The White guys each have a story. If you would care to ask them? Pretend that you might one day endure some random misfortune.) I would prefer to argue about the most efficient way to meet a goal that represents our mutual self-interest in having a pee station. da29vid, do you not pee? Amanda, is the city hall the only place to meet? Are the volunteers not suitable to be let into your house? Or do they pose a security risk to you? Would a BBQ event at a park be suitable and more enjoyable, where volunteers could even bring kids and point them toward some play structure? == edit 15 minutes later: Potter's public one-pot plan spares him the public embarrassment, but only for a 2 to 4 block radius, of a hot head cop knocking off yet another citizen acting on the call of nature, where the family of the victim would point out that not even city hall is open to pee in the wee hours of the night. It is an expensive stunt, but not-so-expensive if one assumes the existence of hot head cops and makes a risk assessment of exposure to financial liability. Dump the hot head cops and the risk exposure goes down considerably.

A thoughtful response, pdxnag - thank you. City Hall is not the only place citizens can meet. We chose it for the symbolism of taking back our government, and because some participants in our group have never been to City Hall, much less sat at the beautiful polished wood table in the Rose Room. I believe that privilege should not be open only to elected officials and their staff. The Parks Team is planning to meet in the Portland Building instead, in Portland Parks & Recreation's space - which has its own merits as some parks volunteers have never been there, either. Due to "security concerns", each participant will have to be escorted to the 13th floor by a City staffer, which is a hassle. But it is central, ADA accessible, and covered from the rain, all features neither my house nor open air meetings in parks provide. FYI, the SW Neighborhoods Parks committee does meet in different parks during the summer months, and at the SW Community Center every September. We considered doing something similar for the citywide group, but decided having one central location would be easier for everyone to reach and remember. Plus, the Citywide Parks group doesn't meet over the summer, to allow participants to enjoy their local parks.

Nag, we don't delete comments, unless they're spam, or multiple comments.

Scott, Perhaps I can save a PDF of the page next time to refresh my recollection. I do remember entering the numbers from the little graphic that is designed to stop bots. Perhaps it did not ultimately post though I thought it had, and that I saw that it had. Upon reflection, even the nonmilitancy aspect of a PEE FREE mobile port-a-potty is not entirely free of militancy though because the parking meter maid gods could insist that the rules for use of parking spaces require that if someone stays longer than 30 seconds in a spot without obtaining a sticker that they must be given a ticket.

I received the following comment as part of an e-mailed message to me, and was given permission to post it: "Certainly, if it had not been for your insistence that City Wide Parks Team meet at City Hall I would probably never have made the effort-and missed a rich opportunity. I feel 'at home' in the Rose Room. When Commissioner Adams had a transportation forum for neighborhood chairpersons, I took my 'usual' spot at the top of the table. Others around me felt the same. City Hall is the people's place-and its citizens should be respected there."