Editorial: Restroom battles

Monday, Nov. 22, 2004 | 9:06 a.m.

The Las Vegas Rescue Mission, at Wilson Avenue and G Street, provides a community service every day at 5 p.m. by providing meals to homeless people. Unfortunately, there are no public restrooms within a mile, with the predictable result.

In August the Clark County Health District told the Las Vegas Neighborhood Services Department to clean up the area. Since then the department has been spending $350 a week doing just that. It has also been negotiating with the Rescue Mission over who is legally responsible.

In our view, it's not a question of the Rescue Mission attracting homeless people. The mission simply set up shop where homeless people have for years been known to congregate during the day and sleep at night. But after a meeting last week with city officials, the hard-pressed Rescue Mission agreed to pay for two portable restrooms on their site and to allow their use from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. each day.

This won't really solve the problem, as homeless people are in the area at all times. Instead of spending $18,200 a year on cleanup, the city could rent a couple of portable restrooms and have them available all day, every day. One restroom rental company said the cost, including weekly maintenance, would be about $3,000 a year. With this, the city could join the Rescue Mission in providing a valuable public service.