Sacramento City Council members last night agreed to explore a more cost effective alternative to the Pit Stop - a mobile restroom for the homeless.
The goal of the Pit Stop is not only to give homeless people a safe restroom. It's also to help reduce human waste on city streets.
"Before the Pit Stop attended restroom program, my staff spent the first hour of every day cleaning up human excrement, hypodermic needles," said Lisa Culp, who heads the nonprofit group Women's Empowerment, which has a site in North Sacramento.
But the program is anticipated to be $75,000 over-budget by the end of the year. That's why city staff is recommending that the pilot project not be renewed. City Councilmember Jeff Harris says a condensed version of the program might work.
"I would like to still do a portable attended unit," said Harris. "But it would have to be a smaller one that we can park on the street, that doesn't require set-up and take-down, to explore all of these possibilities. So I want staff to get very creative."
Staff will report back to the council later this year.
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