I’ve already written about San Francisco once today but this story is just too good to pass up. The city is celebrating the decision to add a new public toilet in Noe Valley Town Square. I’ve never been to this particular part of San Francisco but the photo above shows what it looks like. In any case, the state of California is now buying this little spot in SF a $1.7 million public toilet.

Another public toilet in a city with far too few of them is excellent. But the details of this particular commode? They’re mind-boggling, maddening and encapsulate so much of what’s wrong with our city government.

The toilet — just one loo in 150 square feet of space — is projected to cost $1.7 million, about the same as a single-family home in this wildly overpriced city. And it won’t be ready for use until 2025.

Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) secured the $1.7 million from the state for the toilet after hearing “loud and clear” from the community that families needed a bathroom. The plumbing is already there, added when the plaza was constructed six years ago, but there was never money for the actual bathroom.

Haney asked the Parks and Rec. department how much it would cost to install a single toilet in this Town Square and they told him $1.7 million, even though the plumbing is already in place. How is that possible? Well, it turns out it’s not the guys turning the wrenches who will be making all of that money, it’s all of the many city functionaries and contractors who get a piece of the pie along the way.

An architect will draw plans for the bathroom that the city will share with the community for feedback. It will also head to the Arts Commission’s Civic Design Review committee comprised of two architects, a landscape architect and two other design professionals who, under city charter, “conduct a multi-phase review” of all city projects on public land — ranging from buildings to bathrooms to historic plaques, fences and lamps.

If the new toilet makes it through that host of highly paid professionals it then has to go before the Rec and Park Commission and the Board of Supervisors. And only then if all of those people approve will it be put up for bid. And of course only union contractors have a shot at the work, which means it’ll be pricey. But all of this is seen as necessary to maintain “San Francisco’s values.”

Heather Knight, who wrote the story for the Chronicle contacted a building expert in Virginia and asked him to guess what it would cost to built the toilet. His guess: $200,000 (and he said that was high). When Knight told him the actual cost, he replied, “What are they making it out of — gold and fine Italian marble?” He also found Knight an alternative.

A company called Public Restroom Company just installed seven bathrooms in LA for what San Francisco is paying to install one. And these bathrooms each have two stalls. Here’s what they look like.

Or this:

There are several other design options available all with the same basic floorplan. Best of all, Chad Kaufman, the CEO of Public Restroom Company said he could have one delivered and working in SF within 8 months. Meanwhile, the $1.7 million toilet isn’t expected to be open until 2025.

So one toilet for $1.7 million or 14 toilets for the same price. If only San Francisco was able to be sensible about…anything. But instead, the entire state is funding this boondoggle. And as a state taxpayer, some tiny fraction of that $1.7 million is coming from me, which is not a good feeling to be honest.

If I were the CEO of the Public Restroom Company, I’d get on the phone with someone and offer to deliver five dual toilets with a custom San Francisco skin/design for the same money. But it’s probably too much to hope for. San Francisco just loves flushing money down a hole.