Last October the city of San Francisco made news, as it often does, by being an embarrassment. Specifically, the city had made plans to install a single public toilet in a spot called Noe Valley Town Square. That in itself was not the problem. The problem was the price of $1.7 million which an Assembly member named Matt Haney had managed to secure in state money. How did the city arrive as such a price? Lots and lots of red tape.

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.

The web-page describing that process states the point is to ensure “that each project’s design is appropriate to its context in the urban environment, and that structures of the highest design quality reflect their civic stature.”…

The project will then head to the Rec and Park Commission and to the Board of Supervisors. According to the city’s statement, it will also be subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act. Then, the city will put the project up for bid.

Everyone gets their little piece of the toilet pie, so to speak. And the result is not only extremely expensive but also slow. Best case the toilet was expected to be operational by 2025.

As mentioned, the story about the toilet was so embarrassing that even Gov. Newsom didn’t want to be associated with it. He announced he was putting the funding on hold. By making a few calls the reporter who broke the story for the San Francisco Chronicle found a much better deal. A company called Public Restroom Company could install approximately 14 bathroom stalls for the $1.7 million price. Chad Kaufmann, the president of the company said he could have them all up and working within 8 months.

It turns out the city did respond to Kaufman’s offer. As Heather Knight reports today, Kaufman offered to donate a modular toilet to Noe Valley Town Square. A friend of his offered free architectural support. Together they offered to pay for the installation. And back in January the city agreed to accept their offer.

That meant the original offer of $1.7 million in state money could instead mostly go toward another toilet installation in another park. The estimated cost of that one is a mere $1.4 million.

The department said it would use the rest of the state grant to install a modular toilet in Precita Park. That was apparently good enough to persuade Newsom to release the $1.7 million in state funds even though other California cities, including Emeryville, have installed toilets in their public parks for far less. A spokesperson for Newsom didn’t return requests for comment.

A document created by the Recreation and Park Department and provided to the supervisors before their vote showed installing a modular bathroom in Precita Park would cost $1.4 million — $840,000 in construction costs and $560,000 in soft costs. A spokesperson for the department told me that number was incorrect and the grant might pay for both that bathroom and leave leftover money to begin to build “future modular restrooms in our parks.”

But Supervisor Hillary Ronen said her understanding is that the $1.4 million estimate is correct and that it’ll be so expensive because there’s no plumbing infrastructure in Precita Park. Still, she said, she’s glad that it’ll get built because desperate park users are currently urinating on neighbors’ front doorsteps.

“It does feel like you could build a whole house for that much,” Ronen lamented, adding it’s unclear when it will get built.

Well, yeah. A $1.4 million toilet is still a ridiculous price and 2 years is a ridiculous timeline. Matt Haney, the assemblymember who got this started, said he hopes this will be a “wake-up call” to the city. But does anyone really think it will be?

Two years ago I wrote about a man who tried to open an ice cream shop in the city. The delays trying to get permission to open from various bureaucracies meant that he would have to spend at least $250,000 just in wasted time. This is just how everything operates in San Francisco. Everything the city does takes longer and costs a lot more money than it should.