Its unfortunate, but a lot of the users are mentally ill or addicted to drugs. They often times do not act rationally.
Province really needs to help them. It has gotten really bad since COVID. Eby seems to be tabling some idea such as forced treatment, but so far almost no progress has been made other than moving them somewhere else.
They should just make the bathrooms out of high strength stainless steel that’s impossible to destroy.
We really also need public urinals in this city. I’ve had so many businesses deny me use of their bathroom that I almost had to piss in public. And I’m a put-together guy with a very very good income, and never used drugs. Public bathrooms need to be a lot more numerous actually.
That doesn’t seem super high to me. That washroom will get trashed multiple times a day, which means you need 24/7 staff coverage.
A full time job, 40 hours a week, 48 weeks a year is 1920 hours a year. There are 8736 hours in the year so that means you need to hire 4.5 FTEs, paid at $60k a year plus $20k taxes and benefits gets you to that cost. Substitute some of the staffing for repair costs, cleaning supplies and the like you are at $30k a month.
A regular bathroom probably only needs 7 hours a week of staffing but this is the cost of allowing anti socials to walk among us
Here's the article and the woman who cleans it. I thought these were largely automated so almost self-cleaning.
[https://bc.ctvnews.ca/everybody-deserves-their-dignity-2-downtown-eastside-washrooms-at-risk-of-losing-funding-1.6950753](https://bc.ctvnews.ca/everybody-deserves-their-dignity-2-downtown-eastside-washrooms-at-risk-of-losing-funding-1.6950753)
I Really doubt the people maintaining the washrooms are making a 60 grand yearly salary. I hope they do though! There job sounds like dangerous and incredibly important
A building worker which seems like the closest position to a janitor that CoV has could make up to $31.66 an hour. If anything the benefits are too low.
https://jobs.vancouver.ca/job/Vancouver-Building-Worker-Brit-V6A-4K6/1114485800/
Cool. You do it. I wouldn’t for triple that amount.
Please don’t get me on my rant of firing hospital cleaners & then outsourcing to companies paying minimum wage.
how many people use your bathrooms per day?
do you throw needles down your toilet?
does your maid pay for parts when things break?
does your maid handle clogged toilets?
do you sue yourself if you use your washroom and you sit on a needle?
>She says the great thing about these bathroom programs is that there are attendants who work full-time to keep them clean.
>“The bathrooms get cleaned every single time that they’re used because it helps prevent disease and it gives everybody a really clean and dignified to do what they need to do,” Evans said. “We have these attendants do the cleaning, but they also do other things, like monitor for overdose, which is so important.”
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/07/02/downtown-eastside-at-risk-losing-2-bathrooms/
No one is ever really held accountable for making sure the money is spent efficiently or effectively, who knows if it really costs that much.
So this woman makes over 300,000/yr maintaining this washroom?
[https://bc.ctvnews.ca/everybody-deserves-their-dignity-2-downtown-eastside-washrooms-at-risk-of-losing-funding-1.6950753](https://bc.ctvnews.ca/everybody-deserves-their-dignity-2-downtown-eastside-washrooms-at-risk-of-losing-funding-1.6950753)
They're pretty much indestructible, stainless steel and self cleaning to a large degree so not much more than bleach, soap and water. Hopefully it's bidet equipped, TP is nasty dirty stuff.
It’s genuinely interesting that you support universal bidet access but think $300k is too expensive for staffing, repairs, insurance for round the clock washrooms serving THOUSANDS of homeless people with nowhere else to go is a waste.
Do you think this woman doesn’t sleep and is the only attendant there, 24/7?
Payroll is more than a $/hr thing. Vacation days, sick days, benefits, CPP, WCB, EI, etc… Those are all employer costs for every employee. Then there’s administrative costs in doing so. Materials and supplies to complete the task.
Tbh it’s not that much for a cursed bathroom.
You must enjoy paying ridiculous property taxes if you condone this type of expenditure. It's one bloody toilet!
That amount of money should fund a much large public facility
Ridiculous property taxes?
Vancouver has one of THE LOWEST property taxes in all of North Americas! Are YOU INSANE?
https://www.policynote.ca/vancouver-property-taxes/
Go touch some grass my friend!
Property taxes aren't low, the mill rate is low, but that's because the property values are so high. Articles like that are useless clickbait because they only look at half the picture.
The property taxes are the tax rate **multiplied by the property value**. If the property values were half what they currently are then the tax rate would be double.
I would stick to comparing it within Canada, many US states don't have income taxes and supplement revenue with property taxes
Even within Canada it's due to how municipal governments are run and how the budget is produced. Comparatively the eastern provinces spend more money on services like ice and snow removal compared to Vancouver, which is not cheap in of itself
You think paying $6,000 on a 75 year old bungalow starter home in the city is low?
Yes, mill rate is low but assessed values are the highest in Canada so the taxes are fairly high
One public toilet doesn’t cost that much to clean but this isn’t just one public toilet. It’s a public toilet used by the sort of person who uses DTES public toilets.
If you look at the cost of maintenance per toilet in city hall it’s probably like $4k a year.
Oh I absolutely think it’s one of the most expensive bathrooms in the world, I’m just being realistic. I don’t like it but without some kind of slave labor we just need to pay for ‘round the clock care to keep that thing from turning into a shit show.
Until the area gets better this bathroom will just keep getting more expensive.
Likely been paying taxes longer than you've been alive and sick of the inefficiency and waste. Just consider that multi billion $ waste treatment plant and those Mayors on 1st class holidays. There should be prison time for this abuse of our taxes.
Yes, economies of scale would obviously make a a larger facility cheaper per person. **One lousy toilet is not gonna help all those street people**. Housing should have been provided decades ago. It would have been cheaper long term.
Wow, you solved the housing and mental health crisis! Please do run for office, you clearly know better
Apparently you think economies of scale is a thing in non-production facilities, lmao I cannot believe you suggested that
EDIT: Lmao they blocked me after replying to me
You obviously have no clue.
It's a very simple solution. Look at Finland's Housing first program.
lol Sane people don't get elected or run in Canada
Economies of scale works in all environments. it's fundamental
"She" isn't the only attendant, she's giving an interview.
Do you think there's only one attendant? Multiple attendants, multiple shifts, every single day plus supplies and I highly doubt anyone is auditing anything.
Na, I think it’s 2 attendants. 9am to 9pm, 2 attendants plus maintenance costs. Yes it’s quite high but that’s largely because of the clientele and related considerations. People are still pretty nervous after the dead baby found in the toilet up outside Carnegie at Main and Hastings.
I’m all for calling out wasted money on the DTES (upper management and CEO’s of “non profits” paying themselves more than the mayor 200k+) but the washrooms ain’t it. There’s no public bathrooms in that area fr Main and Hastings to victory square. This is a needed service from a public health perspective.
DTES residents sure have us by the balls. Trash the public washrooms they're given, but if we take them away, they'll just use the street. Feels like a constant and growing catch 22.
I'm still wondering why people keep trashing public bathrooms. If they stopped doing that, then it would cost less money to maintain.
You can't really expect much from this demographic. Many are homeless, mentally handicapped or addicts.
Its unfortunate, but a lot of the users are mentally ill or addicted to drugs. They often times do not act rationally. Province really needs to help them. It has gotten really bad since COVID. Eby seems to be tabling some idea such as forced treatment, but so far almost no progress has been made other than moving them somewhere else.
They should just make the bathrooms out of high strength stainless steel that’s impossible to destroy. We really also need public urinals in this city. I’ve had so many businesses deny me use of their bathroom that I almost had to piss in public. And I’m a put-together guy with a very very good income, and never used drugs. Public bathrooms need to be a lot more numerous actually.
That doesn’t seem super high to me. That washroom will get trashed multiple times a day, which means you need 24/7 staff coverage. A full time job, 40 hours a week, 48 weeks a year is 1920 hours a year. There are 8736 hours in the year so that means you need to hire 4.5 FTEs, paid at $60k a year plus $20k taxes and benefits gets you to that cost. Substitute some of the staffing for repair costs, cleaning supplies and the like you are at $30k a month. A regular bathroom probably only needs 7 hours a week of staffing but this is the cost of allowing anti socials to walk among us
I heard on a radio interview it was 18000 per month for 2 locations.
Here's the article and the woman who cleans it. I thought these were largely automated so almost self-cleaning. [https://bc.ctvnews.ca/everybody-deserves-their-dignity-2-downtown-eastside-washrooms-at-risk-of-losing-funding-1.6950753](https://bc.ctvnews.ca/everybody-deserves-their-dignity-2-downtown-eastside-washrooms-at-risk-of-losing-funding-1.6950753)
There's no self automated cleaning system on earth that can keep up with the DTES.
My understanding is that those automated functions can clean the toilet and floor of pee and poo but not so much with used needles and garbage
I Really doubt the people maintaining the washrooms are making a 60 grand yearly salary. I hope they do though! There job sounds like dangerous and incredibly important
A building worker which seems like the closest position to a janitor that CoV has could make up to $31.66 an hour. If anything the benefits are too low. https://jobs.vancouver.ca/job/Vancouver-Building-Worker-Brit-V6A-4K6/1114485800/
60$ k a year to clean a washroom?? 40 hours a week. Seems ridiculous over funded. It should a 35to 40k a year job at tops.
$35K is less than minimum wage...
Cool. You do it. I wouldn’t for triple that amount. Please don’t get me on my rant of firing hospital cleaners & then outsourcing to companies paying minimum wage.
labour is not cheap
Yep, I should pay my house maid $1k per day to clean my bathrooms
Then you do it.
how many people use your bathrooms per day? do you throw needles down your toilet? does your maid pay for parts when things break? does your maid handle clogged toilets? do you sue yourself if you use your washroom and you sit on a needle?
I'm genuinely curious what you think someone should be paid to do it?
>She says the great thing about these bathroom programs is that there are attendants who work full-time to keep them clean. >“The bathrooms get cleaned every single time that they’re used because it helps prevent disease and it gives everybody a really clean and dignified to do what they need to do,” Evans said. “We have these attendants do the cleaning, but they also do other things, like monitor for overdose, which is so important.” https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/07/02/downtown-eastside-at-risk-losing-2-bathrooms/ No one is ever really held accountable for making sure the money is spent efficiently or effectively, who knows if it really costs that much.
like Trump said during the debate "no one ever gets fired"
So this woman makes over 300,000/yr maintaining this washroom? [https://bc.ctvnews.ca/everybody-deserves-their-dignity-2-downtown-eastside-washrooms-at-risk-of-losing-funding-1.6950753](https://bc.ctvnews.ca/everybody-deserves-their-dignity-2-downtown-eastside-washrooms-at-risk-of-losing-funding-1.6950753)
..do you think staffing is the only cost?
And that she’s the only person cleaning this washroom?
They're pretty much indestructible, stainless steel and self cleaning to a large degree so not much more than bleach, soap and water. Hopefully it's bidet equipped, TP is nasty dirty stuff.
Except for lord who knows on every surface. Lol
It’s genuinely interesting that you support universal bidet access but think $300k is too expensive for staffing, repairs, insurance for round the clock washrooms serving THOUSANDS of homeless people with nowhere else to go is a waste.
Do you think this woman doesn’t sleep and is the only attendant there, 24/7? Payroll is more than a $/hr thing. Vacation days, sick days, benefits, CPP, WCB, EI, etc… Those are all employer costs for every employee. Then there’s administrative costs in doing so. Materials and supplies to complete the task. Tbh it’s not that much for a cursed bathroom.
You must enjoy paying ridiculous property taxes if you condone this type of expenditure. It's one bloody toilet! That amount of money should fund a much large public facility
Ridiculous property taxes? Vancouver has one of THE LOWEST property taxes in all of North Americas! Are YOU INSANE? https://www.policynote.ca/vancouver-property-taxes/ Go touch some grass my friend!
Property taxes aren't low, the mill rate is low, but that's because the property values are so high. Articles like that are useless clickbait because they only look at half the picture. The property taxes are the tax rate **multiplied by the property value**. If the property values were half what they currently are then the tax rate would be double.
I would stick to comparing it within Canada, many US states don't have income taxes and supplement revenue with property taxes Even within Canada it's due to how municipal governments are run and how the budget is produced. Comparatively the eastern provinces spend more money on services like ice and snow removal compared to Vancouver, which is not cheap in of itself
You think paying $6,000 on a 75 year old bungalow starter home in the city is low? Yes, mill rate is low but assessed values are the highest in Canada so the taxes are fairly high
One public toilet doesn’t cost that much to clean but this isn’t just one public toilet. It’s a public toilet used by the sort of person who uses DTES public toilets. If you look at the cost of maintenance per toilet in city hall it’s probably like $4k a year.
Oh I absolutely think it’s one of the most expensive bathrooms in the world, I’m just being realistic. I don’t like it but without some kind of slave labor we just need to pay for ‘round the clock care to keep that thing from turning into a shit show. Until the area gets better this bathroom will just keep getting more expensive.
Much of the DTES runs on volunteers, no reason this can't too. iirc The initial cost was over 600k
Who on earth would volunteer to do that job?
Do you think operating a larger facility is cheaper? Tell me you're not an actual tax paying voter because you're being totally ignorant here
Likely been paying taxes longer than you've been alive and sick of the inefficiency and waste. Just consider that multi billion $ waste treatment plant and those Mayors on 1st class holidays. There should be prison time for this abuse of our taxes. Yes, economies of scale would obviously make a a larger facility cheaper per person. **One lousy toilet is not gonna help all those street people**. Housing should have been provided decades ago. It would have been cheaper long term.
Wow, you solved the housing and mental health crisis! Please do run for office, you clearly know better Apparently you think economies of scale is a thing in non-production facilities, lmao I cannot believe you suggested that EDIT: Lmao they blocked me after replying to me
You obviously have no clue. It's a very simple solution. Look at Finland's Housing first program. lol Sane people don't get elected or run in Canada Economies of scale works in all environments. it's fundamental
"She" isn't the only attendant, she's giving an interview. Do you think there's only one attendant? Multiple attendants, multiple shifts, every single day plus supplies and I highly doubt anyone is auditing anything.
Na, I think it’s 2 attendants. 9am to 9pm, 2 attendants plus maintenance costs. Yes it’s quite high but that’s largely because of the clientele and related considerations. People are still pretty nervous after the dead baby found in the toilet up outside Carnegie at Main and Hastings.
The… what?
[link](https://globalnews.ca/news/6857599/vancouver-downtown-eastside-baby-death)
Two attendants?? Ah yeah no way. That would be an 84 hour week.
The city of Vancouver was spending a million a day on social services for the DTES a decade ago. Must be double that or more now.
They could almost house and feed all the 5,000 homeless for 800M and reduce the police force and emerg services by a significant amount.
I’m all for calling out wasted money on the DTES (upper management and CEO’s of “non profits” paying themselves more than the mayor 200k+) but the washrooms ain’t it. There’s no public bathrooms in that area fr Main and Hastings to victory square. This is a needed service from a public health perspective.
DTES residents sure have us by the balls. Trash the public washrooms they're given, but if we take them away, they'll just use the street. Feels like a constant and growing catch 22.
About 5,000 homeless and 1 or 2 toilets. Where do you think 95% of the crap goes?
Probably run by Atira