Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/831315
Joke of the Week A farmer got in his pickup and drove to a neighboring farm and knocked at the farmhouse door. A young boy, about nine, opened the door. "Is yer Pa home?" the farmer asked. "No sir, he ain't," the boy replied. "He went into town." "Well," said the farmer, "Is yer Ma here?" "No, sir, she ain't here neither. She went into town with Pa." "How about your brother, Howard? Is he here?" "He went with Ma and Pa." The farmer stood there for a few moments, shifting from one foot to the other and mumbling to himself. "Is there anything I can do fer ya?" the boy asked politely. "I know where all the tools are if you want to borrow one. Or maybe, I could take a message fer Pa." "Well," said the farmer uncomfortably, "I really wanted to talk to yer Pa. It's about your brother Howard getting my daughter, Pearl Mae, pregnant." The boy considered for a moment. "You would have to talk to Pa about that," he finally conceded. "If it hel ps you any, I know that Pa charges $50 for the bull and $25 for the hog, but I really don't know how much he gets for Howard." © Portable Sanitation Ass ociation International (PSAI) • 2626 E 82 n d Street, Suite 175 • Bloomi ngton, MN 55425 www.psai.org • 952 - 854 - 8300 W EEKLY EDITION MAY 31, 2017 Should They Stay or Should They Go? While there is never a simple solution to homelessness, advocates for a California homeless encampment believe that portable restrooms can help while stakeholders figure it out. Unfit restroom scenarios are common among homeless lodgings, and Orange County officials cannot seem to come to an agreement with advocates for the h omeless encampment along the Santa Ana River. According to the officials, these individuals should relieve themselves at one of two homeless shelters in the surrounding area. The issue, though, is that the Courtyard shelter is more than three miles from th e encampment and closes its doors at 8:30 pm, while the Kraemer shelter does not allow walk - up restroom use unless you are one of the 100 people living there full time. This leav es those living along the river bank with no option but public defecation throu gh the night. For multiple weeks now, "advocates have urged Orange County supervisors, who oversee the riverbed area … to install portable restrooms until a realistic alternative is found." These requests have continually been rejected, causing the advoca tes to take up the initiative themselves. They raised about $1,000 in order to purchase three portable units, which were placed along the riverbank just over 2 weeks a go. However, county officials believe d that the use of the units was unauthorized and req uired the advocates to remove them – or else the county would be forced to do so. Advocates moved them to land in Anaheim, only for Anaheim city officials to require their removal because of a lack of "permit, insurance, or plans to service the toilet s ." One such advo cate for the encampment, Mohamme d Aly, assures that "insurance and servicing for the porta potties has been arranged." All that remains is a permit from the county. However, to obtain this permit, there is a $2,000 fee that must be submitted with the proposal – and this does not guarantee the porta potties will be approved. Aly stated how "it's really disingenuous for the county to be say ing people at the riverbed should be using the shelter restrooms," and the advocates have asked for the $2, 000 fee to be waived. Aly fini shed by explaining how "it's beyond a question that homeless people deserve access to basic sanitation… We will press forward if the county does not provide restrooms or allow them." Meetings began this week to address the iss ue. READ THE STORY