This sign epitomizes what Seattle is becoming

A sign warning people not to defecate or urinate in the parking lot of a local grocery store is an example of how far the City of Seattle has fallen. Beyond that, the sign is toothless.

OPINION: City should bring back public bathrooms

In the parking lot for the QFC on Broadway and Pike, the grocery store posted a sign presumably because certain behavior has been a problem.

“Attention visitors: There will be a $125 fine for public urination/defecation.”

Yikes. Imagine that being such a problem that you have to put this sign up.

First of all, the sign is meaningless. Something tells me that the folks using their parking lot as a human toilet don’t care it’s illegal and likely don’t have the funds to cover the ticket that might be issued. Is there anyone out there who might say, “Boy, I was going to use Spot 112 as a toilet but this sign is scaring me to use the bathroom in the grocery store!” Of course not.

Second of all, this sign is a sad reminder of what this city is quickly becoming under weak Seattle leadership: one large public toilet. The homelessness in the city is out of control and not being sufficiently addressed under the guise of not having enough funding to tackle the problem. They have plenty of money, no matter what people like Councilmember Mike O’Brien says. He will never get serious until we fund free homes for people living on the streets; indeed, O’Brien is not interested in tackling root causes of big problems. That’s too complex for him.

What we need, as I’ve said before, is a more holistic approach to helping the homeless who are in that position due to hard times. For people dealing with untreated mental illness or addiction? Subsidized coverage. But until we get serious about this issue and stop asking for blank checks as a means to take from taxpayers and businesses, nothing will change.

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