Bathroom situation stinks

By Marc Bucon

La Jolla resident

My son has been playing baseball for six to seven years up at Cliffridge Park. The bathrooms were in poor shape then and they are in poorer shape now. We went to an all-star game two weeks ago in Lakeside and I was really impressed with the facilities. La Jolla does not have anything like it. About six weeks ago we had a potluck up at Cliffridge and the boys urinal was backed up. It was the second time in two weeks. The floor was soaking wet.

We were barbecuing around the corner about 6 feet away from the door and the kids were walking back and forth.

The paint on the bathroom walls is peeling off in huge chunks. If it is lead-based paint, then we have another basic safety issue that has been ignored.

I know of two kids who have come down with serious health issues that use these bathrooms and I wonder what other parents think about the situation. I wonder if any other kids have been sick with serious intestinal tract issues.

I contacted the city about the backed-up plumbing and about the toilet seat that has been broken in the women’s bathroom for over a month. Cathy Anzuoni from Park and Rec put a portable toilet on site for which I am grateful. She also sent me an e-mail on May 24 stating that staff requested a new toilet seat. As of Sunday, June 20, there was still no toilet seat on site.

Park and Rec also forwarded some drawings to remodel the bathroom, which I am in the process of reviewing.

Approximately, six years ago the city leased a cell tower on site and said they would use funds to remodel the bathrooms. Six years later nothing has happened.

The bathrooms at the North City baseball field on Mt. Etna Drive are also in poor shape. The bathrooms at Children’s Pool are in sad shape.

Big picture: The seals get all the attention and our children’s safety is being overlooked. I think it is time for the city to spend money on children — not seals.

The Children of America’s Finest City need bathrooms and they need them now.