FORT LAUDERDALE - Mayor Jim Naugle has never been shy about voicing his beliefs.
He's called some environmentalists "wackos" and said people complaining about high home prices were lazy, beer drinking "schlocks."
Now the mayor has shifted his attention to a robotic toilet, saying the invention could have a special edge over a traditional restroom in preventing the "homosexual activity" that he said plagues other public restrooms.
The robo-john the city might buy for $250,000 or more allows occupants to stay inside for only a short time before the door opens. Probably not enough time for "illegal sex," Naugle figures.
The restroom, already in use in Atlanta, Seattle and New York, also plays music and cleans the seat automatically.
"We're trying to provide a family environment where people can take their children who need to use the bathroom," he said, "without having to worry about a couple of men in there engaged in a sex act."
Though police say sex in restrooms is no longer a hot crime, the mayor thinks it is. He talked about the illicit sex recently in public meetings, in an interview and in e-mails to residents.
Naugle, not a stranger to public controversy, particularly on the issue of gays, said public restrooms are pickup places for "homosexuals. ... They're engaging in sex, anonymous sex, illegal sex."
The proposed location for the city's experimental automated toilet is the parking lot at Sebastian Street, at what many locals call the "gay beach." Naugle told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that the intelligent commode's security features are vital at this location, which he called "the rainbow parking lot."
"The homosexual newspaper said it's the 'gay parking lot.' That's not me saying that," Naugle said in the interview, "that's what they said. I don't use the word 'gay.' I use the word 'homosexual.' Most of them aren't gay. They're unhappy."
Naugle has been outspoken as a Christian and a social and political conservative.
When the Christian outreach event Beachfest came to town in 2003, he said anyone who had a problem with the city's official embrace of the religious festival "can move to Iraq."
He angered middle class residents last year when he said housing prices would be affordable if people worked more hours instead of sitting on the couch drinking beer. Earlier this year, he refused to sign a mayor's pact to reduce greenhouse gases. Naugle said global warming is not caused by humans and that the pact contained "hate-America stuff that the environmental wackos want in."
His latest comments about gays thus didn't come as much of a surprise to some.
"Excuse me?" said Marc Hansen, a leader among local gay residents. "Thank God this is his last term."
Dean Trantalis, the openly gay lawyer who sat on the Commission with Naugle for three years, laughed when told of the comments. Trantalis said he's proud the beach welcomes gay families and continues to attract gay visitors.
The beach needs more toilets, he said, and the decision shouldn't be made on whether people will use them for sex. And they still might, he said, even in the short time-frame.
"I'm not an expert on public toilet sex," said Trantalis, "but there are those who would say one minute would be enough. Or 30 seconds."
The City Commission still has to vote to buy it, and would use property tax funds from the beach Community Redevelopment Agency, money that cannot be used for police or lifeguards, officials said.
Police officials said male sex in restrooms is actually not a problem, anymore.
"There's no evidence, no reports or arrests made for any men having sex in any restrooms," said Sgt. Frank Sousa.
from The South Florida Sun-Sentinel
If this mayor really does implement this so-called robo-toilet he opens the city up to tremendous liability. People will only use those public toilets that provide an acceptable degree of privacy. The robo-john PROMISES to open it's stall door and rip the privacy rug out from under the unsuspecting occupant, who might very well still in the middle of taking a dump - or any other non-sexual activity - with their pants down around their ankles. If that person is especially shy and/or has phobias or other strong sensitivities to such unwanted exposure (Hey Mayor! Think of the very common nightmare where one finds one suddenly naked in the middle of town, work, class, etc.) then they will be able to file a lawsuit against the city under any one (or more) of several tort theories. Even if the individual is unreasonably anxious or afraid of such exposure the city is not off the hook. The common law rule in tort cases is that one takes their victim as they find them. This is often referred to the Eggshell Skull doctine (See this rule more fully explained at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggshell_skull).
ReplyDeleteAnd what about the equal-protection aspect of the mayor's actions? Unless he installs these robo-johns in equal numbers for both men and women he is treating one class of person more or less harshly than the other based solely upon their sex. He can't justify this by alleging that homosexual men pose a greater threat of restroom sex than homosexual women; law enforcement in that jurisdiction says the matter is just not an issue they hear any significant complaints about. Even if there are a couple of restroom-sex cases reported against men and none against women there is too little of a statistical variance to warrant different treatment of the two groups. One strong analogy here is the diaper-changing tables in restrooms. While women might overwhelmingly be the ones to take an infant into the restroom to change their baby's diaper, if that accommodation is being provided in women's restrooms then it must likewise be provided in restrooms for men.
My advice to local advocates for equality and/or gay rights is to be ready for this kind of case to emerge. In fact, if these robo-johns are put into use you should work to educate the community to understand that their right to privacy is being compromised. As part of that educational effort you should provide the community with a point of contact for legal representation in the event that they are wrongfully exposed to the public by one of these robo-johns. You should then be prepared to arrange for a lawyer who is facile in this area of the law to take their case forward - either with other persons chipping in to help with legal expenses if the poor shmo can't bear the costs themselves, or pro bono.
My advice to Hizzoner, the mayor: max out the city's liability insurance and make full disclosure to your insurance carrier that it knows what an asinine thing you have done. You might also see your doctor; you have your head so far up your own ass that the large lump in your throat is really just your own nose.