Once again, Gavin Newsom's administration is admonishing San Francisco and its slow-moving, needlessly costly bureaucracy, and holding funds hostage for a planned public toilet in Noe Valley until the city can figure out how to make it less stupidly expensive.

Last week we learned of the planned public toilet in Noe Valley's town square that Assemblymember Matt Haney had secured funds for to the tune of $1.7 million. Why $1.7 million, you ask? Well, Chronicle columnist Heather Knight was on the case, and true to form, not only did Rec & Parks quote that price because of the necessary "planning, drawing, permits, reviews, and public outreach" to construct a 150-square-foot public can, but they said it wouldn't be finished until 2025.

Now, as Knight informs us, the governor's office is making an example of San Francisco once again, and using this public toilet price tag as a symbol of everything currently wrong with our city government.

"A single, small bathroom should not cost $1.7 million," says Erin Mellon, Newsom's communications director, in a statement to the Chronicle. "The state will hold funding until San Francisco delivers a plan to use this public money more efficiently. If they cannot, we will go back to the legislature to revoke this appropriation."

It's true that San Francisco doesn't make anything easy when it comes to construction, and perhaps the state is right to push back on such an exorbitant cost for what should be a very quick and simple project that benefits a neighborhood, and that the neighborhood has already said it wants.

But here we have another tedious string of headlines that reminds us of the provincial nature of our city government's squabbles — let's talk for another six months about this million-dollar toilet! — not unlike the many, many stories we've already had about the city's epic quest to decide on a new trash can.

Also, as Knight notes, this kerfuffle is coming months after the governor's office similarly admonished San Francisco with an unprecedented audit of the city's planning process for housing. Dubbed "housing policy and practice review," the state Department of Housing and Community Development announced in August that it would be undertaking this review because SF can't seem to get out of its own way when it comes to building housing.

"According to San Francisco’s self-reported data, it has the longest timelines in the state for advancing housing projects to construction, among the highest housing and construction costs, and the [Housing Accountability Unit] has received more complaints about San Francisco than any other local jurisdiction in the state," the department said in its announcement about the review. They also added that Seattle approves new housing at a rate three times faster than San Francisco.

Right, so, it takes years to get a housing development through all the necessary design and planning and Board of Supervisors reviews, and it similarly takes two to three years and $1.7 million to design, plan, hem and haw, and construct a public toilet. Any questions?

Photo: Tom Milkovic

San Francisco is poised to take a step toward common sense, as legislation introduced by Supervisor David Campos to make all single-occupancy restrooms within the city all-gender was approved in committee yesterday. So reports KRON 4, which further notes that if it becomes law, the legislation will require business owners to change signage on the bathrooms as well as mandate the inclusion of all-gender restrooms in future developments.

If approved by the full Board of Supervisors, the new law would provide protection for gender non-conforming and transgender individuals who just want to pee in peace. It also obviously stands in stark contrast to a recently approved North Carolina law that, according to New York Magazine, bars people from using bathrooms that don't match the gender on their birth certificate.

"I know we are on the right side of history,” KRON 4 reports Campos as noting. When he introduced the legislation this past January, the Bay Area Reporter reports Campos as further explaining that this is "something that should have been done many, many years ago."

"Transgender and gender-nonconforming people frequently experience harassment in toilet facilities," BAR reports a draft of the legislation as reading. "Required use of gender-specific toilet facilities can create unnecessary risk that leads to transgender and gender-nonconforming people being denied access, being verbally harassed, or physically assaulted in these facilities. These experiences, in turn, impact one's education, employment, health, and participation in public life."

Similar legislation is making its way through Sacramento, as KRON 4 notes that San Francisco Assemblyman Phil Ting introduced a bill last month that would require single-occupancy restrooms in public spaces, businesses, and government buildings be designated as all-gender.

Previously: Campos Wants To Make All Single-Person Bathrooms 'All Gender'

After police turned away a truck driver delivering Porta-Potties to Frank H. Ogawa Plaza on Thursday, Occupy Oakland members and OPD erupt into a heated (albeit brief) scuffle. Police said that the truck driver didn't have proper permits to deliver the portable toilets, but Occupy members needed to pee. The result? Shouting, pushing, and a police officer "attacking" a protester and "dragging him to ground and arresting him."

Occupy Oakland sent out the following Twitter message after the brouhaha: "Video of OPD tackling ppl today over a couple of Port-a-potties. Seriously."

See for yourself:

According to the Oakland Tribune, one person was arrested. The toilets, sadly, never made it to the encampment.

In lighter news, Occupy Oakland members did get to enjoy a free turkey dinner prior to the potty drama.

Sure, mid-November seems a tiny bit early to be releasing the year's "Best of" lists, but EaterSF's Best of 2011 Awards are notable for at least one category you won't find in any of the print rags: San Francisco's Best Restaurant Bathroom. And behold, the winner is: Japantown's Bushi-Tei and its zen-like facilities.

As Eater explains, along with a professional photo of the winning water closet, Bushei-Tei's $5,000 Toto Neorest toilets are the very same thrones preferred by Jennifer Lopez (and, we should point out, many a Google employee). The evacuation chambers also include river rocks in the sink (for that peaceful flowing-water sound) and a bench made of wood from the Nagano prefecture where your pee pal can wait while you take your time figuring out all those toilet controls.

Pop over to Eater for the rest of their early bird year-end list including their picks for the Best Chef and Best Bartender in the city. Or, if you're only interested in toilet technology, the facilities and the fancy Japanese toilet are already fairly well-documented on Yelp.

[EaterSF]
[Bushi-Tei on Yelp]

Matier & Ross report on a frightening and malodorous problem caused by San Francisco's low-flow toilets, and it's costing the city millions of dollars. Behold:

Skimping on toilet water has resulted in more sludge backing up inside the sewer pipes, said Tyrone Jue, spokesman for the city Public Utilities Commission. That has created a rotten-egg stench near AT&T Park and elsewhere, especially during the dry summer months.

In addition to remodeling the city's sewer plants and sewer system, which cost around $100 million, officials are now turning to the awesome (and environmentally unsound?) cleaning power of bleach to help combat the stench.

Now officials are stocking up on a $14 million, three-year supply of highly concentrated sodium hypochlorite - better known as bleach - to act as an odor eater and to disinfect the city's treated water before it's dumped into the bay. It will also be used to sanitize drinking water.

This raises the question, are low-flow toilets worth the trouble? Probably. Matier & Ross go on to point out that the troublesome toilets "have helped trim San Francisco's annual water consumption by about 20 million gallons."

[Chronicle]

Well, everyone, this is our last, pre-renovation summer of Dolores Park fun (how fenced off it will be by next summer remains uncertain), but the good folks at Dolores Park Works are claiming at least one small victory: Recreation & Parks has agreed to provide five porta-potties (and a hand-washing station!) throughout the summer to supplement the measly couple of toilets in the center of the park. The activists in this case were pushing four eight, but they say five will do. The ladies, especially, should be pleased. Let's just hope the toilet torcher doesn't feel inspired. [Dolores Park Works via Mission Local]

The Toilet Torcher strikes again! This time he or she has claimed their 15th porta-potty since November. The portable outhouse went up in flames last night at Union and Franklin Streets. This time, however, a nearby car was damaged by the flames. Toilet Torcher, we demand you to reveal yourself to us! Why are you igniting the crappers of Russian Hill? Political statement? Stink mischief? Frank Chu-esque lucidity? Really, who are you?

Well, well, well. According to Alix Rosenthal (Citizens for Halloween), ahem:

Word has arrived from a credible source in city government. The City has rented 120 toilets to be placed in the Castro by 5pm today.

It may not prevent all of the public urination, but it is certainly better than no toilets at all. We are thrilled that the City made the right decision, even though they could have done more to decrease our anxiety levels before now.

You hear that? Urinate with impunity!

So maybe the Castro party is happen tonight? Maybe it's one big surprise party...for you, citizens of San Francisco? And just who doesn't love a surprise party? See you in the 'stro, folks.