The lack of public comfort conveniences brought one resident to the most recent meeting of the Romulus City Council.
Keilani Hadden spoke to the members of the city council to ask their help in accommodating the public with “clean, open restrooms in restaurants” in local businesses, particularly gas stations and restaurants. While Hadden said that Romulus usually does have provisions for the comfort of the public, the lack of such facilities is a real problem in rural areas, particularly those serving Black communities.
Hadden said she has lived in Romulus since 1990 and was a 1995 graduate of Romulus High School prior to graduating from Michigan State University. She said she was a member of the communications committee of the National Action Network in Western Wayne started by the Rev. Al Sharpton in 1991.
“As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, 'I am tired of marching for rights that should have been give to us at birth',” she said. Hadden said she was well aware that many businesses are subjected to the use of opioids and other drugs in their restrooms and that “businesses don't want to find someone on the floor or a dirty restroom with needles. That's a reason businesses don't want to open restroom in Black areas,” she said.
She said there were some solutions that business could employ such as hourly cleanings and offering sanitizers outside or wipes of some kind for customers to use to sanitize the area. She suggested that businesses have toilet paper available and that intercoms might be installed to provide recorded warnings limited the amount of time a user is in the facility. “It could announce 'your 3 or 5 minutes are up or 2 minutes left',” she said. Hadden suggested this recording could keep clerks from having to interface with the users and avoid confrontations.
“Can Romulus open more bathrooms when the pandemic mandate is lifted?” she asked the council members.
Her concerns were seconded by Councilman William Wadsworth who said he found it distressing when he goes to a gas station and spends $50 at the pump and then is told that the lavatory facility is out of order. “That's a bad thing for a senior citizen,” he said. He added that the city has some control when developers come to the city seeking permits and plans for a new project. They are told about bathroom requirements, Wadsworth said.
Councilwoman Virginia Williams noted that this really was a state issue as there are, according to the city attorney, not a lot of state statures requiring restroom facilities. She suggested Hadden contact State Rep. Alex Garza or State Sen. Ericka Geiss.
“I'm not trying to push this off, but legally this is the responsibility of the state,” she said.
Hadden said that she understood that and that she came to the city first as she “didn't want to go barking up the wrong tree. Romulus is great. We have clean bathrooms,” she said. She suggested that others interested in helping promote the issue of opening more lavatory facilities contact her at info@lanilatti.com or www.lanilattte.com.
