By Karen Kucher
STAFF WRITER
The slaying of 9-year-old Matthew Cecchi in an Oceanside public restroom while his aunt waited outside has prompted county supervisors to push for the development of "family friendly" unisex restrooms at county parks and campgrounds.
Supervisor Pam Slater said such restrooms could increase public safety because they would allow mothers and sons or fathers and daughters to go into the same bathrooms.
County supervisors unanimously approved the concept yesterday and asked administrators to put together a cost and feasibility report.
But even before that research is done, the "family friendly" concept will be incorporated at restroom facilities being developed at park projects in Fallbrook and Spring Valley. "We can do this," said Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Helen Robbins-Meyer. "We will not impact the cost ... so it is timely that we can get these changes incorporated early on."
Slater dubbed her proposal the "Matthew Cecchi public safety law" after the boy who was killed in November 1998 while visiting from Northern California.
|
Brandon Wilson, a drifter from Wisconsin, has confessed to the slaying. He will stand trial to determine whether he was sane at the time of the attack, and could face the death penalty.
"As we've seen, there have been problems where we've had situations where a person of the opposite sex could not take their child or grandchild into a bathroom to supervise them because the child was beyond the age when they could go into the same-sex bathroom," Slater said.
Some shopping malls and entertainment venues already provide unisex lavatories. Supervisors in Los Angeles County recently decided to study a similar plan for their parks and beaches.
"We would like to see the same kind of facility in our county parks so that parents can feel free ... (to) take a child into a family restroom and lock the door and allow that child to use the restroom under supervision," Slater said.
Acting Parks Director Anne Rast said family-friendly restrooms can be installed as workers renovate existing facilities to provide better access to disabled people. She said such work may be done at no additional cost.
|
"We think we can easily incorporate it into our already existing schedule to update our facilities" under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, Rast said.
Each restroom would have a separate entrance and a door that can be locked. Rast said the county operates about 60 restroom facilities at parks and campgrounds in the region.
A restroom and shower facility built in 1994 at the William Heise Park in Julian already meets the criteria.
That unisex facility provides a family access to a sink, shower and toilet behind a locked door. It was developed with convenience in mind, not safety, after park employees shared stories about the difficulties of taking young children to campground showers.
Employees told of awkwardly chasing toddlers while wrapped in towels, Rast said. Even campers without children find the bathrooms more convenient.
"There are also problems with divided bathrooms and couples, when one person has the soap," Rast said.
|
