Friday, April 09, 2010
Who ordered bathrooms closed to Furlough Friday sit-in parents?
by Larry Geller
[See update below]
For the second night in a row, parents sitting in at the front vestibule of Governor Linda Lingle’s office have been denied access to bathrooms while others in the State Capitol (in particular, the guards preventing them from using the bathrooms) have access.
Does the governor have the power to impose this unhealthy restriction? Who ordered it? What rules allow one group of people to pee and not another?
Does this discrimination bring any potential liability to the state?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Update: It seems it’s not about bathroom use, but about access to the Governor’s office. I received this reply from Comptroller Russ Saito, clarifying:
The reception area is normally closed after business hours. The people who are choosing to occupy the area after hours are being allowed to remain in the area out of courtesy. They may leave to use the bathroom at any time, after hours, just like anyone else. However, once they leave, they are not being allowed back in after hours, just like anyone else.
My position is that this accommodation is more than fair.
This corresponds to the report tweeted this morning from an AP story on the sit-in.
It also raises the question of whether parents will be able to continue to occupy the Governor’s office through the weekend…
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