Cavero Sworn In To Fill Vacated South Phoenix House Seat

Cavero Sworn In To Fill Vacated South Phoenix House Seat

By Elizabeth Troutman |

On Tuesday, Junelle Cavero was sworn in to fill the south Phoenix Arizona House Of Representatives seat vacated by Marcelino Quiñonez. The political consultant, small business owner, and community advocate was sworn in on Wednesday. 

“In a time that calls for unwavering commitment to our communities, I am dedicated to being a tireless champion for reproductive justice, affordable housing and the economic issues affecting everyday Arizonans,” Cavero said in a press release. “I pledge to work night and day to serve and uplift the voices of working families and our communities.”

Cavero is the mother of two daughters and has lived in the South Mountain community for 10 years.

“Representative Cavero brings a wealth of business experience and political savvy to our Caucus, and we look forward to her joining our Caucus as soon as possible. We have no doubts she will hit the ground running as budget negotiations heat up and we take other significant votes for our state’s future,” House Democratic Leader Lupe Contreras added. 

Quiñonez announced his resignation at the beginning of the month. 

“As I reflect on my time in office, I am proud of many things, but especially the work I did to pass two bipartisan budgets that allocated more money to our public schools, the Arizona Housing Trust Fund and the arts,” his statement said.

Cavero’s appointment runs through the end of the year, but she previously entered the 2024 race for the seat she is now holding.

Democrats Leezah Sun, Amish Shah, and Jennifer Longdon preceded  Quiñonez in leaving the House early this year.

Elizabeth Troutman is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send her news tips using this link.

Phoenix To Establish $200K Toilets for Homeless

Phoenix To Establish $200K Toilets for Homeless

By Corinne Murdock  |

The city of Phoenix plans to establish single-stall, 24/7 street restrooms for the homeless. The first will appear midway this year as part of a pilot launch at a new homeless shelter established in Bradley Ranch in South Phoenix.

Each restroom costs about $135,000 to $150,000 to start, with installation costs ranging up to $50,000. Another potential future site would be at University Park. 

The city announced its initiative several weeks before the Maricopa County Superior Court rejected the city’s petition to dismiss a lawsuit claiming that they’d failed to manage the homeless crisis.

These toilets won’t look like porta-potties; rather, these restrooms will each be contained in a steel, oval building called a “Portland Loo.” These restrooms were contrived by a city of their namesake: Portland, Oregon. The hope was to prevent the homeless from relieving themselves on public streets. 

These restrooms are partially open-air: they have grating at the top and bottom to discourage illegal activity, and the steel type is graffiti-proof. They also have blue lighting to prevent occupants from locating a vein to shoot up drugs. 

However, the intent of the Portland Loo doesn’t appear to match up with its reality. In its hometown, residents view Portland Loos with contempt for their unsanitary quality. Non-promotional pictures taken by journalists and city dwellers reveal that these restrooms aren’t as graffiti-proof or resistant to drug use as marketed. 

Early champions of the Portland Loo outside of Oregon have also run into unforeseen problems. San Diego, California had to remove one of these restrooms in 2016 due to resident complaints. Though the Portland Loos were easier to clean and usually thwarted illicit activity inside its walls, their presence attracted a whole host of undesirables for San Diego locals: criminals, drug users, and general transients.

Deputy City Managers Gina Montes and Inger Erickson, along with the Office of Homeless Solutions (OHS) and Parks and Recreation Department (PRD), submitted the proposed pilot program. They noted that a brick-and-mortar, two-stall public restroom would cost more: around $400,000 to $500,000. 

OHS explained during a Community and Cultural Investment Subcommittee meeting earlier this month that it would weigh the pilot restroom’s success against cost of installation, cleaning and maintenance, temperature control in the summers, and utility hookups to determine if future Portland Loos will be installed throughout the city. 

Vice Mayor Yassamin Ansari urged OHS to install another Portland Loo immediately at University Park. Ansari said that constituents notify her constantly of sanitary issues, such as drug use and backups, as well as availability issues at current public restrooms.

“I think we need to be innovative with these issues. That’s why the typical stuff isn’t working,” said Ansari. “I think as opposed to losing another year during the summer heat, let’s pilot one in a park where we do constantly have people reaching out about, ‘Why do we have limited bathroom access from 4 to 8, inside a recreation center? It’s very challenging actually to use the bathroom currently at University Park.” 

There are 89 Portland Loos throughout the U.S., and one in New Zealand. The Phoenix installation would be the first of its kind in Arizona. 

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.