Posts by Marcia Bernbaum — Guest Contributor

Marcia Bernbaum, retired from a 20-year career in international development with the US Agency for International Development (USAID), is a proud member of the People for Fairness Coalition (PFFC). Since 2014 she has been Mentor and Advisor to PFFC’s Downtown DC Public Restroom Initiative which advocates for clean, safe, public restrooms available for everyone in needed areas of Washington, DC. You can email her questions about the initiative at marcy@pffcdc.org.

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  The public restroom bill passes: DC is on its way to more clean, safe public restrooms

  ActionBy Marcia Bernbaum (Guest Contributor), George Olivar (Guest Contributor), John McDermott (Guest Contributor), Janet Sharp (Guest Contributor) December 18, 2018 24

  We are thrilled to report that on Tuesday, December 18 at 2:45 pm the DC Council passed Bill 22-0223, Public Restroom Facilities Installation & Promotion Act of 2018. This a major step forward in addressing the lack of publicly available restrooms in our downtown area.  Keep reading…

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  Update: DC is one step closer to getting more public bathrooms downtown

  ActionBy Marcia Bernbaum (Guest Contributor) November 29, 2018 4

  In downtown DC, there are only five publicly-available restrooms (they’re off the Mall), and only two of them are available 24 hours. A new bill in front of the DC Council hopes to address this problem, and it’s finally in front of the council for a pair of votes. Can you help us make sure it passes before the end of the year?  Keep reading…

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  Tell the DC Council: We need more public bathrooms downtown

  ActionBy Marcia Bernbaum (Guest Contributor), George Olivar (Guest Contributor), Janet Sharp (Guest Contributor), John McDermott (Guest Contributor) October 10, 2018 7

  Despite the fact that downtown DC receives more than 20 million visitors a year and hosts thousands of more residents every day, it currently only has five public restrooms available during the day off the Mall — all of the rest are privately operated. A bill before the DC Council this fall could change that, but it needs your help.  Keep reading…

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  DC needs more public bathrooms. Here are three types it could adopt.

  Public SpacesBy Marcia Bernbaum (Guest Contributor) September 14, 2018 16

  As I wrote about last week, DC doesn't have enough restrooms throughout the city, to the detriment of residents' and tourists' comfort and well-being. Adding public bathrooms would help. DC has three options to choose from if it wants to join other world-class cities in ensuring that there are enough clean, safe, and accessible restrooms open to the public.  Keep reading…

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  Clean, safe, and accessible public restrooms make cities livable

  Public SpacesBy Marcia Bernbaum (Guest Contributor) September 6, 2018 26

  Why should urbanists engage in “potty talk”? Because having ready access to clean, safe public restrooms is not only a vital part of personal and public health, but is also key to fostering livability in cities. Unfortunately, DC doesn't have enough places for people to go, and the restrooms that are available can be hard to find.  Keep reading…