Story Archive

Silicon Alley

“In a city where filthy sidewalks are many residents’ No. 1 complaint,” says California’s San Francisco Chronicle, “City Hall has come up with a new way to deal with No. 2.” Which is to say, feces deposited by the homeless, who have nowhere else to ...uh... go. The city budgets $72.5 million per year for street cleaning, but it’s still not enough: a new “Poop Patrol” has been set up with five employees dedicated to “actively hunt down and clean up human waste.” Hunt down? “We’re trying to be proactive,” confirms Public Works director Mohammed Nuru. “We’re actually out there looking for it.” It’s a dirty job, so what does it take to hire people to do it? A $71,760 salary, plus $112,918 in “mandated benefits.” (RC/San Francisco Chronicle) ...Known in the area as “poverty wages.”