AUSTIN, Texas — Overflowing toilets and urinals, feces leaking out of pipes and onto employees' desks and heads, asbestos in the walls; it's something Austin police officers and other city workers have been facing on the job – for years.
So, Austin Police Association President Ken Casaday took pictures of the overflowing urinals and a toilet and posted them on the union Facebook page late last week as a last resort.
"This is almost a weekly experience for our officers at the main headquarters. We've had sewage come down on people's heads," he said.
The APA president said rotted out pipes are causing the overflowing urinals at the main headquarters on Eighth Street and at the North Substation off Lamplight Village.
There are other issues officers and other City employees have been dealing with for years.
"With people getting stuck on the elevator, with people having to work in an environment smelling feces 24/7, and then we have the toilets and urinals overflowing. This would not be acceptable anywhere else in the city," said Casaday.
Casaday said enough is enough, especially since these issues have put officers' health at risk.
"I don't care how it gets done, I just know we need a new main headquarters. We have been spending a lot of time on MLS soccer, building $2 million libraries I don't hardly see nobody in," he said.
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Chief Brian Manley's offices are in the main headquarters where repairs are underway. He said they will eventually move out of the main.
"We're in discussions recognizing that we will have to vacate this facility at some point in the future as the Waller Creek project nears completion and the City has other intended uses for this piece of property," said Chief Manley.
Until then, they will have to make the best of it.
"We have a long list of repairs that we had just identified the weeks leading up to this, we're on a short turnaround time to try to get many of these issues addressed over the course of the next six months," Chief Manley said.
Which isn't good enough for Casaday.
"It's like putting lipstick on a pig, you just can't make this a facility where it's going to be a proper place for employees to work," said Casaday.
It is important to note that the $925 million bond package that passed in November did not include any money for the police department. The $38 million for public safety, Prop F, was for fire and EMS.
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