Vol. 164, Issue 2 | Sept. 13, - Sept. 27 , 2017 | City College of San Francisco | Since 1935 | FREE
Parking crisis raises Balboa Reservoir Project concerns Increased enrollment impacting parking across campus By Bethaney Lee blee@theguardsman.com
The Guardsman photographed the usage of the parking lot in contention with the Balboa Reservoir Project (BRP) every hour on Aug. 28, and concluded it was used consistently throughout the day, it was highly impacted at peak class hours and the surrounding neighborhoods and streets cannot support the amount of vehicles displaced by the removal of the lower parking lot. Tensions first arose after the BRP reported its goal was to repurpose the lot into mixed-income level housing. In October 2016, Nelson Nygaard released the Balboa Area Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Plan which was used to identify transportation needs for the Balboa Park area. The report identified limited roadway space, transit infrastructure and financial resources as three primary problems. “Yet despite the obvious fact that the elimination of student parking and the addition of new Reservoir residents will increase demand placed on limited transportation resources, the Balboa Reservoir Project Team proposes no amelioration for adverse impacts other than TDM,” Professor William McGuire said in an email sent in early January 2017. The Guardsman’s observation took place over the course of several weeks, and the research provided legitimacy to Professor Rick Baum’s fears that the project could “interfere with efforts to increase student enrollment.” In an email, sent in late August to the Board of Trustees’ President Thea Selby, Baum asked Selby to explain “how the housing project, that might be built on the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) section of the reservoir, could possibly serve the needs of CCSF’s students?” Additionally,
Balboa Reservoir continued on page 3
View of far end of Balboa Reservoir parking area at 9:30- out of frame portion is full on Aug. 28 2017
View of far end (near Ocean Ave) of lower parking lot, showing significant increase in parked cars over one hour on Aug. 28 2017.
Lower parking lot (Balboa Reservoir) at 11:30. on Aug. 28 2017
qjohnson@theguardsman.com
President Donald Trump announced the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program on Tuesday, Sept. 5. DACA previously protected children who were illegally brought into country from the threat of deportation. A program that also provided permission for legal employment. Following President Trump’s executive order, City College Chancellor Mark Rocha said in an email that the college’s response is “unequivocal.” “We are a sanctuary college within a sanctuary city. We do not identify DACA students or
any other students by status. All students at City College of San Francisco are supported to continue their studies in safety,” Rocha said. According to City College’s Board of Trustees’ letter to President Trump, about 800,000 people qualify for DACA and the Board urged Trump, as of Sept. 1, to preserve the program. “The high-achieving young people in DACA contribute in many ways to our nation,” Rocha said on behalf of the Board. “Preserving their status while your administration and Congress work on a permanent solution is the humane way to respond to the situation these innocent young people are facing.”
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City College’s support of DACA is ‘unequivocal’ By Quip Johnson
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Balboa Reservoir parking at 12:30 as classes get out. on Aug. 28 2017
Photos by Otto Pippenger