Vol. 164, Issue 8 | Dec. 6 – Dec. 20, 2017 | City College of San Francisco | Since 1935 | FREE
City College and Laney both facing sale of college assets BAY AREA COMMUNITY COLLEGES WRESTLE PRIVATE INTERESTS FOR LAND By Otto Pippenger and Brian Howey Students and faculty at Laney College and San Francisco City College are both faced with the imminent sale of school assets as part of city initiatives. At Laney, the Oakland A’s are intent on moving next door onto Peralta Community College District land, while across the bay, City College’s parking seems doomed as the city of San Francisco finalizes the details of its partnership with the developer Avalon Bay for a piece of land next to City College to construct large-scale housing development.
Balboa Reservoir Members of City College’s Board of Trustees attempted to formally raise complaints on Oct. 30 against the 1,100 housing units planned by Mayor Lee’s Office of Planning and Workforce Development in the Balboa Reservoir, the college’s current parking lot, almost exactly one month after Avalon Bay was officially selected to head the multihundred-million dollar project. The resolution called for the school to assert ownership of the reservoir to ensure that the school’s interests are observed, and it was sponsored by John Rizzo and Brigitte Davila, who as the school’s representative of the Citizen’s Advisory Committee for the Balboa Reservoir development project, has been present throughout the majority of the process. The resolution failed to pass, and construction is expected to begin in early 2021. The reservoir is owned by the city through the San Francisco Power and Utilities Company, which will now be purchased by Avalon Bay for an unknown amount. Though many have complained
about the construction at every step of the way, many feel their complaints have gone unaddressed despite nominally democratic aspects of the process. As City College instructor Simon Hansen said in January 2015, “What if our input is that we don’t want development?” While over 50 percent of the units will technically be affordable, some 15 percent will be “moderately” priced to roughly 120 percent of the area median income, making only roughly 35 percent available for those earning less than $80,000 a year. Another question of long-term affordability arises from the 115 homes that will be for sale. While 48 of these will be offered below market rate, it is unclear whether or not resale of these units will be bound by the same strictures. According to Avalon Bay’s proposal for the project, actual construction is to begin no sooner than 2021. During the first phase of this process, the developers intend to make about 300 parking spaces available, while creating 500 new spots by the end of the construction process. Avalon Bay’s proposal describes the parking lot as “empty much of the time,” but data on the lot collected between 2015 and 2016 suggest usage has increased commensurately to the uptick in enrollment created by the Free City College program. The Guardsman revealed in October that during school hours the Balboa Reservoir has been almost entirely full of parked cars. Considering the college will build a Performing Arts Center in the school’s upper parking area in the next few years, along with the possible educator housing proposed by Avalon Bay, it is apparent to the naked eye that 300 spaces will not be nearly enough, as both the upper parking lot and the Balboa Reservoir are nearly completely full during school hours as of Oct. 2017. While the initial concept for the development suggested no more than 500 housing units, Avalon Bay intends to construct 1,100, the residents of which will also have to compete for parking. The future of City College’s parking is seemingly predicated on the school’s ability to reach an independent agreement with Avalon Bay. With the schedule moving forward rapidly, the time to prevent changes disadvantageous to City College may have already passed.
Illustration by Quip Johnson
Facing sale continued on page 3 The City College Journalism Department, in conjunction with Laney College’s Journalism Department, worked together for issue 8 of our newspapers to produce a unique collaborative issue. Inside this issue you will find articles written using cross reporting, where journalists from each department came together and developed their stories under a dual byline. If you would like to contact reporters about questions or comments in regards to collaborative articles, please email blee@theguardsman.com.
CULTURE L.A. Riot Documentary
Riot on page 6
OPINION Food critique between City College and Laney College
Critique on page 9