Vol. 168, Issue 3 | September 26 – October 9, 2019 | City College of San Francisco | Since 1935 | FREE
Students Living In RVs Develop Community At Ocean Campus By Tyler Breisacher
“If I was paying a minimum of a million dollars for a house, I probably wouldn’t want to look An RV was towed away out my window and see people on the morning of September in RVs walking their trash to 3 by SFPD after it had been the trash cans and whatever parked on Judson Avenue next else it is that homeless people to Ocean Campus. The towing are doing in their RVs.” was likely driven by ongoing Murphy started an complaints from nearby informal self-regulating residents, as well as some from community among students City College itself. living in RVs or vans. That Prior to the towing, community tends to stay along SFMTA reduced the available Frida Kahlo Way. It’s not a parking on Judson Avenue, perfect spot — passing cars often used by people with and buses create a lot of noise RVs and trucks, by adding red until late into the night — but no-parking curbs, earlier this it helps to avoid complaints, year. An SFMTA spokesperson as they’re less immediately said the red zones were added visible to housed neighbors only at the intersections with near Judson Avenue. Gennessee Street and Foerster San Francisco’s relatively Street, to improve traffic safety temperate weather and the by increasing the visibility of educational opportunities pedestrians and stop signs. available at City College Professor Steven Brown, brought Murphy here from chair of the department of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania about environmental horticulture two years ago. At first, he was and floristry, has his office staying in a van, but usually just a few feet from the RV’s parked it away from campus at former location. He said night, trying to stay hidden, in the occupant of the RV had The Balboa Reservoir parking lot behind the Multi-Use Building is frequently empty, including the afternoon of places like Daly City or Pacifica. Friday Sept. 20, 2019. Students living in RVs would like to use some of this space to park their vehicles over night. been a frustrating presence Photo by Kyle Murphy “I mean, I was all over the for faculty in that building. He map trying to find different described the person’s behavior as “horrible” and said vehicle being towed, because it was on city streets, not the places to sleep, and to not be in one place too often,” he said. it included harassing people and leaving garbage in the City College campus. However, at least one student reported After about three months, he realized he needed a change. “I surrounding area. having an RV and a car towed away, earlier this year, after had a hardcore panic attack. I just freaked out — the hiding, The public information officer for the City College receiving a three-day warning. the loneliness, the trying to disappear from the rest of the campus police department, Sgt. Tiffany Green, said he Of the approximately 150 students who take advantage world, it started to actually affect my mental health.” had a “contentious relationship” with both City College, of the HARTS (Homeless At-Risk Knowing that he needed to be less isolated, he approached and residents living in the neighborhood near where he Transitional Students) program, the administration another van he’d often seen near campus, with New York was parked. She added that he had been a student at some estimates that 15 to 20 of them are living in some license plates. From this simple action, a new community point in the past, but was not anymore because of student kind of vehicle. of RV dwellers was created. code of conduct violations. One of these students, Kyle Murphy, is sympathetic to the Campus police weren’t directly involved in this particular neighbors who complained about the RV on Judson Avenue: RV community continued on page 3 tbreisac@mail.ccsf.edu
Housing Deregulation Passes Senate — Will It Work? By Caoilinn Goss cgoss2@mail.ccsf.edu
The Housing Crisis Act of 2019 passed the California State Senate on September 6, and although its effects have yet to be felt by bay area students, community members are concerned that that this measure will further exacerbate the housing crisis. A statement from bill author, Senator Nancy Skinner’s office claims, “SB 330 is based on the premise that much of the housing we need has already been planned for by local communities. But that housing is not getting built. In fact, the number of residential building permits in the first six months of this year plummeted nearly 20% compared with the same period in 2018.” The bill itself was created to “accelerate housing construction in California by cutting the time it takes to obtain building permits, limiting fees on housing, and barring local governments from reducing the number of
homes that can be built” according to the California State Senate Democratic Caucus. Proponents include Facebook and many other tech companies, the California Building Industry Association, and the California Realtors Association. Detractors of the bill urge voters to pressure Governor Newsom to veto the bill before the deadline of October 13. According to Livable California, the bill “inflicts massive damage on low-income and moderate‐income renters and homeowners, drives up land prices in hot areas making affordable units impossible.” The bill does not require new construction to include a minimum number of affordable units, which could have major ramifications for members of the City College community already struggling with housing insecurity. SB 330 also allows developers to circumvent local ordinances by redistributing powers to the state level. Ryan Lam, a City College student
running for Supervisor of San Francisco’s District 5 told the Guardsman, “From where I see it, it sounds a lot like the goal of SB 50.” SB 50 is a failed bill that would have allowed land dedicated to single-family housing to be rezoned for multi-unit development. California YIMBY (Yes in My Backyard), who championed SB 50, are also in support of the Housing Crisis Act of 2019. Dick Platkin, writing for City Watch, agrees. Calling SB 330 the earlier bill’s “Evil Twin”, Plaktin accuses SB 330 of “flouting a city’s legally adopted planning policies and ignoring the capacity of supportive infrastructure and public services.” Lam, who pledges to build 1,000 units of affordable housing in District 5 if elected, does not support these measures. "I think that local government should be solely in control of decisions made about building in the city,” Lam said. His campaign website reveals that in 2017 he “suffered with homelessness
along with approximately 8,000 citizens of San Francisco”. However Lam is not alone in this struggle. The number of homeless residents in the city has increased by 30% from 2017 to July of 2019 according to an article published by Benjamin Oreskes in the Los Angeles Times. Many tenants rights organizations believe that the solution to the housing crisis in the bay area could be fixed by the implementation of rent ceilings. However, a proposition which would have repealed “the limits on local rent control laws in CostaHawkins, Proposition 10, failed at the ballot. Had this proposition passed, cities would have been able to regulate rates of rent, and limit what landlords would be able to charge tenants, according to the bill’s text. Proposition 10 and SB 330 have both exhibited different solutions to fighting the affordable housing crisis, and only time will tell which measure would have been more successful in doing so.