SupportChinatownCampus.org

The CCSF Board of Trustees passed a resolution to approve the design of the Lot 5 building for the new Chinatown-North Beach campus tonight -- July 10.  This is the 4-story building a few doors down from the 14-story building and will house the auditorium, the culinary school, the cafe, housekeeping and home health aide training classrooms, CPR training, and some general classrooms. (See pictures of the building from various angles at http://www.ccsf.edu/News/chinNewDesign.htm)

The room was packed with supporters who were anxious because this vote had already been rescheduled three time in order to try and accomodate project obstructionists.  Students from CCSF, community members, political leaders, CCSF faculty, labor representatives spoke eloquently and passionately for the Board to pass the resolution.  AFT2121, the We Shall Not Be Moved Coalition, and Friends of Educaional Opportunities in Chinatown also had several speakers.  The political motives and tactics of opponents who have been convening closed-doors negotiations on the design were questioned.

Many of the trustees responded positively to the speakers, quoting the speeches, applauding the comments, and stressing their own responsibility to continue working for higher education in San Francisco. After the public comment period, the trustees voted 7-0 to pass the resolution.  With this vote, CCSF can continue plans to break ground this year.  Community members are still cautious, though, because two lawsuits against the campus are pending.

Many thanks to the students, faculty and community members who turned out for this meeting and for everyone who continues to work together to move this project forward.

The CCSF Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve designs for the 14 story building on Lots 9+10 this evening, moving the long-anticipated campus project closer to reality.  Lot 9+10 is the land parcel on the corner of Kearny and Washington Sts. which will be the future home of the majority of CCSF's Chinatown/North Beach programming. This new space will also include a library, bookstore, student lounge, and multipurpose room--wonderful additions that the current run-down campus does not have.

Although the trustees unanimously adopted the final design, they delayed the vote on the design of the 4 story Lot 5 building a few doors down.

These two statements were presented at the October 18th Board of Trustees meeting.

Jason Zeng, Vice President of the Chinatown/North Beach Campus Student Council

Greetings.

My name is Zhao Xin (Jason) Zeng, vice president of the Chinatown/North Beach Campus Student Council.

I have heard that with regards to the Chinatown campus project, City College and the 7 board trustees have received intense pressure from the Hilton Hotel. Under this pressure, some trustees may use different excuses to not support the Chinatown campus project.

I don’t know whether or not this is true, but I do know that if you don’t support the campus project, you, as an official elected to represent the students, will be selling us out. This would mean that our board of trustees is telling the students that we should not fight with people who have more money and more power than we do, even though what we are fighting is for the rights of the students, and even though our cause is just. So we, the students, would like to ask the board members these questions: is this City College’s mission of educating students? How can you face the students when you submit to pressure and act cowardly by selling out the interests of students?

As students of City College, we do not want cowards as our trustees. We want our trustees to be heroes. We, the students, ask that the seven trustees act courageously and vote for the Chinatown campus project. You need not be afraid that Hilton will sue City College. If they do, they will only expose their malice and then they will be condemned by people who believe in justice. Also, you are not fighting alone; you have the students, people and organizations who support education and believe in justice, and we stand by you and fight with you to the very end against Hilton.

Thank you.


Bing Zhu, City College Student

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Good evening! My name is Bing Zhu. I am a student at City College. Our opinion is: We need a campus that belongs to us, a tall, beautiful, well-equipped, and state-of-art building. Why? It is because the recent upheaval over the Chinatown campus project has reminded me of my childhood. I grew up in a very poor village. People in our village were, for generations, farmers who led a very poor life. At first, there was no school in the village. Students had to go to study at the temple. After Liberation, several classrooms were built but were closed again during the Cultural Revolution; I was in third grade then. The classrooms were in bad shape. There was no equipment. In the summer, it was so hot that everyone sweated. In the winter, we, the students from poor families, had no shoes and gloves; the cold wind cracked the skin of our hands and feet; our faces looked like fishing net. In order to change this, villagers began to build a school. Everybody supported the idea; no one objected. They took action immediately. They found a big piece of land suitable for building the school. People either contributed money or manpower. They wanted to provide the children with the best education. I and my schoolmates also had to work as volunteers for the project. After school, we would go to the riverside to help carry the sand, and go to the mountain to help carry the rocks. People were so united in bringing in bricks and tiles to help build the school. With the school environment improved, we also made progress in our study. Unfortunately, my father was killed by a tornado when I was 14. Our family lost the breadwinner; but I didn’t want to give up study. I liked reading. Therefore whenever we had school off, I worked in the field to make money to pay for my schooling. It was such a hard, hard, hard, time before I finished my high school study. My family was poor so I could not go to college. I believe many immigrants have similar experience like I did. They did not have a chance to go to school because they were poor. But I have always had this dream: I wish someday I could go to college. Fortunately, after years of hard work, a perfect school had been built in my village and has nourished many talents each year.

Now I am fortunate to live in San Francisco and I have a chance to go to college. I am very grateful that the government gives us such a good opportunity. But there are two things that have always bothered me and made me disappointed. First of all, our school is so backward and out of shape. I remember the first day when I went to register, I was so excited and while I was on my way, I thought: this is a rich and powerful country and this is a beautiful city, the campus must be prettier than the palace seen from movies. I could not believe my eyes when I arrived at the campus. In front of me was an old and worn-out school. It was even worse than the school in my village. And it has been so many years now that nothing has been done to upgrade the building. The building is just allowed to deteriorate. Secondly, a long wait and continued arguments. I remember a friend told me one time that the empty lot next to where I live is owned by City College and it has been left empty for 30 years. It is so unbelievable that in a country where education is so developed and in a city with such quality, there can be these many obstacles hindering the progress of education. It is really a joke, an irony, and a shame to the education profession. Don’t you think so? I would like to ask everybody. The City College has the support of the government. In terms of finance, resources, and manpower, it is much better than the conditions in my village. When people in my poor village could build a school, don’t you think in the wealthy San Francisco, it should have a tall and perfect building? If you think it should, then, please let out your passion as my fellow villagers did and give every support to the building of the campus.

My dear trustees, tens of thousands of us have waited long and look forward to a new campus. The fate of the campus and our future are in your hands. I ask that you fully support education and vote for the project. Thank you.

Just past 1:30am Friday, October 19, the San Francisco City College Board of Trustees voted to approve construction of a permanent City College Campus in Chinatown! Key to the victory was massive community support: over 25,000 petition signatures, 10,000 individually completed postcards, and 3,500 emails sent in three days.This was a terrific success for racial justice, immigrant rights, and educational equity. It was also a powerful reminder that with enough hard work, ordinary people can prevail over powerful interests, bending the arc of history towards justice.

Trustees Natalie Berg, Anita Grier, Milton Marks, Julio Ramos, John Rizzo, Rodel Rodis, and Lawrence Wong voted unanimously in favor to exempt the campus from local planning requirements. This was the critical vote, needing support from 5 of the 7 trustees. The resolution to certify the environmental impact report was passed with Berg, Grier, Ramos, Rizzo, Rodis, and Wong in favor and Marks opposed. The resolution to approve a project design was passed with Berg, Grier, Marks, Ramos, Rodis, and Wong in favor and Rizzo opposed.

ATTEND TONIGHT'S CITY COLLEGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES' MEETING

The fate of the Chinatown campus will be determined tonight, 10/18, at the Board of Trustees 6pm meeting at 940 Filbert Street.  The Board of Trustees must vote to approve three resolutions: 1) to certify the campus project's environmental impact report, 2) to exempt the project from city planning restrictions, and 3) to choose a building design for the project.

Resolution #1: the trustees have no good reason to not adopt the 300+ page EIR which was meticulously researched and received a full 60 days of community input.  This resolution requires 4 of the 7 trustees to vote affirmatively.

Resolution #2:  California Government Code Section 53094 expressly authorizes a community college district board, by vote of two-thirds of its members, to adopt a declaration that it is exempt from a city or county zoning ordinance where a proposed use of a community college district's property is directly used for or related to student instruction.  

In order to meet the educational needs of the campus, ALL of the design options being considered by the trustees require exemption from local planning requirements related to height.  The simple fact is, without an exemption, there will be no campus.  Therefore, if any of the trustees votes no on this resolution, it can be construed as a deliberate attempt to kill the Chinatown project.  Though certain trustees and other elected officials have already indicated their support for this exemption vote, others remain alarmingly noncommittal and appear to be more interested in accomodating the owners of the Hilton Hotel.  Approval of this resolution requires 5 votes. 

Resolution #3"  FEOC's position on the building design is clearly articulated by our "Seven Guiding Principles" and "Preferences" (see previous blog entry).  The approval of the project design requries 4 votes. 

We urge you to contact each of the trustees and urge them to support the project and in particular to vote to exempt the project from local planning requirements. Remember, no exemption vote means no campus. Your voice can make a huge difference and help persuade the trustees to do the right thing. Please email or write them today. (Trustees' contact info is in the "How You Can Help" page.)