Tell the administration at St. Mary's College of California why staff, faculty, and students DO NOT WANT parking fees.

Although St. Mary’s College administration claims that the parking fees are in response to an environmental impact report and that they are similarly instituted on other campuses, this is not entirely true. First, environmental measures have and can be taken in the form of rewards for carpooling, public transportation reimbursements, et cetera (more on the environmental impact report here: https://townofmoraga.worldsecuresystems.com/dept/p... ). Further, rarely are other colleges charging as much as the administration plans: $300/annual pass or $4 per day. [1]

The administration is missing the bigger picture.

Although some employees would be able to have reduced parking fees for fewer days on campus, many year-round service employees do not have that choice, and yet cannot afford a $300 fee—which is tantamount to a $300 pay cut.

Further, with college tuition rising, a parking fee would add to the inability of many students to pay for college and possibly increase future loan repayments.

A serious concern is that once instituted, the parking fee could then rise annually.

As such, we suggest that any parking fee BE WAIVED for faculty and staff earning less than $60K per year (figure arrived at with assistance of the Living Wage Calculator Bay Area for a single adult or an adult in a two-income home [2]), and BE WAIVED for any students receiving financial aid covering 40% or more of their tuition. For faculty and staff earning more than $60K, we suggest that any parking fees be linked to faculty or staff pay [3]—and that no one making less than 100K per year be asked to pay more than $150 per year. No student should be asked to pay more than $150 per year.

Join us in protesting this unfair pay cut for employees and fee increase for students.

Notes:

1. The administration is willing to discuss some discounts for parking, though it has not been made clear exactly how that would work or who would qualify.

2. A Living Wage is not a comfortable wage. It is the bare minimum not to fall into debt. More information is available from the MIT-derived algorithm here: http://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/06001

3. A comfortable wage is closer to $80K/per adult in a two-income home in Oakland, California. More information about the need for a comfortable wage can be found here: “You’ll need this much money to live comfortably in these major cities” https://www.gobankingrates.com/making-money/money-...