Easy Way Out on College Parking

The issue of parking around Santa Monica College has been a problem to both the college and community since the day the campus opened. I know--I was a neighbor for 22 years. The problem, the result of successful growth, has intensified over the years, and each attempt to ameliorate it by the college has been met by resistance from the block of neighbors most affected by the solution.

Activism has become an art and a pastime in our community so the recent imposition of preferential parking was understandable but, from the point of view of this participant in the parking study committee: unwise ! The phased placement of preferential parking, as recommended by the committee in a study which was objective and deliberate, makes much more sense than the “amputation” ordered by the council.

Having lit the fuse on this “bomb,” I believe the Santa Monica City Council has the moral obligation to the college and the community it serves to take measures to ensure the provision of adequate parking, traffic management and transportation. It was easy enough for the council members to placate an aroused neighborhood by waving their wands and proclaiming preferential parking. I sincerely hope that they have the willingness to see that their actions do not cause irreparable damage to one of Santa Monica’s finest institutions.

JAMES MOUNT

Santa Monica