Candidate Name: Alan Wong
Phone Number: 415-827-1602 (Campaign Manager Sierra Fischer)
Web site: www.alanwong.com
E-mail: votealanwong@gmail.com
Name of Campaign Manager: Sierra Fischer
How much do you expect to spend in this contest: $80,000
Major Endorsements:
American Federation of Teachers Local 2121 - City College Faculty
Operating Engineers Local 39 - City College Stationary Engineers
California Faculty Association - San Francisco State University Faculty
United Educators of San Francisco - SFUSD Educators
S.F. League of Pissed Off Voters
Incumbent whose votes are most similar to the way you would vote: In our
democracy, I always value and respect the reasons and opinions of all my
colleagues whenever we agree or disagree with each other. I don't like to
pigeonhole or label myself with any person or group.
Incumbent who votes least similarly to the way you would vote: In our
democracy, I always value and respect the reasons and opinions of all my
colleagues whenever we agree or disagree with each other. I don't like to
pigeonhole or label myself with any person or group.
1. Do you have practical ideas on how CCSF can be adequately funded?
It's true that City College has long had issues with financial stability.
In the years before I started serving on the Board in January 2021, the
College had drastically spent down reserves and was maintaining the budget
and rainy day reserves using temporary financial gimmicks, such as using
credit for a pre-paid loan to count towards our reserve funds. Auditors
were not happy.
Once I joined the Board, proposing changes to the budgeting process to
structurally increase stability, transparency and oversight was one of my
top priorities. As Budget Committee Chair, I successfully proposed changes
to our Board budgeting policy to require mandatory budget updates of our
actuals at every single Board meeting to ensure transparency to the
trustees and public (as opposed to just seeing the numbers during budget
season), two-thirds trustee approval before reserves can be redeployed, and
multi-year budgeting three to five years out so that we were not only
myopically budgeting into the next year.
In three recent independent audits of City College's unrestricted general
fund, parcel tax, and bond dollars, City College received no negative
findings for the first time in twenty-five years. Over the last several
fiscal years, City College's annual budget has been balanced and we have
maintained a healthy five percent rainy day fund.
Enrollment has also been going up. As of May 14, 2024, the spring 2024
semester credit FTES has increased by 509 (or 12%) over the spring 2023
credit FTES at the same point in the semester. As of June 15, 2024, the
summer 2024 semester credit FTES has increased by 67 (or 8%) over the
summer 2023 credit FTES at the same point in time. Student headcount has
increased by 389 unduplicated students (or 7%) and total units taken have
increased by 2,115 (or 9%). As of June 15, 2024, the Fall 2024 semester
credit FTES has increased by 487 (or 14%) over the Fall 2023 credit FTES at
the same point in time in the registration cycle. Student headcount has
increased by 1,565 unduplicated students (or 14%) and total units taken
have increased by 13,434 (or 13%).
The budget is stable and enrollment is going up. Then what's going on?
The big elephant in the room is that beginning in the 2025-26 fiscal year,
City College will no longer receive cost-of-living adjustments, and revenue
will be frozen until City College is eligible for more funding under a
revised state funding formula enacted in 2017.
To qualify for more state funding, City College must increase enrollment in
line with the new formula, freeze expenses for several years or both.
Assuming no more enrollment growth, City College might not be eligible to
receive increased funding until the 2031-32 fiscal year. However, if City
College grows 8% in annual enrollment in the coming years, it could be
eligible for increased funding as soon as the 2028-29 fiscal year.
To further grow enrollment, City College has increased its marketing
efforts using new digital platforms and traditional methods to communicate
its affordability and array of courses for potential transfer students,
mid-career professionals and lifelong learners.
The Free City College program, which uses municipal funds to directly pay
student tuition, has increased access to education and encourages student
enrollment. Opportunities for growth include using Free City College
reserve funds for basic needs, food, books, and public transit, which
requires permission from the Mayor and Board of Supervisors. We have also
prioritized scheduling the most in-demand courses supporting job training
and transfers to four-year institutions.
The answer to serve San Francisco students and ensure the long term
sustainability of City College is clear: 1. Protect Free City College from
being downsized; 2. Increase enrollment by offering the most in-demand
classes and outreach / marketing; 3. Increase wraparound services and
support for basic needs of students to ensure access to all San Franciscans.
2. Why are you running for College Board?
City College has played a pivotal role in my life and family for decades.
Now, I am eager to give back to the institution that has given me so much.
I am running for the City College Board because I believe in a City College
that creates opportunities for all San Franciscans.
I was born and raised in San Francisco and my entire family attended City
College. My journey with City College began when my father immigrated to
San Francisco. After being laid off from his factory job, he enrolled in
English classes at City College to improve his language skills and job
prospects. He then joined a vocational program, which led to a successful
two-decade career. The wages and healthcare benefits allowed my father to
support our family, enabling us to rent modest in-law units in the Sunset
District. While a student in the San Francisco Unified School District, I
served on the SFUSD Student Advisory Council for two years and as Student
Delegate to the San Francisco Board of Education for two terms. As a
teenager, I took free City College classes through a low-income tuition
waiver, earning credits that helped me graduate from U.C. San Diego with a
bachelor's degree at just 19 years old.
In 2019, as an education policy advisor at City Hall, I was the principal
legislative staffer responsible for drafting and passing the legislation
that currently provides a decade of 'Free City College' for all San
Franciscans. I also coordinated a partnership between City College,
Department of Children, Youth and Their Families, the SFUSD, and local
organizations to expand City College classes for high school students,
increasing their academic success and opportunities. Through this
partnership, we were able to help high school students to get ahead and
take college success, college-level calculus, ethnic studies, and language
classes. In partnership with local nonprofits, we also placed child
development, older adult activity, and English as a Second Language classes
into the community.
Since my election to the Board of Trustees in 2020, I have focused on
fiscal oversight, job training, and improving student success. I worked to
achieve a balanced budget with five percent reserves and proposed reforms
to the college budget policy, including multi-year budget planning,
mandatory monthly updates, and two-thirds trustee approval before using
reserve funds. As Co-Chair of the Free City College Oversight Committee, I
successfully advocated for City Hall to provide $2.1 million to open City
College's doors and eliminate student debt for 13,000 students.
In both 2023 and 2024, I was elected as the City College Board President
for two consecutive terms. In my current role as policy director for
Children's Council of San Francisco, I advocate for child care and to
ensure that every child in San Francisco has the opportunity to reach their
full potential. With a comprehensive policy background in child care, K-12,
and higher education, my aim is to support the success of young San
Franciscans from birth to adulthood.
3. How are you currently involved in the Community College -- or how were you involved in the past?
I serve as the President of the City College of San Francisco Board of
Trustees and Co-Chair of the Free City College Oversight Committee. I am
also the policy director for the Children's Council of San Francisco.
My journey with City College began when my father immigrated to San
Francisco. After being laid off from his factory job, he enrolled in
English classes at City College to improve his language skills and job
prospects. He then joined the culinary program, which led to a successful
career as a Local 2 union hotel cook. The wages and healthcare benefits
allowed my father to support our family, enabling us to rent modest in-law
units in the Sunset District. As a teenager, I took free City College
classes through a low-income tuition waiver, earning credits that helped me
graduate from U.C. San Diego with a bachelor's degree at just 19 years old.
In 2019, as an education policy advisor at City Hall, I drafted legislation
that provides a decade of 'Free City College' for all San Franciscans. I
also coordinated a partnership between City College, the SFUSD, and local
organizations to expand City College classes for high school students,
increasing their academic success and opportunities.
4. What is your stance on public and private partnerships within the college?
I believe that public and private partnerships within the college can be
mutually beneficial.
As a former education policy advisor, I successfully established a
rent-free satellite campus, expanding City College into the underserved
Sunset neighborhood. This involved collaboration with local nonprofits, AFT
Local 2121, City College, and SFUSD.
I conducted a comprehensive needs assessment and town hall, gathering
hundreds of surveys from students, seniors, workers, and community members.
This feedback informed our decisions on the classes offered, facilities
used, and the overall placement of City College Sunset. The partnerships we
formed allowed us to secure rent-free space, benefiting both City College
and the facilities hosting the classes.
After finalizing the classes, I led efforts to enroll over one hundred
students through organized enrollment fairs and community outreach. My
experience in expanding City College into the Sunset equips me to advocate
for future public and private partnership opportunities that provide
equitable access to City College services across all communities.
City College Sunset served over 250 students, offering classes in ESL,
Child Development, American Sign Language, College Success, Ethnic Studies,
Older Adult programs, Calculus, and high school dual enrollment courses
transferable to college credit. The Calculus class for high school students
had triple the demand than available spots. The dual enrollment classes are
crucial in helping young people envision a future in college and creating
an enrollment pipeline for City College.
My past experience demonstrates my ability to create mutually beneficial
partnerships between nonprofits and public institutions. I believe we can
generate revenue by leveraging existing college-owned properties. By
forming nonprofit and community-serving partnerships, we can maximize the
use of City College facilities, enhance public service, and reinvest the
revenue into classrooms. For example, we could establish job centers on
campuses by renting space to workforce nonprofits that could recruit,
enroll, retain, and hire students. These nonprofits could help community
members find jobs and enroll in City College classes while efficiently
utilizing underused spaces.
5. What is your position on Free City College? How should it be changed,
if at all?
As a City Hall education policy advisor for Supervisor Gordon Mar in 2019,
I was the principal legislative staffer that worked on drafting and passing
the current Free City College program, guaranteeing a decade of Free City
College for all San Franciscans.
Now the City has reneged on that ten-year agreement, taken Free City
College reserve funds meant for students, and plans to further downsize
Free City College starting in the 2025-26 academic year so the program will
only provide tuition-free enrollment for some classes, not all. The plans
to further downsize by the City will likely come out later this year and
are being proposed for the 2025-26 academic year.
San Franciscans voted for Prop. W in 2016 to support and provide funding
for Free City College. Turning back on the 2019 agreement would undermine
student access to higher education and destabilize City College,
particularly as it faces impending financial hurdles and is counting on
stable enrollment growth.
For a small fraction of the City's $16 billion budget that should have
already been set aside for Free City College, San Francisco can uphold its
promise of free community college tuition, and even expand support for
student debt relief, basic needs, and public transit.
City College is San Francisco's only lifelong learning institution where
all residents " regardless of age, income or background " can enroll for
free. Free enrollment is essential to our mission of removing barriers for
low-income students, historically marginalized communities, working
students and parents who need childcare to attend classes.
I will defend the Free City College program and negotiate hard to ensure
that all City College classes are tuition free.
6. If elected to the Board, how would you ensure that you and the
public would receive the college's draft budget with sufficient
time to review it thoroughly before adopting it?
As the City College Board of Trustees Budget Chair in 2022, I worked to
achieve a balanced budget with five percent reserves and proposed permanent
structural reforms to the college budget policy, including five-year
multi-year budget planning, mandatory monthly budget updates, and
two-thirds trustee approval before using reserve funds. These changes also
included provisions moving up our budget review calendar to increase
transparency and public oversight.
Currently, I am working with our new Chancellor on posting public Board of
Trustees agendas earlier than required by law to increase transparency.
7. What is your position on selling campus properties?
Do not sell. Public properties are a valuable asset and should be kept for
the benefit of the public, college, and community. Public properties can be
utilized to serve the community, public good and generate revenue.
8. Do you feel there is enough transparency or public disclosure of the Board and the college? How would you change things?
As the City College Board of Trustees Budget Chair in 2022, I worked to
achieve a balanced budget with five percent reserves and proposed permanent
structural reforms to the college budget policy, including five-year
multi-year budget planning, mandatory monthly budget updates, and
two-thirds trustee approval before using reserve funds. These changes also
included provisions moving up our budget review calendar to increase
transparency and public oversight.
Currently, I am working with our new Chancellor on posting public Board of
Trustees agendas earlier than required by law to increase transparency.
9. Have you attended the Community College Board meeting? Would you hange public comment policy at the meetings? If so, how?
Yes, I have attended a Community College Board meeting. I serve as the
Chair and have sought to encourage and allow as much comment as possible.
10. How will you increase quality child care at ALL campuses?
I currently serve as policy director for Children's Council of San
Francisco and advocate for childcare and to ensure every child can reach
their full potential. I know from my work that childcare is essential to
enabling student parents access to higher education, gender equality, wage
parity, and economic mobility.
We can increase investments into childcare and support educational access
for student parents by tapping into available and reserve ‘Baby'
Proposition C funds that have been underutilized. The funding can be used
to expand City College and other childcare facility infrastructure, train
new early educators, and provide free or subsidized childcare services
11. How will you work to counter and prevent profiling and police
harassment on campus? What is your position on police firearms on
campus?
We must ensure that use of force policies are consistent with the norms and
values of the public. We must ensure that public safety organizations are
transparent to retain public trust. We need to support and prioritize
non-police responses when no criminal statutes have been broken. I will
advocate that our campus police reflect San Francisco and City College's
culture and values of nonviolence. I do not support firearms on campus.
12. What is your position on allowing noncitizens the right to vote for
College Board and other local elections? Did you take a public
position on previous ballot initiatives on the subject?
In 2004, as a high school student, I actively worked on Proposition F to
allow non-citizen parents to vote in San Francisco school board elections.
The measure failed, but after three attempts it passed. Allowing
non-citizens to vote for the college board was a part of my platform when I
ran in 2020 and I followed through with my campaign platform.
In 2024, I passed a resolution at the City College Board of Trustees to
officially support allowing noncitizen City College students the right to
vote in College Board elections and urging the Board of Supervisors to
introduce a charter amendment to do so. Although it did not make it on the
ballot for this year, I plan to follow up on this position.
13. What are your views of transportation and pedestrian safety to,
from and around City College campuses? What, if anything, would
you change, and how would you go about making those changes?
Improving transit access to City College will increase equitable access to
education, student and employee safety, and student enrollment. In order to
make most of the transit charges in and around campuses, we would need the
SFMTA to take action.
From 2016 to 2023 there were three pedestrian fatalities along Ocean Avenue
and three motor vehicle collision fatalities along Ocean Avenue or Judson
Avenue. According to the City, San Francisco's “Vision Zero” policy
represents the City's commitment to eliminating traffic deaths on our
streets by 2023 through building better and safer streets, educating the
public on transit safety, enforcing traffic laws and adopting policy
changes. The construction of a new Performing Arts and Education Center and
Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics Building will
increase demand for and reduce the number of parking spaces available at
the Ocean Campus.
In a 2018 City College of San Francisco survey of mode of transportation by
students: 48% of students took transit, 6% of students took active options
such as biking or walking, 33% drove alone, 10% participated in a carpool.
For employees: 22% of employees took transit, 5% of employees took active
options such as biking or walking, 66% drove alone, 4% participated in a
carpool.
In a 2018 City College of San Francisco outreach event targeting students
on campus and asking how City College of San Francisco should allocate
resources for transportation: 29% of students favored improved connections
to Bay Area Rapid Transit and Muni (such as better access pathways,
lighting, crosswalks, and improvements to bus stop facilities) and 27% of
students favored subsidizing transit passes for all students. For
employees: 26% of employees favored safety improvements and 24% of
employees favored improved connections to Bay Area Rapid Transit and Muni.
Recommended core measures in the City College of San Francisco Ocean Campus
Transit Demand Management (TDM) Plan included: improving connections with
Bay Area Rapid Transit and Muni stations by working to address sidewalks,
crosswalks, and other environmental issues requiring cooperation with San
Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, improving signage supporting
bikeways and pedestrian access, and improvements to bicycle and pedestrian
network, such as marked bicycle lanes, high quality sidewalks and campus
pathways.
City College of San Francisco Associated Students and community have also
consistently advocated for free or subsidized student transit passes for
students, including Assembly Bill 610 Youth Transit Pass Pilot Program:
free youth transit passes, which would create a five-year Youth Transit
Pass Pilot Program to providing grants to transit agencies to create or
expand free fare transit programs for college and K-12 students. The Free
Muni for Youth Program began as a pilot in March 2013, providing free Muni
rides to children ages 5 through 18 who reside in low to moderate income
households. In 2021 the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
Director estimated a cost of $20 million to pay for City College student
transit passes for all students.
It is essential for City College of San Francisco to clearly communicate
transit improvement priorities and represent the interests of students,
staff, and City College to the SFMTA. Transit improvements in and around
City College for public transit, roads, bicycle lanes, and sidewalks
effects or is under the jurisdiction of multiple government agencies and
will require interagency cooperation. Here's what we can ask other agencies
to work with City College on:
1.
Work on a multi-agency effort for a free or subsidized student transit
pass in partnership with San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
and/or Bay Area Rapid Transit
2.
Work with SFMTA and BART to make City College a transit hub such as
making it easier for students and employees to get to and from the BART
station, make permanent environmental changes on roads, and incentivizing
sustainable transportation
3.
Expansion of the northside Ocean Avenue pedestrian sidewalk adjacent to
City College and bicycle lane
4.
Creation of a sidewalk on the southside of Havelock Street between City
College and Havelock Bridge
5.
Creation of a sidewalk on the southeast-side of Circular Avenue between
Havelock Bridge and Judson Avenue
6.
Painting of a crosswalk at both Cloud Avenue street crossings
intersecting with Frida Kahlo Way
7.
Ensure necessary crosswalks between Balboa Park and City College to
promote safety for pedestrians and those using wheelchairs
Half of students take public transit to City College. I would like to see
internal structural changes to make it easier for students and staff to
bike, walk, or take public transit to the college such as:
-
Develop a comprehensive sustainable transportation plan, including a
systematic review of City College facilities to identify ways to make City
College safer for pedestrians and those using wheelchairs to access
-
Expand the existing programs providing subsidized and free passes for
students and employees
-
Proper lighting and visibility to support security and prevent accidents
during the night
14. What is your position on military recruiting on campus?
As a veteran, it is my personal experience that many recruiters mislead
potential recruits. Although federal law sets the rules for campus military
recruiting, we as a college, community, family members, and peers still
have a responsibility to strongly educate those considering joining about
the risks and consequences.