News
JUNE 13, 2015:
We have updated our "Pix & Vids" section with new photographs of West Campus Family Student Housing. Of particular note are the photographs of the new parking lot (where our old main lawn used to be), the Sierra Madre Apartments, and the construction underway across the street from West Campus at the emerging San Joaquin Apartments.
MARCH 7, 2015:
For those of you who found this website on Google or elsewhere and are wondering about what's going on with respect to the impact of the construction zones here at West Campus, please know that Housing's website, in its current state, is ENTIRELY dishonest and DOES NOT accurately represent conditions here at West Campus. In addition to the nearby Sierra Madre construction zone, Housing has recently ripped up West Campus' main lawn (formerly shared by all residents alike) and is in the process of constructing a brand new parking lot ... ONLY FOR HOUSING EMPLOYEES! West Campus residents will NOT be given ANY spaces in this new parking lot! In addition to ripping up the nearby wetlands (in order to construct the Sierra Madre complex) and the main lawn (for Housing's new parking lot), Housing recently ripped up a number of redwood trees that they themselves killed (by not watering them for over six months). So, if you apply to live here at West Campus, make DAMN SURE you know exactly where in the complex you will be living and just how affected your location will (not "might") be by the nearby construction projects.
FEBRUARY 15, 2015:
We were recently notified by a new WCFH resident that Housing has been using a so-called "addendum" contract with incoming residents designed to deny them the rights we existing WCFH residents campaigned for and won last March. If you are a prospective resident for WCFH, please know that you DO NOT have to sign any "addendum." To learn about the rights existing WCFH residents have earned for you and your family throughout the duration of any nearby disruptive construction projects, please review the agreement that I, Brian J Griffith, the (now former) TA Board President, Braxton Lethco, and the Director of Housing, Willie Brown, signed in March of 2014. In response to this illegal maneuver against incoming WCFH residents, I recently wrote the following email to the TA Board, which, I have been told, is being acted upon as I write:
Hello TA Board members,
Firstly, I apologize for all of the emails I've sent to you over the past month or so. I know that you guys work much harder than you're compensated for, so I am fully cognizant of the demands I've made on your time and energy. But, as you are fully aware, there are many important developments here at West Campus and elsewhere that need to be addressed, so I am writing you to once more to bring a few things to your attention and to make a few requests:
As you may have seen recently, Jill Hurd capitulated to RESIDENT'S NAME request that he and his wife be allowed to take advantage of the third option in our March 2014 agreement between West Campus residents and Housing administrators, which allows any West Campus resident impacted by the construction zones the ability to relocate to a less impacted unit without having to pay any fees or moving-related costs. I am writing to you now to request that, at any future meeting with the TA Board and Housing, you:
Also, I think Housing should have to submit its plans for reforming their tenant application system to you, the TA Board, before implementing them. There should be an understanding between Housing and the TA Board that the latter has jurisdiction here and should be able to monitor the ways in which Housing is going about signing up new tenants in order to prevent the former from developing these purposefully misleading and perfidious tactics in circumventing the agreement that they willingly signed last year. The TA Board's mandate is to keep Housing accountable to its residents. I think, and I'm sure that you agree, that these requests are fully within the intended spirit of this mandate.
Lastly, and perhaps more importantly, I have recently heard from yet another tenant that West Campus is, in fact, scheduled for demolition sometime soon. Maybe within the year; maybe within the next three or four years. I DEMAND to know if Housing has any of these plans in mind IMMEDIATELY. If West Campus is scheduled to be demolished in order to make room for a new complex, current AND FUTURE West Campus residents deserve to know NOW! Housing should be OBLIGATED to make an official statement in writing IMMEDIATELY. Either they have said plans in mind and they officially lie about them to the TA Board on written record -- thus opening themselves up to potential future litigation -- or they calm the fears of anxious West Campus residents whose existence here has been embattled and contentious for the last year and half or so by issuing a public statement that no such plans currently exist. IS HOUSING GOING TO DEMOLISH WEST CAMPUS? IF SO, WHEN? I want to know. And, after this past year, I think I and other West Campus residents deserve to know.
Thank you, TA Board. Your time and energy are greatly appreciated. I know that I've written a lot here, but I am very much interested in getting answers to these questions and concerns, and view the TA Board as the best vehicle for getting them in a timely and efficient manner.
I will be looking forward to hearing back from you.
Sincerely,
Brian J Griffith
JANUARY 5, 2015:
To all existing or any incoming WCFH residents, there are nails, screws, bolts, and other hazardous items strewn about West Campus' main driveways right now. Despite Housing's alleged 'best efforts' to keep our driveways clean of construction-related debris, several residents have reported flat tires and other automotive issues related to driving over these piles of construction rubble. If you are a WCFH resident and have had any run-ins with flat tires within the last year or so, please email Housing's CFO, Martin Shumaker directly, explaining your situation and, ideally, providing him with evidence of your grievance and any associated bills or related costs you'd like to be reimbursed for: [email protected].
NOVEMBER 24, 2014:
We recently sent Housing and WCFH residents an email regarding the urgent need to address the related issues of the scheduled excavation of the WCFH main lawn and the scheduled increases in WCFH rental rates in July 2016. We proposing that Housing keeps WCFH rental rates as they are now in light of the significant square footage/amenity loss residents will experience once the lawn excavation and parking lot construction is fully underway in the coming months. Raising WCFH rental rates while simultaneously eliminating 11% of the complex – and the only open green space WCFH residents share in common, while, at the same time, constructing an open green space for San Joaquin residents and Housing employees across the street at the soon-to-be-constructed San Joaquin complex – is unacceptable. If you agree, send a message to the following Housing officials:
MARCH 17, 2014:
Brian Griffith (WCFH Representative) and Braxton Lethco (Tenants Association President) have signed and submitted Housing's compensation proposal on behalf of all WCFH residents.
MARCH 16, 2014:
The Daily Nexus -- UCSB's student-led newspaper -- recently published a news article on WCFH residents' struggles with Housing, with respect to the construction zone crisis.
MARCH 12, 2014:
Dear fellow West Campus residents: We have good news. Housing has agreed to all three of our demands (see attached document). Willie Brown -- the Director of Housing & Residential Services -- has promised to put this deal in official writing sometime tomorrow morning/early afternoon. I will be sure to forward that document to each of you once I have it in my possession. Thank you for your support through this unfortunate situation. It seems as though we're approaching an end to this construction zone crisis.
MARCH 10, 2014:
Housing recently offered the Tenants Association (which represents us WCFH residents) a $10,000 check as compensation for our construction-related grievances. While this may sound like a lot of money, it appears to be far less adequate when one considers all of the unanswered questions that would accompany the money. To begin, who distributes this money?! The TA Board?! And how much to each resident?! These questions were left unanswered or ambiguous by Housing. We now have over 100 petition signees. If each of our signees were to receive an equal share of this $10,000, each household would only receive $100 (as a final settlement from Housing). As a result of such obvious inadequacy, we have rejected this insulting offer, calling for Housing's administrators to get serious about their responsibilities towards us residents, whose lives they have significantly impacted with their long-term development strategies. I don't know about each of you, but I was jolted out of sleep this morning at 7am on the dot, despite having gone to bed at 1am (because I was catching up on my work). Since we are poised to publish a number of articles in the coming weeks, and have submitted your comments (without your names and other forms of identification attached) to a number of executives at Housing, we are hoping that Housing will see just how serious this problem has become over the past few weeks and months and, therefore, adjust their attitudes towards us residents accordingly. Stay tuned for updates.
MARCH 10, 2014:
Housing is now willing to offer financial compensation to those WCFH residents who wish to move into a less impacted apartment!!! This offer would waive the apartment transfer fee ($250) and cover the costs of hiring a moving company for one day to help you relocate your property/personal belongings. If any of you are interested in accepting this offer, you should contact Jill Hurd via the contact information provided below:
Jill Hurd (Director // Apartment and Community Living)
However, this offer constitutes only one third of our list of demands. Therefore, while we are happy to learn that Housing is willing to offer this concession, we must carry on until all of our demands have been adequately addressed.
MARCH 9, 2014:
We have begun collectively composing our op-ed article(s) for both The Daily Nexus and The Bottom Line. However, only those who signed the petition (and who have indicated that they wish to be contacted regarding our petition-organizing efforts) have been invited to participate in this collective process. Due to our relatively urgent circumstances, we would like to request that those of you who would like to participate in crafting our public letter to Chancellor Yang do so within the next two days, as we would like to submit our letters for publication by mid-week. Thank you for your participation and cooperation.
MARCH 9, 2014:
We have created Facebook and Google+ group pages with which you can help us spread the word about our petition and raise awareness of the struggles of West Campus Family Housing residents against a non-responsive and unsupportive Housing administration.
MARCH 8, 2014:
We are only in our first twenty-four hours, but we have already received a significant number of signatures!!! And many of our signees have dedicated considerable amounts of space (via the "Comments" section of our petition) to expressing their dismay with the construction project(s)'s impact on their family's living conditions and overall quality of life here at West Campus Family Housing. We look forward to receiving still more signatures in the coming days/week. If you haven't signed the petition yet, please do. If you know others who haven't, please encourage them to do so. We would like to present an impressive stack of petition signatures/comments to Housing & Residential Services within the coming weeks. So, please add your name to a growing list of concerned WCFH residents.
MARCH 7, 2014:
As of March 7, 2014, we have begun promoting our petition to the residents of West Campus Apartments.
FEBRUARY 19, 2014:
Both The Daily Nexus and The Bottom Line have agreed to publish op-eds on our struggles against Housing & Residential Services. Stay tuned for our publication(s) announcement.
FEBRUARY 17, 2014:
The UAW 2865 -- the union representing more than 12,000 graduate teaching assistants, tutors, and readers across the University of California system -- has written a letter of sympathy to express the union's profound dismay and disappointment with the intransigent posture that Housing & Residential Services has taken towards its members who are concerned with the ongoing construction near West Campus Family Housing, as well as with the rent increases they are being forced to bear amidst these hazardous conditions.
We have updated our "Pix & Vids" section with new photographs of West Campus Family Student Housing. Of particular note are the photographs of the new parking lot (where our old main lawn used to be), the Sierra Madre Apartments, and the construction underway across the street from West Campus at the emerging San Joaquin Apartments.
MARCH 7, 2015:
For those of you who found this website on Google or elsewhere and are wondering about what's going on with respect to the impact of the construction zones here at West Campus, please know that Housing's website, in its current state, is ENTIRELY dishonest and DOES NOT accurately represent conditions here at West Campus. In addition to the nearby Sierra Madre construction zone, Housing has recently ripped up West Campus' main lawn (formerly shared by all residents alike) and is in the process of constructing a brand new parking lot ... ONLY FOR HOUSING EMPLOYEES! West Campus residents will NOT be given ANY spaces in this new parking lot! In addition to ripping up the nearby wetlands (in order to construct the Sierra Madre complex) and the main lawn (for Housing's new parking lot), Housing recently ripped up a number of redwood trees that they themselves killed (by not watering them for over six months). So, if you apply to live here at West Campus, make DAMN SURE you know exactly where in the complex you will be living and just how affected your location will (not "might") be by the nearby construction projects.
FEBRUARY 15, 2015:
We were recently notified by a new WCFH resident that Housing has been using a so-called "addendum" contract with incoming residents designed to deny them the rights we existing WCFH residents campaigned for and won last March. If you are a prospective resident for WCFH, please know that you DO NOT have to sign any "addendum." To learn about the rights existing WCFH residents have earned for you and your family throughout the duration of any nearby disruptive construction projects, please review the agreement that I, Brian J Griffith, the (now former) TA Board President, Braxton Lethco, and the Director of Housing, Willie Brown, signed in March of 2014. In response to this illegal maneuver against incoming WCFH residents, I recently wrote the following email to the TA Board, which, I have been told, is being acted upon as I write:
Hello TA Board members,
Firstly, I apologize for all of the emails I've sent to you over the past month or so. I know that you guys work much harder than you're compensated for, so I am fully cognizant of the demands I've made on your time and energy. But, as you are fully aware, there are many important developments here at West Campus and elsewhere that need to be addressed, so I am writing you to once more to bring a few things to your attention and to make a few requests:
As you may have seen recently, Jill Hurd capitulated to RESIDENT'S NAME request that he and his wife be allowed to take advantage of the third option in our March 2014 agreement between West Campus residents and Housing administrators, which allows any West Campus resident impacted by the construction zones the ability to relocate to a less impacted unit without having to pay any fees or moving-related costs. I am writing to you now to request that, at any future meeting with the TA Board and Housing, you:
- Demand that Housing immediately ceases using its "addendum" for incoming residents (see attached), which is, actually, in clear violation of the agreement which Willie Brown signed (that's a legal document ... if I were to sue Housing I could present that contract as evidence, and Housing should know that they have already breached that legal contract with their "addendum" nonsense ...). The agreement and the contract which emerged from said agreement always accounted for current and future tenants throughout the duration of any quality of life-impacting construction projects (which, at the time, were said to be Sierra Madre and San Joaquin). If someone left the complex, then they no longer apply. But if any new tenants arrive here at West Campus, especially those whose units are disproportionately affected by the nearby construction zones, they, of course, have full rights to the options outlined in our March 2014 agreement. How do I know that Housing already knows this?! Jill Hurd capitulated instead of enforcing Housing's "addendum." They know. Now it's the TA Board's job to catch them in their perfidy (and, perhaps, remind them that it's bullshit like this that pisses off West Campus residents and convinces them that Housing administrators cannot be trusted in any way ...) and demand that they cease using this "extra" contract with incoming residents. And I hope that the TA Board is prepared to ask for verification that said illegal practices have, in fact, actually stopped. If the passed two years have taught me and various former/current members of the TA Board anything, it's that Housing does not take the TA Board seriously (Marian Bankins in particular) and tries to circumvent the TA Board's authority and oversight via clever language, convenient timing, and other dishonest maneuvers.
- Demand that Housing posts something on the West Campus section of Housing's website (see http://www.housing.ucsb.edu/residences/west-campus) that describes the scope and duration of all construction projects nearby and outlines where the high impact zones are here at West Campus (Martin Shumaker has a visual model of the distribution of construction-related disturbances that our committee submitted to him on two different occasions that Housing can either use directly or draw upon when crafting a new visual representation of the construction woes here at West Campus) and points any future prospective tenants to the website when processing their applications, which would enable those people to understand the full (NOT potential or hypothetical) impact of the construction zones on their living situations.
- Demand that Housing either inform incoming residents of their recently-acquired rights with respect to the construction nightmare or provides the TA Board with the necessary tools to do so (i.e. a monthly list of the names and email addresses of incoming residents so the TA Board can send out an email introducing the organization and informing incoming residents of their rights).
Also, I think Housing should have to submit its plans for reforming their tenant application system to you, the TA Board, before implementing them. There should be an understanding between Housing and the TA Board that the latter has jurisdiction here and should be able to monitor the ways in which Housing is going about signing up new tenants in order to prevent the former from developing these purposefully misleading and perfidious tactics in circumventing the agreement that they willingly signed last year. The TA Board's mandate is to keep Housing accountable to its residents. I think, and I'm sure that you agree, that these requests are fully within the intended spirit of this mandate.
Lastly, and perhaps more importantly, I have recently heard from yet another tenant that West Campus is, in fact, scheduled for demolition sometime soon. Maybe within the year; maybe within the next three or four years. I DEMAND to know if Housing has any of these plans in mind IMMEDIATELY. If West Campus is scheduled to be demolished in order to make room for a new complex, current AND FUTURE West Campus residents deserve to know NOW! Housing should be OBLIGATED to make an official statement in writing IMMEDIATELY. Either they have said plans in mind and they officially lie about them to the TA Board on written record -- thus opening themselves up to potential future litigation -- or they calm the fears of anxious West Campus residents whose existence here has been embattled and contentious for the last year and half or so by issuing a public statement that no such plans currently exist. IS HOUSING GOING TO DEMOLISH WEST CAMPUS? IF SO, WHEN? I want to know. And, after this past year, I think I and other West Campus residents deserve to know.
Thank you, TA Board. Your time and energy are greatly appreciated. I know that I've written a lot here, but I am very much interested in getting answers to these questions and concerns, and view the TA Board as the best vehicle for getting them in a timely and efficient manner.
I will be looking forward to hearing back from you.
Sincerely,
Brian J Griffith
JANUARY 5, 2015:
To all existing or any incoming WCFH residents, there are nails, screws, bolts, and other hazardous items strewn about West Campus' main driveways right now. Despite Housing's alleged 'best efforts' to keep our driveways clean of construction-related debris, several residents have reported flat tires and other automotive issues related to driving over these piles of construction rubble. If you are a WCFH resident and have had any run-ins with flat tires within the last year or so, please email Housing's CFO, Martin Shumaker directly, explaining your situation and, ideally, providing him with evidence of your grievance and any associated bills or related costs you'd like to be reimbursed for: [email protected].
NOVEMBER 24, 2014:
We recently sent Housing and WCFH residents an email regarding the urgent need to address the related issues of the scheduled excavation of the WCFH main lawn and the scheduled increases in WCFH rental rates in July 2016. We proposing that Housing keeps WCFH rental rates as they are now in light of the significant square footage/amenity loss residents will experience once the lawn excavation and parking lot construction is fully underway in the coming months. Raising WCFH rental rates while simultaneously eliminating 11% of the complex – and the only open green space WCFH residents share in common, while, at the same time, constructing an open green space for San Joaquin residents and Housing employees across the street at the soon-to-be-constructed San Joaquin complex – is unacceptable. If you agree, send a message to the following Housing officials:
- Willie Brown (Director of Housing): [email protected]
- Jill Hurd (Director of Apartment and Community Living): [email protected]
- Marian Bankins (Associate Director of Apartment Student Life): [email protected]
MARCH 17, 2014:
Brian Griffith (WCFH Representative) and Braxton Lethco (Tenants Association President) have signed and submitted Housing's compensation proposal on behalf of all WCFH residents.
MARCH 16, 2014:
The Daily Nexus -- UCSB's student-led newspaper -- recently published a news article on WCFH residents' struggles with Housing, with respect to the construction zone crisis.
MARCH 12, 2014:
Dear fellow West Campus residents: We have good news. Housing has agreed to all three of our demands (see attached document). Willie Brown -- the Director of Housing & Residential Services -- has promised to put this deal in official writing sometime tomorrow morning/early afternoon. I will be sure to forward that document to each of you once I have it in my possession. Thank you for your support through this unfortunate situation. It seems as though we're approaching an end to this construction zone crisis.
MARCH 10, 2014:
Housing recently offered the Tenants Association (which represents us WCFH residents) a $10,000 check as compensation for our construction-related grievances. While this may sound like a lot of money, it appears to be far less adequate when one considers all of the unanswered questions that would accompany the money. To begin, who distributes this money?! The TA Board?! And how much to each resident?! These questions were left unanswered or ambiguous by Housing. We now have over 100 petition signees. If each of our signees were to receive an equal share of this $10,000, each household would only receive $100 (as a final settlement from Housing). As a result of such obvious inadequacy, we have rejected this insulting offer, calling for Housing's administrators to get serious about their responsibilities towards us residents, whose lives they have significantly impacted with their long-term development strategies. I don't know about each of you, but I was jolted out of sleep this morning at 7am on the dot, despite having gone to bed at 1am (because I was catching up on my work). Since we are poised to publish a number of articles in the coming weeks, and have submitted your comments (without your names and other forms of identification attached) to a number of executives at Housing, we are hoping that Housing will see just how serious this problem has become over the past few weeks and months and, therefore, adjust their attitudes towards us residents accordingly. Stay tuned for updates.
MARCH 10, 2014:
Housing is now willing to offer financial compensation to those WCFH residents who wish to move into a less impacted apartment!!! This offer would waive the apartment transfer fee ($250) and cover the costs of hiring a moving company for one day to help you relocate your property/personal belongings. If any of you are interested in accepting this offer, you should contact Jill Hurd via the contact information provided below:
Jill Hurd (Director // Apartment and Community Living)
- (805) 893-3274
- [email protected]
However, this offer constitutes only one third of our list of demands. Therefore, while we are happy to learn that Housing is willing to offer this concession, we must carry on until all of our demands have been adequately addressed.
MARCH 9, 2014:
We have begun collectively composing our op-ed article(s) for both The Daily Nexus and The Bottom Line. However, only those who signed the petition (and who have indicated that they wish to be contacted regarding our petition-organizing efforts) have been invited to participate in this collective process. Due to our relatively urgent circumstances, we would like to request that those of you who would like to participate in crafting our public letter to Chancellor Yang do so within the next two days, as we would like to submit our letters for publication by mid-week. Thank you for your participation and cooperation.
MARCH 9, 2014:
We have created Facebook and Google+ group pages with which you can help us spread the word about our petition and raise awareness of the struggles of West Campus Family Housing residents against a non-responsive and unsupportive Housing administration.
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/westcampusresidents
- Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/118308153792444653572/118308153792444653572/about
MARCH 8, 2014:
We are only in our first twenty-four hours, but we have already received a significant number of signatures!!! And many of our signees have dedicated considerable amounts of space (via the "Comments" section of our petition) to expressing their dismay with the construction project(s)'s impact on their family's living conditions and overall quality of life here at West Campus Family Housing. We look forward to receiving still more signatures in the coming days/week. If you haven't signed the petition yet, please do. If you know others who haven't, please encourage them to do so. We would like to present an impressive stack of petition signatures/comments to Housing & Residential Services within the coming weeks. So, please add your name to a growing list of concerned WCFH residents.
MARCH 7, 2014:
As of March 7, 2014, we have begun promoting our petition to the residents of West Campus Apartments.
FEBRUARY 19, 2014:
Both The Daily Nexus and The Bottom Line have agreed to publish op-eds on our struggles against Housing & Residential Services. Stay tuned for our publication(s) announcement.
FEBRUARY 17, 2014:
The UAW 2865 -- the union representing more than 12,000 graduate teaching assistants, tutors, and readers across the University of California system -- has written a letter of sympathy to express the union's profound dismay and disappointment with the intransigent posture that Housing & Residential Services has taken towards its members who are concerned with the ongoing construction near West Campus Family Housing, as well as with the rent increases they are being forced to bear amidst these hazardous conditions.