UCSD has agreed to pay the Food Co-op more than $2,500 in
rent abatement after a yearlong debate over financial hardships the group
incurred when the
construction breached the back half of the store last year.
From January through April 2007, co-op members lost access
to their sink, restricting food preparation in the store’s kitchen.
“It feels really good to have finally resolved this,” Food
Co-op core member Molly Parent said. “It’s been an ongoing issue for us for a
year, and it was really important to us that we hold the university accountable
to [our space agreement]. It feels great for us to have it settled in our
favor.”
Co-op core members were informed of UCSD’s decision to
facilitate full rent abatement on Jan. 29 in an e-mail from University Centers
Director Paul Terzino. The missive came after co-op core members spoke before
the A.S. Council on Jan. 23 to request that the council mediate the debate. The
chief concern of core members was UCSD’s apparent refusal to honor the space
agreement contract arranged between the two parties.
“We didn’t have access to water for four months, and
according to the master space agreement that we signed a couple years ago with
the university, if there’s a utilities shut-off that lasts for more than four
hours in a day, we should get full rent abatement for that day,” Parent said.
“So, four straight months of no water should mean four months of rent free.”
Before the A.S. Council could form a committee to address
the issue, however, councilmembers were informed by campus officials that the
university would be compensating the co-op with full rent abatement for the
four-month period in question. Parent said the co-op’s move to take the issue
before the council was likely an influencing factor in UCSD’s decision to
settle the matter.
“It definitely showed them that we were willing to pursue it
to the full extent that we did, and the fact that we were able to demonstrate
in front of A.S. that we knew the MSA well enough to know how to pursue it I
think gave us more credibility and indicated that they should look into it a
little more carefully,” Parent said.
University Centers Director Paul Terzino said in an e-mail
that UCSD’s decison was a result of their unwillingness to let the issue grow
any more than it already had.
“The Food Co-op had asked the A.S. [Council] to convene the
co-op oversight committee, which is currently not operational, to arbitrate the
matter and the difference between a 50-percent rebate and 100-percent rebate
for the period amounted only to $1,304.25,” Terzino said. “Given the amount at
stake, it did not seem like the best use of everyone’s time to convene the
committee and delve into matter.”
A.S. Vice President of Student Life Donna Bean, who heard
the co-op’s request at the Jan. 23 A.S. Council meeting, felt that UCSD was
correct to offer the resolution that it did.
“I think that they made the right decision,” Bean said.
“There should be student-run businesses on campus that can survive, and they
shouldn’t be charging them rent when they have no electricity and no running
water to run the facility. It makes them look bad.”
The debate first arose last year when co-op core members
requested that they be compensated for the four months that they were without
water, asserting that their master space agreement with UCSD afforded them full
rent abatement. Administrators denied the request, offering instead a rent
abatement of 50 percent for each month that the obstruction had occurred. Core
members refused this offer and continued to pursue their initial request.
“It’s sort of been a year long process of discussing this
with University Centers, where they initially felt that the intent of the MSA
was to only provide that if the shutdown forced us to close our doors entirely,
but there’s no actual wording about that,” Parent said. “They offered us a
50-percent rent abatement during that time, but we opted not to accept that
because it wasn’t what we agreed on in the space agreement and we wanted to
have the grounds to pursue full rent abatement.”
Parent said that co-op core members are thankful for campus
officials’ decision.
“We’re really grateful to them for settling it the way they
did,” she said. “We really appreciate the administration for cooperating with
us.”
