UCSD’s student-run cooperatives are free of their debt to the A.S. council today after councilmembers voted last night to pay off over $35,000 in back rent accrued by the Food Co-op, the General Store Co-op, Groundwork Books and the Che Cafe during their 2004 space-agreement negotiations.
The council voted unanimously to absorb the $35,408.37 sum after an impassioned presentation by co-op employees and supporters.
The council will allocate $12,426.06 to the Food Co-op, $12,392.00 to the General Store Co-op, $7,083.88 to Groundwork Books and $3,506.43 to the Che Cafe. This sum will be taken from the council’s mandate reserves, a fund that Revelle College Senator Katie Hall described as a general account set aside for emergencies.
Food Co-op core member Daniel Nguyen gave a presentation at the meeting outlining the history of the four co-ops’ debt and the reasons it should be forgiven. According to Nguyen, the master space agreement ‘mdash; a contract enacted in 1993 that resembled a landlord-tenant agreement between the university and the co-ops ‘mdash; ended in 2000, leaving the co-ops without an official contract.
According to Hall, the council did not renew this contract when it expired’ in 2000, although it was an A.S. responsibility. Following this, the university sent the co-ops an eviction notice in 2004.
‘We didn’t think about it until 2004, [at which time] the co-ops decided to renegotiate the contracts [because] they weren’t happy with the old one,’ Hall said.
The negotiation period that followed lasted for two years, during which no official contract existed between the university and the co-ops. Also during this time, Student Center construction interfered with co-op functionality, in turn causing greater disagreements about rent.
According to Nguyen, the co-ops stopped paying rent to the university at this time because they did not agree upon a contract and because the construction obstructed co-op entrances and blocked off the Food Co-op’s kitchen, dramatically hindering the co-ops’ livelihood.
‘Until this, co-ops were very consistent [in paying their rent],’ Nguyen said. ‘It’s not because of being financially irresponsible, but because our existence at this point was being threatened.’
According to Nguyen, a new master space agreement was decided upon in June 2006, and the co-ops were sent a $35,408.37 bill for expenses accrued during the lengthy negotiations.
‘Since 2006, they’ve paid off a significant portion of the debt,’ Hall said. ‘They’ve been paying off debt for years when they could be expanding to offer new services. We decided to forgive the debt. We really support the co-ops. It’s one of the only completely student-owned assets on campus and a great way for people to get involved.’
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