Parking fee at MCC?

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
March 17, 2012

Now that MCC has the Ford interceptor for chasing down parking lot violators, it is looking at a fee for students to even park in the parking lots. Like, what other choice do students have?

There are several ways for students to get to classes. They can walk, run, ride bikes or skateboards, and drive their cars. Or ride with friends. (What student wants to carpool???) Or, of course, there might be a PaceBus. But what if you take the PaceBus there and then can't get home? Can't take the MetraRail; that's for sure.

So MCC has a captive audience, when it comes to the parking. Why not stick it to the students? What choice do they have? What voice do they have? Hence, a parking fee.

What's next? A quarter machine on the toilets? Or even to get into the bathroom in the first place?

The MCC interim VP for administrative services thinks "Fees would be justified because the college would use the money to maintain its lots", according to a Northwest Herald article on March 16. Oh, yeah; sure it would. No doubt the money would disappear into the General Fund.

When will students say, "Enough!" They already pay an outrageous per-credit-hour fee for classes to support the outrageous salaries and benefits paid to teachers and staff. Even the non-credit classes are priced almost out of sight.

It's a "community college", folks; a two-year school. It's not Harvard.

I was surprised to read of the 25 parking spaces for motorcycles and 13 for bicycles. Where are they? How do you find one of those? And what bicyclist wants a "parking space" for his bicycle? Who thought that one up? What happens if a bicyclist parks elsewhere? Do they tow his bike?

Three cheers for new trustee Linda Liddell, who opposes a parking fee.