The City College of San Francisco’s Downtown Center, seen here in June 2024, will close this summer.
Thomas Sawano/S.F. Chronicle
Regarding “This downtown S.F. college campus to close after low enrollment triggers loss of state funds,” (Bay Area/San Francisco, SFChronicle.com, March 6): The downtown campus of City College of San Francisco has served credit and noncredit students from around the world since it opened in 1979. It offers ESL from literacy to 1A. Its business, computer, and career-development curriculum are designed to open the doors to the lowest level English and math students to increase access, opportunities and upward mobility.
Downtown rapidly developed curriculum during the dot.com boom. The “Educated Palate” culinary program has worked with Local 2 and all the major hotels and restaurants in S.F. to train banquet servers, chefs, bakers and restaurant owners. The culinary program has been fundamental to the success of S.F. hospitality industry, for workers and owners, including a special math class for cooking.
At night, first year of college credit was offered to downtown workers and anyone wanting to attend school before returning home. Just walk across the hallway and enter a new world. Walk out the door and you have transportation and parking at your fingertips.
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Closing the downtown campus is shortsighted and destructive and undermines CCSF’s mission. CCSF has $50 million in reserves!
We must use the taxpayer dollars to keep the door open. Don’t close Downtown.
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Leslie Smith, associate, and Angela Killibrew, president, AFT 2121, Oakland
Fight offshore drilling
Regarding “Trump orders restart of oil drilling off California coast as Iran war pushes gas prices up,” (California, SFChronicle.com, March 14): President Donald Trump’s illegal order has put the Central Coast in danger of another horrendous spill now that oil is flowing off Santa Barbara again, but it also sets an alarming precedent for the rest of our state.
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This administration has proposed expanding offshore drilling off our coast, including to parts of Northern California. Despite a robust state history of rejecting offshore drilling and strong opposition from those of us who live here, it’s now glaringly obvious that neither Trump nor the oil industry care what we want, or what state law says.
Thankfully, Gov. Gavin Newsom sees this outrageous move for the power grab that it is, and is fighting back. The state has already filed a lawsuit over the order and the administration’s misuse of the Defense Production Act.
I’ll be cheering them on loudly, and I hope you’ll join me. It’s an important moment to stand up for the ocean and our iconic California coastline, before it’s changed forever.
Miyoko Sakashita, Oakland
End her driving privilege
Regarding “West Portal crash: S.F. judge sentences driver who killed family of 4 to probation,” (San Francisco, SFChronicle.com, March 20): I understand and agree that sentencing Mary Fong Lau, the 80-year-old woman who killed a family of four in a tragic auto accident, to prison would serve no purpose, given Ms. Lau’s remorse, age and lack of criminal history. But how does Judge Bruce Chan come to the conclusion that she should be allowed to reapply for a driver license in three years?
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Does the judge believe that her driving skills will miraculously regenerate during the probationary period, and at age 83, having not driven for over three years, Ms. Lau will be able to competently operate a motor vehicle without risk to herself or the community?
Even if Judge Chan is unable to see the error in this particular piece of logic, I hope that Ms. Lau’s family will exercise some common sense.
David Schoenbrun, San Mateo
Where are philanthropists?
Guest opinions in Open Forum and Insight are produced by writers with expertise, personal experience or original insights on a subject of interest to our readers. Their views do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Chronicle editorial board, which is committed to providing a diversity of ideas to our readership.
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Regarding “S.F. has a stunning shuttered museum for sale. Turning it into something new won’t be simple,” (San Francisco, SFChronicle.com, March 25): With the immense amount of new money now concentrated in San Francisco, you would think that it would be a new Renaissance Florence, but as Laura Waxman and J.K. Dineen explain in their article on the closure and sale of the Contemporary Jewish Museum, much of its cultural sector is floundering and even dying.
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I would suggest it is doing so not so much because of a post-COVID hangover but because its very mobile billionaire class does not share the same philanthropic commitment to place that old money families once did, since to do so would cut into their members’ net worth and Forbes 400 ranking.