Athletic facility should be open to all

In fact, I would like to allow all residents of San Mateo County to have the same privilege you enjoy. I’m advocating for two things: 1). primary use of facilities should be “students-first,” meaning academic and job training programs should have primary access to college facilities, and 2). facilities should be open to all county residents, including those who enroll in classes to advance their lifelong learning and folks who might visit campus for a day. We should not restrict use only to those able to lock into expensive long-term gym memberships.

I would like all county residents to have ready access our athletic buildings, pools, playing fields, theaters, libraries and other amenities. These beautiful facilities were constructed with the public’s money and their access should not be restricted to only a privileged few.

I respect your opinion to consider this goal “dysfunctional” as you say. Rather, I hope to open doors to the entire community we serve. Perhaps increased transparency and welcoming the broad access to our facilities, along with other initiatives like improving engagement with our public high schools, offering hybrid online and in-person courses, providing high-quality training in conjunction with employers that will improve the job prospects of students seeking to grow their skills, and returning to tuition-free community college will begin to correct declining enrollment trends the San Mateo County Community College District has suffered over the past decade.

John Pimentel

Menlo Park

The letter writer is a member of the San Mateo County Community College Board of Trustees.