UA plans include building more covered parking

Nicholas Valenzuela Arizona Daily Wildcat Marlis Davis, UA director of Parking and Transportation, speaks to ASUA about future plans for parking on campus last night in the Rincon Room of the Memorial Student Union. Davis discussed the current situation of on-campus parking and the new structures that will be seen here within a few years.

Marlis Davis, UA director of Parking and Transportation, told the ASUA Senate that the university is gradually removing surface lots on campus in favor of two new parking garages that will begin construction within the next few years.

The cost of the new garages, which will be located across from Coronado Residence Hall, 822 E. Fifth St., and on East Sixth Street and North Olive Road, will be more than $20 million, Davis said.

The cost to park in new structures will be about $400 a year, but Davis said it will not immediately cover the cost of building the structures.

"We cannot charge enough money to pay for these garages," Davis said. "Parking in the core of campus is going away."

Besides the garages, Davis said there will be peripheral and off-campus lots available to students.

"We want to work toward 9,400 spaces (on campus)," Davis said. "It's a constant balance, trying to keep everyone satisfied."

Davis also fielded queries from senators concerned about the number of citations issued this year.

Sen. Josué Limon told Davis he was not convinced citations were issued with discretion.

"It's hard for me to believe that because it's very easy to receive a citation," Limon said.

According to Davis, 13 percent of Parking and Transportation's revenue comes from citations, although first-offense tickets are often dismissed.

"We have not made any concerted effort to issue more citations," Davis said. "While we are a business, we are also a service organization."

She said while employees are not evaluated based on the number of citations issued, "if someone issues three tickets in eight hours he's not (necessarily) doing his job."

Parking and Transportation is a non-profit organization, and all profits are put back into programs such as alternative transportation and loan payback, Davis said.

Sen. Marisa Hall said she was pleased with Davis' efforts to meet with the Associated Students, but she wasn't completely convinced.

"She does claim to be service oriented, (but) my concern is that it's becoming a business," Hall said. "I have hope. I don't want us to have a bad relationship with her."

In other business, senators voted unanimously to suspend their rules in order to vote on an item that would allow Elections Commissioner Anthony Hill to strike any signature collected "in a manner inconsistent with the elections code."

Hill is in charge of evaluating the recall petition against Administrative Vice President Ryan Rosensteel, and is able to strike any signature obtained under slanderous pretenses.

Hill said he plans to check all signatures, but the invalidation of one signature would not affect the others on the petition.

Erin Mahoney can be reached via e-mail at Erin.Mahoney@wildcat.arizona.edu.