Pardis Farhadian has shown the ability to make realistic goals and enlist the support of disparate groups, and her experience as a resident assistant and cooperation with outside organizations, such as the Westwood neighborhood association, have prepared her to succeed as Facilities commissioner.
Though both Farhadian and Galen Roth both focus on similar issues, including student safety and environmental sustainability, Farhadian’s platform points tend to focus on better utilizing existing facilities rather than stretching the budget to cover entirely new entities. Her suggestions also play to the strengths and interests of other groups she will have to work with.
For sustainability, Farhadian suggested expanding the use of sensor lighting to reduce energy waste in off-hours and installing water-saving toilets, sinks and showers, and high-powered hand dryers to replace paper towels. These measures would end up saving UCLA money in the long run and are more likely to be adopted.
Roth’s ideas to change ASUCLA bags and packaging to more sustainable materials would come at a great cost and little benefit and are therefore unlikely to succeed.
Both candidates target street lighting as a way to improve student safety. Farhadian has already worked with Facilities Management to devise a lighted nighttime running route that would mostly make use of existing lights on campus. Because it focuses on taking advantage of facilities already in place, this program would cost little and avoid conflict with neighborhood associations that impose lighting restrictions around the northern edge of campus.
We feel that Roth’s streetlight program is also a worthy cause, but we are troubled by her lack of awareness about these conflicting interests.
Although Farhadian could have been more prepared for her interview, we were impressed by her ability to work within the system, and we feel that she would make the better commissioner.