The Associated Students Campus Community Commission found that campus parking structure elevators have been operating under expired permits since 2023.
At the end of the Sept. 30 meeting, one student asked the director of Parking and Transportation Services, Jd Weidman, about the expired permits he observed in Parking 1. Several other students said they noticed the same thing in other parking structures.
Weidman said he was “not aware” of this status and would communicate with SDSU Facilities Services.
Daryn Ockey, executive director of Facilities Services, said that these elevators are currently in compliance with California Division of Occupational Safety and Health Elevator Unit permitting standards, but are pending inspection.
“For context, permits may lapse temporarily due to delays in the state’s inspection scheduling,” Ockey said over email. “SDSU Facilities Services has requested inspections by the state inspector and has also received confirmation from Cal/OSHA that it has received the request. Additionally, Cal/OSHA has confirmed that, pending forthcoming inspections, our elevators are permitted to continue operating.”
Elevators have been regularly maintained by an external vendor and deemed safe to operate, according to Ockey.
However, students said that expired permits are unacceptable.
“It’s like, if I go to a food restaurant and the permit is expired, then that’s not good,” second-year student Alisha Sukhu said. “So, the school should take responsibility, even if it’s in the hands of the state and it’s out of theirs, they should be proactive about it and try to do something.”
Alejandra Ruiz, a fourth-year student, shared similar concerns, questioning what would have happened if a student did not speak up.
“That’s extremely concerning, and it’s also a liability, like, [the university] can get so sued if someone were to get injured,” she said. “It’s also just not inclusive either; there’s students who have disabilities and need resources like that, so I feel like that’s just horrible actually.”
Ruiz also said that she now feels less confident about how much the university actually cares about students’ well-being.
“It’s also concerning because, what is the money going to, or like, what are we paying [the university] for, if they’re not ensuring that safety’s number one?” she said. “The fact that it’s just been ignored for two years now? It makes me overthink everything I know about the school.”
Affected elevators are currently operating with a temporary permit sticker.
