Parking Shortage for Sodexo Employees

Parking Shortage for Sodexo Employees

Dan Gannon

For The Clock

drgannon@plymouth.edu

The employees of Sodexo are arguably the ones who keep the student body in motion. They supply food to hundreds of starving students every day. Many employees are always there to serve students with a smile on their face, and their hard work doesn’t go unnoticed. With recent changes to the campus, as well as the new construction, their parking spots have been temporarily taken from them.

Parking lot 304, behind Hyde Hall, has been set in place for faculty as well as Sodexo employees. Lots 401 and 403 have been as well, but they have been temporarily taken out of commission due to the ongoing construction of the new residence hall. According to Steve Temperino, director of public safety and emergency management, about 60 spaces have been lost to construction.

This leaves employees parking at the bottom of the hill, making them venture up High Street, which could be a challenge in winter for some of the older employees.

This has angered a number of employees, and caused disruption to many of their schedules. Dana Perkins, who has worked at Sodexo for 16 years, was especially outraged. “We were given very little notice,” he said. “We all leave for work with parking spaces, and the next thing we know we get an email saying that they’re being taken away. I was completely blindsided.”

“I’ve worked here for 16 years,” he continued, “It seems like things are taken away from us every single semester.” Director Temperino said employees may use the old spots on the weekend, and a shuttle will be provided for them. One point of contention is that the current schedule for shuttles does not allow employees to get to work on time. The earliest shuttle is at 6:30 a.m., and many employees need to be at the dining hall at 5:30 a.m.

University Police are actively looking for a solution to solve the problem as quickly as possible. Temperino said he might be able to find 12 to 15 spaces relatively soon. It appears this will not be a permanent problem, and soon enough the spots will be returned to their rightful owners.