Opinion: City College opened doors for my family. Let’s keep them open.

Few institutions have shaped my family’s story as profoundly as City College of San Francisco (CCSF). I am a former CCSF student, and so are both of my parents. City College has been our pathway to opportunity, economic mobility, and public service.

I got my love of numbers from my mom, a lifelong public school teacher. Some of my earliest memories are of riding Muni with her to my grandparents’ home in Chinatown, then spending the day at public parks and the public library.

She passed on her love of San Francisco, and it’s why, after graduating from UC Berkeley, I chose to give back to the City by becoming a financial adviser to public agencies.

I have spent my 25-year career helping public agencies cut waste, leverage funding, and stay financially stable so they can deliver the services we rely on.

When BART lacked the funds to extend service, I helped it find a way forward. When our San Francisco school district faced financial strain during the pandemic, I helped manage the impact. When Muni needed a new financial plan, I helped create a financing model that saved money.

Most importantly, I have worked with more than 30 community colleges across the state to build long-term financial plans. That experience is why I am worried about City College.

CCSF now faces an annual deficit projected to grow to nearly $25 million within three years. Too often, City College has been caught in a cycle of financial and accreditation crisis, leaving it under threat of closure. I’m running to help end that cycle.

For more than 90 years, City College has changed the lives of immigrants, working families, first-generation students, and lifelong learners.

City College offers San Franciscans an affordable way to transfer to a four-year university, gain marketable skills, or pursue learning that enriches our communities.

But the college’s challenges are real. Enrollment has not fully recovered from the pandemic. Colleges across California are facing demographic shifts and changing workforce needs. To thrive, City College must keep adapting while staying true to its core mission.

I believe three things:

— Students deserve an accredited, safe place to learn.

— Faculty and staff deserve good benefits and stable wages.

— All San Franciscans deserve a City College that is one of the best in the country.

Good financial planning is how we get there. Strong institutions succeed when their leaders focus on both mission and sustainability, balancing today’s needs against tomorrow’s realities.

As a trustee, I will work to support student success and strengthen the college’s long-term financial stability.

I also believe trustees should be visible, accessible, and accountable. The board must listen to students, faculty, staff, and community members.

The best solutions come when people unite around a shared commitment to the institution’s success.

I am asking for your vote on November 3 so that students can see a future full of possibility, as my family did.

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Erwin Tam is a candidate for City College of San Francisco Board of Trustees in the November 3 election. He was born in San Francisco as a fourth generation San Franciscan. He is a former CCSF student following footsteps of his parents as CCSF Students and father transferring and graduating from UC Berkeley. Currently, he is the Director of Financing at the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) and the Chief Financial Officer of the CalHFA Mortgage Relief Program leading a team of 40 professionals that manage the financial operations of the agency. For community work, he served six years as President and Treasurer, and a member of the Executive Committee for the Chinese Historical Society of America in San Francisco's Chinatown.