Bridget Veltri
news@mustangdaily.net
They work weekends and are never invited to the party.
‘Shut up,’ ‘turn off the music’ and ‘get inside’ are all common refrains heard Thursday through Saturday nights, and they mean one thing: students from the Student Neighborhood Assistance program (SNAP) are here.
The party may be over, but the students that work as SNAPs say they are just doing their job, trying to give college partiers a break.
“In the end SNAP is there to help students,” mechanical engineering senior and SNAP Coordinator August Brower said. “We are not there to break up the party and kill your buzz; we are there to save you some money.”
Those who have never had a SNAP knock on their door shouldn’t be alarmed. They are just there to warn revelers that they are having a little too much fun.
“The SNAPs are sent out to see if there even is a noise ordinance violation,” San Luis Police Department Neighborhood Services Manager Ardith Tregenza said.
“SNAPs goes to the door and talks to the owner of the house about the noise level and issues a disturbance advisory card (DAC), then they move on to their next call.”
Six students currently work for the program. Workers must be 18 years of age, maintain a 2.3 GPA, be enrolled in a minimum of nine units at Cal Poly or Cuesta and be free of misdemeanor or felony convictions.
Brower said one of the benefits of the job is that the hours are flexible. SNAPs work in teams of two and respond to calls in from 8:30 p.m. until 2:30 a.m. Thursday through Saturday nights.
Those who don’t meet a SNAP on their front porch could get their chance downtown.
“We are just like every other college student out there,” Brower said. “We like to get out party and have fun when we aren’t working.”
According to Tregenza the police department receives almost 3,000 noise complaints a year. Having a program like SNAPs frees up police officers to respond to other calls of concern instead of using their resources to break up parties.
“When SNAPs show up at a student house, it is a good thing because that means the student is receiving a warning,” Tregenza said.
Nutrition senior Nicole Nott’s house has received a DAC from SNAPs and has mixed feelings about the program.
“I think that it makes a lot of sense because we do live next door to two families,” she said. “But at the same time this is a college town.”
Tregenza said students should be glad to see SNAPs.
“Students are often under the misconception that they are entitled to receive warnings,” Tregenza said. “That is not correct; the police department can issue a citation after the first contact about a noise violation.”
Noise violation citations are $350 for the first, $700 for the second, and $1,000 for the third.
“We are here as a courtesy of the city of SLO; if you’re not going to work with us you’re going to get tickets,” Brower said.
She has worked for the program for three years and said that while most people would rather see SNAPs than the police on a weekend night, they still aren’t thrilled about the visit.
“Every once and a while you get somebody that doesn’t want to answer the door and get a free warning,” he said. “If that’s the case then we let the police know that they aren’t cooperating and let them handle it.”
When SNAPs issues a DAC, they notify the police department who then contact the property owner. Some property owners punish renters who receive noise violations, Tregenza said.
For example, when tenants of California West Property Management sign their lease, they agree to a liquid damages fee, which means they agree to pay a $300 fee in the event of a visit from SNAP.
“The goal is to protect our clients,” Ellie Malykont, property supervisor of the California West office in San Luis Obispo said. “We are an agent for the owner, and if we don’t take care of this, our owner suffers.”
Brower said that the SNAPs never know what houses are associated with rental companies and owners that charge fees.
Tregenza hopes that students who work for SNAP get the respect she says they deserve.
“It’s not an easy job, they are nice students that are hardworking,” she said. “I think that a lot of students don’t understand that.”
Students with questions about what constitutes a noise violation or procedures can visit www.respectslobro.org.