Public opinion polls favor bond approval for college
By CLAUDIA HIBBERT Special to the Daily Press
Buildings are too old to last much longer, SMC says Santa Monica College officials are confident yet cautious that a $160 million bond measure will be passed by voters next spring.
The money will be used to renovate buildings at the aging campus on Pico Boulevard, as well as partially fund a new piece of land the college just bought for $30 million near the airport for a satellite campus and more parking.
The bond will be on the March 2002 ballot and the effort to convince voters in Santa Monica and Malibu to approve the measure has just begun.
“We’re very optimistic,” said college spokesman Bruce Smith. “But we’ll wage a vigorous campaign, and we’re not taking it for granted by any means.”
The bond’s average cost to taxpayers would be $1.12 per month for renters and $77 per year for the average homeowner in Santa Monica and Malibu. The bond issue in the first year is estimated at $16.21 per $100,000 in assessed valuation, and the average cost over the bond’s life will be $19.21 per $100,000.
The bond measure needs a 55 percent approval from residents in Santa Monica and Malibu to pass. Proposition 39, approved by California voters in November 2000, decreased the percentage needed to pass a bond measure from 66 and two-thirds percent to 55 percent. It also limits the maximum annual cost to $25 per $100,000 of assessed valuation.
College officials said bonds are the most traditional way to net funds for building improvements. Gov. Gray Davis’ planned cuts to education budgets would impact the college’s operations more than its construction needs.
“It’s sort of different,” said Don Giard, the college’s marketing director.
Bond issues historically are approved in the Santa Monica-Malibu area, but the ballot issue next year comes at a time when little might draw voters to the polls, said Denny Zane, a consultant for the Committee for Safety and Modernization at Santa Monica College, the group campaigning for the bond. Zane said Democrats in the area statistically support such bonds by a 4-to-1 margin, while Republican support is about 50-50. “There’s no primary in the Senate seats. There’s no primary in the Assembly seats. There’s no primary in the governor’s race,” Zane said. “There’s very little that would normally create a turnout among Democrats. You need a good Democratic turnout to feel confident. That’s a strategic concern of the campaign.”
A “facilities assessment” completed earlier this year outlined 21 projects at the college. Priorities are to replace the earthquake-damaged liberal arts building and temporary buildings with modern labs and classrooms. Facilities for the nursing, environmental studies, earth sciences and math programs also need upgrades, and improvements are needed to meet standards for campus lighting, security and the American Disability Act.
Other pressing needs are to find space for student parking and the emeritus college program, which is geared to students aged 55 and older. The college will soon lose space on city-owned properties that house both services.
The emeritus college program is housed on the ground floor of a city parking structure on Second Street, and the city has plans to turn property into a park at Santa Monica Airport, where students park and ride shuttles to the main campus a mile away.
“The college has been put on notice,” said Zane, who was behind the city’s preferential parking initiative, which prohibits students from parking in neighborhoods near the college. “There’s two alternatives: find another site to park and shuttle or build underground parking on the campus, both of which cost money.”
“There’s two alternatives: find another site to park and shuttle or build underground parking on the campus, both of which cost money.” — — DENNY ZANE SMC consultant
Renovations are expected to be completed over the next 10 to 12 years. The college’s last bond issue was for $22 million in 1992 to build an addition to the science building and library, but most of the buildings on campus are more than 50 years old. “Buildings do wear out, “ Giard said. “The last big cycle of buildings was in the 1960s, so the reason the colleges are doing this now is there’s been way too many years since there’s been a real push to bring these buildings back to standard.
“There is no other way,” he continued.
“The state does provide funding for construction projects, but the state today requires a local match, so if we were not to have the bond pass, we would not have any ability to get the state funds. It would be a double loss.”
Zane, however, is hopeful. Public opinion polls have been positive, and little evidence exists, so far, that any groups are against the bond, he said.
Several California community colleges this year have turned to their district’s residents to support bond issues. Voters in the greater Los Angeles area in April approved bonds ranging from $111 million to $165 million for Los Angeles City College, East Los Angeles College, Los Angeles Pierce College, Los Angeles Southwest College, Los Angeles Trade- Technical College, Los Angeles Valley College and West Los Angeles College.
Mount San Antonio College in the San Gabriel Valley netted the most with a $221 million bond passed in November, and SMC is among six colleges asking for bonds on March 2002 ballots.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 27, 2001. Read the original PDF.