LAKEPORT — Mendocino College on Nov. 7 will ask voters to approve a $67.5 million bond, which would cost property owners $25 yearly per $100,000 in assessed property value.
In other words, a person with a home assessed at $400,000 would pay $100 a year about the cost of a current textbook or less than $9 a month.
Twenty-five years ago, the local college filed a master plan with the state to build a Ukiah campus and centers in the Lakeport and Willits areas, according to Ross Beck, director of public information. “Much of that plan is completed with excellent facilities in Ukiah and leased facilities for the two centers. Four permanent buildings, however, still need to be constructed,” he said, referring to a new library and a maintenance building on the Ukiah campus, as well as two permanent facilities one for the Lakeport campus, and one for the Willits campus, where the college currently leases its centers.
Mendocino College President Kathy Lehner, at Monday night”s candidate forum, when discussing Measure W, said: “There is no way we can fund some of these things in a timely manner otherwise.”
Bond money would go for more than new structures. A new main computer system, new roofs, flooring replacement, disabled access improvements, heating and air conditioning upgrades, and campus lighting among other things are listed on a proposed bond expenditure schedule.
Asked why Measure W is needed if there is already a master plan in progress, Beck said: “There have been two major changes in how the state funds community colleges, and there are critical, unfunded equipment needs that threaten the college”s ability to help students succeed.”
The state funding formula gives priority to building projects that can provide matching funds, he said. Sixty-three of 72 California Community College districts have passed bonds to provide these matching funds since 2000. Mendocino College is one of the nine that has not. “Without the ability to provide these matching funds, Mendocino College could wait 20 years for the next facility on the master plan, a library-learning resource center, and even longer for the two permanent centers and the maintenance/warehouse building,” Beck said.
The other reason the bond is needed, he said, is because the state has reduced funding for facility maintenance.
“All of these roofs leak. One of the roofs we had replaced cost $260,000, but the state only provided $150,000; that is just one example. The bigger example was when we had to seal the parking lot at a cost of $400,000. The state gave us $100,000 for that, so we had to take $300,000 out of the general fund, which could have been used to support programs and services for students” success,” Beck said.
The “critical unfunded equipment needs” include a main computer system.
“The state isn”t going to be giving us $5 million to $6 million (the projected replacement cost for a computer system) for that, and we have no option but to replace it. So how do we fund that need? That was one of the major reasons the trustees went forward with a bond measure,” Beck said.
Furthermore, since the creation of the master plan, Allied Health the nursing field, radiation technicians, paramedics and other health care providers needs have “grown enormously,” Beck said. “The facilities to provide a program are not even in our master plan, but the state says they won”t even complete our master plan for over 20 years. Our students can”t wait; they need those types of jobs and skills.”
The existing nursing program is located in the original modular buildings that were purchased used 35 years ago, Beck said.
To pass, Measure W must garner at least 55 percent of the total vote. By law, Measure W funds could not be used to pay staff salaries, and a citizens” oversight committee would be required to ensure funds are spent in accordance with the bond measure, Beck said. The passage of Measure W would generate $10 million to $15 million in matching funds to the Mendocino-Lake Community College District.
For more information on the various projects and costs, visit www.mendocino.edu.
Laura McCutcheon can be reached at udjlm@pacific.net.
