GILROY
–– Gavilan College will ask local voters for $108 million early
next spring.
The board of trustees unanimously approved a resolution during
its meeting Tuesday night that will put to Gilroy, Morgan Hill and
Hollister voters a bond measure that would upgrade and expand
college facilities.
GILROY –– Gavilan College will ask local voters for $108 million early next spring.
The board of trustees unanimously approved a resolution during its meeting Tuesday night that will put to Gilroy, Morgan Hill and Hollister voters a bond measure that would upgrade and expand college facilities.
“I don’t look at this bond as me benefitting,” Trustee James De La Cruz said. “I look at this bond as my three kids benefitting.”
The bond would provide about $68 million to renovate and upgrade existing Gavilan facilities on the nearly full Gilroy campus. The remaining $40 million is earmarked for expanding the Gilroy, Morgan Hill and San Benito County campuses.
Should the bond pass next spring, it would impact property taxes by $15 per $100,000 assessed property value, President Steve Kinsella said. Based on a public opinion survey conducted in June, that was the maximum amount that the bond could cost property owners and still garner the 55-percent approval needed to pass.
Kinsella said the bond length would not exceed 25 years.
The time is right to go forward with the bond, said Catherine Lew, the college’s bond consultant representing The Lew Edwards Group, because adequate funding for community colleges is a high priority for the general public.
“We’re confident that community concerns have been incorporated in a very tangible way,” Lew said.
Public opinion was sought throughout the researching of the bond, by way of a community advisory committee, public forums and information sessions for Gavilan faculty, staff and students.
“Our public did tell us very clearly in a public opinion survey that they wanted a strong, fiscally accountable plan that only addressed the most critical needs that this college has seen identified,” Lew said, “so I think that it’s a very wise decision and a very wise plan that your staff has put forward to take pencil to paper … and really eliminate some of the less pressing priorities in favor of the more pressing ones.”
Since the college has begun developing the proposal, $30 million that would have been used to purchase land for expanded facilities was cut.
Student Trustee Jesse Sandow, noting the low voter turnout in last week’s elections, asked Lew how a similar turnout in March could affect the bond’s passage.
“The college has strong potential to go in either election cycle,” Lew said.
The November election cycle traditionally has a larger turnout, particularly among Democratic and younger voters who could be considered more likely to support the bond, Lew said.
However, because there will be an incumbent Republican president on the ballot, if one Democratic candidate has more momentum than another, more liberal voters who could support the bond may stay home.
Several officials from the California State University system urged trustees to pass the bond resolution.
“Why I think it’s important that you’re doing this as leaders is because … we have a saying here in California … that we’re the best. It’s the Golden State,” said Peter Smith, president of CSU at Monterey Bay. “And that’s what the California message for higher education has been.”
Smith said he wanted to applaud the board for approving a much-needed bond measure during a time when voters may be cautious. CSU Monterey Bay is developing a partnership with Gavilan and already offers a dual admission so Gavilan graduates are automatically admitted.
San Jose State University’s Michael Ego, dean of the College of Applied Sciences and Arts, and Susan Meyers, dean of the College of Education, also expressed their support.
They said the bond would provide funds crucial to the development of the University Center at Gavilan, which would bring SJSU classes to local residents.
“We are very interested in further exploring further partnership opportunities,” Ego said.
The University Center concept is already developing at Gavilan, with one upper-level general education course underway and three planned for next semester.
Hollister resident Brad Pike, who was a member of the college’s community advisory committee, advised trustees to inform members of the public about the bond in order to reap maximum support.
“As the father of a couple guys that are some day going to be in the secondary or higher educational opportunities … we’re going to have to find places for them to come to get a quality education,” Pike said. “And if there’s dilapidation and facilities are getting run down … that’s just not right.”
Representatives of Gavilan students, faculty and staff also gave the bond a thumbs-up.
“It is a method through which future generations of Gavilan college students can improve their education, and I think it’s an inevitable necessity for the college,” Associated Student Body President Simon Cooke said. “And we can keep postponing it, but ultimately, it’s what we need to make Gavilan College the … college of the future.”
