An Oakland-based lawyer with an undefeated record for passing
school bonds in California will be lead adviser to Gavilan College
trustees as they consider placing a multi-million dollar- bond
measure on a ballot in 2004.
An Oakland-based lawyer with an undefeated record for passing school bonds in California will be lead adviser to Gavilan College trustees as they consider placing a multi-million dollar- bond measure on a ballot in 2004.
Gavilan trustees hired Catherine Lew of The Lew Edwards Group to help the school gauge whether taxpayers in San Benito County, Gilroy and Morgan Hill are willing and ready in this downtrodden economy to tax themselves more.
The Lew Edwards Group said it represents more community colleges than any other California consulting firm and has a perfect success rate for passing bond measures at both the 55-percent and two-thirds voter approval levels.
Gavilan’s bond would require 55 percent voter approval.
“For me personally, the 100-percent success rate was what stuck out,” Trustee Mark Dover said. “Of the three bidders, I felt (Lew) was the most prepared and had the most knowledge about our district and the challenges we face.”
Lew and the college will spend the next several months determining what improvements – and at what cost – residents would support.
The future bond measure could call for existing campus upgrades, new construction and land purchases. The bond would be the first for Gavilan since the 1960s when voters approved a new community college district and agreed to fund construction of the existing Gilroy campus.
“Since then the state has paid for a few new buildings, but that’s all,” Gavilan President Steve Kinsella said. “We truly want to be the college of choice for our service area, but we’re at our physical capacity right now.”
Lew was hired for a flat fee of $35,000. The amount will cover her services until trustees determine whether they will place the bond measure on the ballot – a decision that will likely come by December. At that point, a campaign independent from Gavilan College must be formed because the school is required by law not to take a partisan role in such elections.Gilroy Unified School District paid its campaign manager $65,000 after voters approved a $69 million facilities bond in November 2002. That campaign’s total bill cost $116,000.
The next step for Gavilan College is to put together with Lew a fresh list of needs for its Gilroy, Morgan Hill and Hollister sites. Lew will then research how many of those needs can be funded by an increase in property taxes under California tax code.
Lew will also evaluate the information generated from extensive surveys gauging how much support a bond measure will get from voters. However, Gavilan will need to spend another $15,000 to $20,000 to hire a separate company to conduct the opinion surveys.
If trustees believe they can pass a bond, they will put the measure on a 2004 ballot. There is not enough time to gauge community support for a bond measure this November.
Lew told trustees Tuesday that a March 2004 ballot may give Gavilan its best chance of floating a bond.
Because the March 2004 election will feature a contested Democratic presidential primary, it figures to draw to the polls a larger than normal percentage of Democrats, a constituency that tends to support bond measures.
“There is no definite right or wrong time to go to ballot,” Lew said. “But I can tell you November elections are not necessarily better.”
Lew said November ballots tend to be longer than their March counterparts and bond measures are typically listed toward the end of ballots. Many voters tend to “drop out” of the ballot before they reach the end, she said.
“Unfortunately, the people who drop out are usually more likely to support bonds,” Lew said.
In March 2000, roughly 32,083 voters who are still registered in the Gavilan College service area came to the polls. If those voters return in March 2004, 17,600 of them would have to vote for the bond if it is to pass.
Despite a struggling economy, the campaign consultants who interviewed with the school board indicated a bond measure could be successful. More than one bidder Tuesday said that during tight economic times voters are often supportive of new taxes especially if the resulting funds stay in their community.
