Eight community members, including three county supervisors, have drafted a letter asking Gavilan College trustees to “cease and desist” the use of Measure E Funds for any expenses related to the South Bay Regional Public Safety Training Consortium.
Gavilan College Superintendent and President Steven Kinsella hadn’t seen the letter as of Tuesday afternoon but said he wasn’t surprised by the letter’s sentiments.
“Well, that’s their opinion,” Kinsella said. “They’re entitled to their opinion.”
He was also not surprised by the letter’s concerns.
“That’s pretty consistent with what we’ve seen,” he said. “Every couple years right around election time, it comes right back up again.”
Measure E – the $108 million bond approved by voters in 2004 – includes such bond priorities as repairing existing facilities and acquiring land for future ones.
The eight residents supporting the letter called themselves the Concerned Taxpayers of San Benito County and included Supervisors Margie Barrios, Anthony Botelho and Jerry Muenzer; along with residents Gordon Machado, Aurelio Zuniga, Julie Morris, Joseph Morris and Fernando Gonzalez.
The letter claims trustees approved a Five-year Master Plan which includes “an expenditure of $17 million of Measure E funds to relocate the South Bay Regional Public Safety Training Consortium (SBRPSTC) to Coyote Valley.”
“I don’t know what they’re talking about,” Kinsella said, as he considered the $17 million number. “I don’t know that what they’re writing about is what’s happening.”
