I would like to respond to the letter Steve Kinsella, President
of Gavilan College, wrote regarding the proposed college campus in
San Benito County. I support the mission of Gavilan College to
provide higher learning opportunities to San Benito County
residents.
By Michael Smith
I would like to respond to the letter Steve Kinsella, President of Gavilan College, wrote regarding the proposed college campus in San Benito County. I support the mission of Gavilan College to provide higher learning opportunities to San Benito County residents. Both of my children transferred from Gavilan College to U.C. Berkeley. (Go Bears!)
There are several issues that many concerned taxpayers like myself have with Measure E bond funds that were allocated to build a new campus in San Benito County. Primarily, that the time period to build the badly needed full-service campus would take 20 to 25 years as the college president just disclosed. If I were aware of that construction schedule, I probably would not have voted to support Measure E. Further, I would have sought to elect like-minded trustees who represent the will of their constituents to build a campus within a more reasonable time frame rather than to support the will of Mr. Kinsella and his evolving construction plan.
In my view, Gavilan College staff and trustees sold the benefits of the bond measure to the voting public without performing due dilligence with respect to long-term planning, jurisdictional cooperation and municipal coordination. Once the college secured the bond funds approved by voters, it apportioned the dollars between various future capital projects, disproportionately budgeting funds, $20,000,000 for a Coyote Creek campus that may never come to fruition. The proposed San Benito County campus, already serving an established student population, was budgeted funds, $8,000,000, insufficient to purchase land at an optimal location near to downtown Hollister, the seat of San Benito County.
Thus, given a budget artificially lowered and limited to meet San Benito County’s existing wants and needs, the school purchased land in an area in Hollister it could afford based on an agenda that was exclusive of local government’s planning methodologies. The school should have taken the time to explore various funding and/or land acquisition partnerships to maximize potential synergies of multiple government entities to plan for and fund the best new full-service college campus location. Absent such partnerships, Mr. Kinsella and the college trustees missed opportunities to capitalize on RDA funds and other financial instruments available to local government.
In retrospect, the college should have sought greater input from the San Benito County government and the City of Hollister to envision a full-service college campus that would serve as a gateway to San Benito County/City of Hollister which would complement a concentrically planned, new-urbanized, mixed use, retail friendly infrastructure close to downtown that promotes walking and is located near to public transportation. Other well planned communities enjoy multi-purpose uses of junior colleges to enhance extra curricular activities; to support the arts, theatre, dance, youth clubs, music, culture, lectures, planetariums, etc.
There is obviously some frustration that Mr. Kinsella has recently introduced the gradual growth and progress of a future campus based on projected students served. This begs the question; does reciprocal interface exist from the local school districts that feed students to Gavilan College to maximize graduation rates and improve matriculation to community college? If 381 students from San Benito County graduated from Gavilan College, what can be done to meet the 500 full time student threshold to qualify as an Education Center? Conversely, what criteria did the proposed Coyote Creek campus meet to justify its $20 million dollar seed funding and what will become of those funds if proposed development and new campus never materialize?
The future prosperity of San Benito County is based on the education and training of its work force. I think almost everyone wishes for an improved and diversified local economy based on new businesses and industries providing new jobs to future generations of citizens. It is, however, incumbent upon local government and business leaders together with Gavilan College trustees and staff to come together and improve communications so that a common vision, based on cooperation and collaboration, is engineered to meet a commonwealth goal; a strategically located, full-service community college campus within a realistic period of time.
Michael Smith, Hollister
