Gavilan officials must justify their change of plans
In explaining to the Pinnacle why Gavilan officials have changed
course with the college’s short-term expansion plans, school
President Steve Kinsella said that leasing space at the old
Fortino’s building or another site
”
may be cost prohibitive.
”
So because it
”
may
”
be cost prohibitive, Gavilan officials now are focusing their
attention on placing modular units at the Fairview Road location
where they plan to build a full campus in the coming decades,
whenever the state might have enough money to send some cash to San
Benito County.
Gavilan officials must justify their change of plans
In explaining to the Pinnacle why Gavilan officials have changed course with the college’s short-term expansion plans, school President Steve Kinsella said that leasing space at the old Fortino’s building or another site “may be cost prohibitive.”
So because it “may” be cost prohibitive, Gavilan officials now are focusing their attention on placing modular units at the Fairview Road location where they plan to build a full campus in the coming decades, whenever the state might have enough money to send some cash to San Benito County.
Where, though, is the quantified justification to take such a drastic turn that makes little sense in the short term and would stand to offer no convenience or economic benefit when some level of convenience and economic benefit – under the old plan – appeared imminent?
Kinsella noted how school officials have determined the cost might be higher to retrofit either the Fortino’s building or the old Pinnacle location on Fourth and San Benito streets than to place modular units at the Fairview spot.
Before Kinsella and other Gavilan College officials take that step, however, they should justify it by explaining how they came to that conclusion, and whether it is rooted in solidified examination or some kind of hunch. Since there basically is no infrastructure out there, Gavilan will have to pay the costs for such requirements as sewer, water and road services. In most cases, you’re lucky if the check is fewer than eight figures. That means Gavilan is estimating the retrofits at either of those buildings would exceed that kind of cost, a curious conclusion at best.
Saying it “may be cost prohibitive” and using that level of analysis as a basis to lower the plan’s standards, and inherently lower San Benito County’s benefit from the project, isn’t enough. The local community, as neglected by Sacramento as any other in the state, deserves better.
There simply is too much at stake to trust what sounds on paper like an educated guess at best. Above all, the downtown or Fortino’s buildings would have offered maximum convenience, and likely more of a draw, for prospective students. It would have given the downtown or Nash Road areas a major boost in commerce.
It would have kept students and teachers in the middle of Hollister, as opposed to shoving them to the outskirts, where the trickle-down benefit is minimal to non-existent.
