GILROY
– Less than two months before the March 2 election, Gavilan
College says it will be ready if voters approve its $108-million
bond, while campaigning for the measure gets under way.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – Less than two months before the March 2 election, Gavilan College says it will be ready if voters approve its $108-million bond, while campaigning for the measure gets under way.
Gavilan’s board of trustees decided Tuesday to establish a bond oversight committee – even before the bond is passed. The move will allow the college to quickly begin projects should voters approve Measure E, which would provide funds for upgrading the 35-year-old main campus and expanding facilities at all three Gavilan sites.
“It’s good to solicit the applications so you do have an applicant pool from which to pull from, should the bond be approved,” college President Steve Kinsella said. “We clearly want public input.”
The college is required by law to establish an oversight committee once the bond is passed. Trustees discussed the option of creating the committee during a December meeting and decided to vote on the issue after hearing from its bond consultant, The Lew Edwards Group.
“Some (districts) have set them up during the election because they want the community to see what’s going on,” Kinsella told trustees Dec. 9.
Establishing an oversight group is a way of demonstrating dedication to being open to the public, said Sarahjane Sacchetti, an associate with Lew Edwards Group.
“I think it shows that … the college has worked hard to include community members in the process, so the bond responds to community members and not just what the college needs,” she said. “It shows that the community members are who the college is working for.”
Applications for the oversight committee will be available through the college within a few weeks, Kinsella said.
The committee will consist of at least seven members representing different community stakeholder groups, such as businesses, senior citizens’ groups, taxpayers’ groups and campus groups (for the student member).
“The oversight committee is there to basically ensure that there’s fiscal accountability with all Measure E funding when it’s passed,” Sacchetti said.
Measure E, as approved unanimously by Gavilan board trustees in November, will cost about $15 per each $100,000 of assessed property value in the Gavilan district each year, according to Gavilan estimates.
Until the March 2 vote, the committee would review the project list and become familiar with it so projects included in the bond measure can begin as soon as practical and with oversight, Kinsella said.
A Yes on Measure E advocacy group has also mobilized, with the help of Lew Edwards Group.
“The campaign has basically kicked off and has been hard at work at getting community members out throughout the district,” Sacchetti said.
Kinsella is also acting as spokesperson for Yes on Measure E, although he can only campaign for the bond on his own time.
“The focus that we’re really looking at is emphasizing that the bond for Gavilan is to take care of local community needs,” he said. “The funds for that will stay here, they won’t go anywhere else in the state.”
Kinsella said trustees discussed the possibility of state bonds on the March ballot before voting on its bond, although neither state bond was on the ballot by the filing deadline.
“The need for the bond here at Gavilan still necessitates that we go forward, regardless of whatever else is on the ballot,” Kinsella said.
Trustees are also volunteering with Yes on Measure E, taking turns representing Gilroy, Morgan Hill and Hollister. By law, no more than three of the board’s seven members can be involved at any one time, Kinsella said.
Trustee Tom Breen, of Hollister, said letters supporting Measure E will likely be sent to San Benito County community members next week.
“We’ll emphasize here, what’s important in Hollister particularly … we need more room here, and this measure can provide the assistance to do that,” Breen said.
Yes on Measure E recently began contacting voters within Gavilan’s district by phone. Sacchetti said about 25 people volunteer each night to place calls.
“It’s important that all voters know what’s out there, because this is obviously a local issue that they have the power to accept or decline,” she said. “And there are a lot of people who haven’t heard yet or don’t know what the measure is.”
At least one group is publicly opposing Measure E. The group includes several representatives of the Libertarian Party, such as H.R. Strong, chair of the Libertarian Party of Santa Clara County and Mark Hinkle, past chair and unsuccessful candidate for Gavilan’s board of trustees in 2000 and 2002. The statement says the bond funds are unnecessary, the measure is too costly and alleges that bond money will be used for administrators’ salaries.
In a rebuttal statement, Measure E supporters, including Santa Clara County District 1 Supervisor Don Gage and Brad Pike, a Hollister firefighter and founder of Stay Alive on 25, say the funds are needed because the college is growing and upgrades will be less expensive now than in the future.
The first financial disclosure statement from Yes on Measure E must be submitted by Jan. 22.
For more information on Measure E, including the arguments for and against the measure, visit www.sccvote.org.
