SJDCwatch has obtained a copy of a recent letter from the SJDC Teachers Association sent to the President and Board of Trustees.
To: President Rodriguez, Trustee Serna, Trustee Rivera, Trustee Bugarin, Trustee Burke, Trustee Simas, Trustee Parises, and Trusty McCreary
From: SJDCTA Organizing Committee
I’ve enclosed a flier that went out to SJDCTA members on Friday (8/29). I’m certain you’ll disagree with the opinions I’ve expressed. However, I’ve tried to make my factual claims as accurate as I can. You can check their accuracy at the Chancellor's DataMart.
You may also disagree with my tone, which I grant has some anger in it. However, I and many of my colleagues feel that the board and President Rodriguez, as a group, have bargained in bad faith; devalued teaching (one of the core activities of the college); repeatedly misrepresented the financial resources of the college; shown no interest in finding common ground with the faculty; and (at times) neglected the most basic interests of the college. Please be aware that glib pieties from President Rodriguez and Vice-President Brown only further inflame the situation.
I can’t see how the current stalemate serves the interests of our students, the faculty, top administrators, or the board of trustees. I also don’t know of anyone on campus who believes the public image of the college needs more battering. As a result, I continue to hope we can heal this rift. But the first step will have to be a commitment from you to bargain in good faith.
Sincerely,
Sam Hatch
for the Organizing Committee
Dear Colleagues [e.g. SJDC Faculty],
I thought you might be interested to know that in the fall of 2006, Delta College full-time instructors had the 7th highest base salary in the California Community College system. If our college had more reasonable leadership, relatively high salaries for Delta faculty would make good economic sense because we’re one of the 5 or 6 most productive faculties in the entire system over the last five years. Yet in the fall of 2007--the most recent data available in the Chancellor’s DataMart—Delta had slipped to 14th. Take a look at the charts below that document these changes.
Of course, the fall in ranking only begins to tell the story. For the last two years, many of us have been paying thousands of dollars in health-care premiums. We are all paying more for food and gasoline. And strangely, we work for a board that begrudges us a raise that would cost a couple of million while it squanders tens of millions in bond money. I hope this absurdity is not lost on you.
At the end of fiscal year 2007, according to the bond-rating firm, Fitch Rating, the district had a reserve fund of $9.8 million—10.9% of its annual budget. We built that reserve with student-teacher ratios 15 to 20% above state averages (See Chart B).
For over a year, our union leadership has been negotiating with the people who ran the college into a ditch—mismanaging both our accreditation and the bond, bargaining unfairly year after year, and deciding which state laws, parts of our contract, and even their own board policies they will follow or flout.
It’s time to start asking yourself: What am I willing to do to get a fair contract, a responsible board, and a better college—one that can actually settle down to serving the interests of students, staff, and community? Will you attend Exec Board meetings? Will you join the union listserv so you can stay informed? Will you attend board meetings and express your dissatisfaction with the dismal performance of our board? Will you picket? Will you pass out leaflets in a board member’s neighborhood? Will you work for union-endorsed board candidates?
Your colleagues—and the college—need your help.
Supporting charts
Sunday, August 31, 2008
State plans to audit Delta bond spending
By The Record
August 30, 2008 6:00 AM
SACRAMENTO - The state Controller's Office announced Friday that it will conduct an audit of San Joaquin Delta College's management of $250 million in voter-approved bond money.
The audit was requested by state Sen. Michael Machado, D-Linden.
In a letter to Delta administrators, Jeffrey Brownfield, chief of the Controller's Office Division of Audits, said he would examine whether bond proceeds were properly managed and spent, among other things.
Delta trustees were told in June that they must cut $62.5 million worth of projects that were to have been funded by the 2004 Measure L bond.
A satellite campus in Mountain House has been scaled back, and officials are considering significantly altering a proposed campus in Lodi, because there's not enough money left.
Among other problems, the San Joaquin County civil grand jury reported in June that Delta trustees squandered millions when they decided to build that south county campus in Mountain House rather than Tracy.
The college has blamed past consultants for underestimating the cost of a number of bond-funded construction projects.
Source
Hey brother, can you spare a satellite campus?
San Joaquin Delta College now looking for 'anything' to establish a Lodi presence
By Andrew Adams
News-Sentinel Staff Writer
Updated: Saturday, August 23, 2008 7:22 AM PDT
The new San Joaquin Delta College satellite campus could be a storefront in Downtown Lodi.
It could be the new tenant in the Blue Shield building on Guild Avenue.
Or, possibly, a new building in the industrial area of east Lodi.
At this point, Delta College is willing to consider any option for a Lodi campus.
"We're just looking at anything," Delta's president and superintendent Raul Rodriguez said this week. "Highway 12 is not dead, and we're pursuing everything else."
The Highway 12 site is a group of properties off Victor Road that at one time seemed like it would be the future home of a Delta campus. Several years and several million dollars later, the college is no closer to building the campus and is looking at other options.
Rodriguez said the college has looked at the Blue Shield buildings on Guild Avenue as well as other properties throughout Lodi. He concedes that with much of the $250 million Measure L bond already spent or committed to other projects — especially Mountain House — it would be a challenge for the school to construct a new building.
Instead, Rodriguez said the school may have to move forward with something that could work in the short term and hope to expand on that in the future.
This could be a storefront campus that Delta could lease for a few years while it organizes funding and drafts a plan to build a permanent home in Lodi.
Delta has an $18,000 contract with the consulting firm Project Management Applications based in Stockton and Sacramento. That firm is working with the Lodi company Sandhill Development Company LLC to search for a site on Lodi.
Sandhill owner Wayne Craig said he had signed a confidentiality agreement and couldn't disclose any details about his search.
PMA worked on Delta's Mountain House site as well. According to the firm's Web site, the company helped plan the 460-acre project, manage other consultants and work on "cash flow and budgeting."
Rodriguez said the leaders of the school's bond team are putting together a list of potential locations in Lodi and that list may come to the college's board of trustees in early September.
"This is not a time to out of hand dismiss anything," Rodriguez said. "That is why it's taking a little longer; they're being comprehensive."
Such a campus may not be what folks in Lodi envisioned, but Rodriguez said it's the long-term vision of building a Lodi site.
Tad Platt, one of the partners of DGP Real Estate, helped broker the initial deal with Delta and the property owners at the Victor Road site.
Platt said he looked "for months and provided a number of different locations," and the Victor Road site was the best fit.
He said he couldn't think of another property in the Lodi area that could match with what Delta said it needed.
Another commercial broker, Jim Verseput, said he couldn't think of many options for Delta. He said land to the east of Lodi could be a good fit, as any property south of Lodi is close to Stockton, and properties to the west are pretty expensive.
City Councilman Bob Johnson is an ardent supporter of the Delta satellite campus as well as the Victor Road site. Johnson said if the school decided on a storefront campus, he "would not be jumping up and down about it."
The beauty of the Victor Road site, Johnson said, is that it had the space for all of Delta's plans, and it was close enough to the city limits to make annexation and extending infrastructure relatively easy. The partnership between the college and developers also would have paid for that infrastructure work.
Johnson, Platt and others trying to predict Delta's next move admit that the college is now in a situation where it may be difficult for the school to decide what it wants to do, but it's rather a decision on what it's able to do.
(Marc Lutz/News-Sentinel)
Possible campus sites
1. Blue Shield's Guild Avenue building
Often touted as a good fit for Delta, the building will be vacant once Blue Shield's new center is constructed south of Harney Lane. The 73,954-square-foot building could accommodate a satellite campus, but it would require a major refit, and parking likely would be an issue. The college could also find itself locked in a building with little options for expansion. Cost: The building is for sale for $9,244,250, or $1.25 a square foot to lease, according to a real estate listing site online.
2. Eastside industrial Lodi
The industrial area east of Highway 99 has open parcels, easy access to highways 12 and 99 and connections to the city of Lodi's infrastructure. Land averages $200,00 to $250,000 an acre, and that doesn't include the cost of building a campus. Lodi Unified School District built its Arieda Education Support Center on East Vine Street for $4.5 million in the early '90s but a comparable building in today's dollars would probably be triple that. Estimated cost: $15 to $20 million.
3. South Lodi
Large parcels here are for sale, but neighboring development is driving up property values. The area is served by Harney Lane and Highway 99, but the southern edge of Lodi is close to growing Stockton, which almost defeats the idea of a "satellite" campus for a college based in Stockton. Cost: $12 to $15 million, based on land values estimated to be $200,000 to $400,000 an acre.
4. Downtown
It could be a boon for Lodi's commercial and cultural hub, but a college campus would be a tight fit. There is a 9,000-square-foot building for sale at 9 N. Sacramento St. that is close to the parking garage and the coming World of Wonder science museum. Delta officials have expressed an interest in a small, Lodi "presence" that could eventually become a campus. Cost: $1 million and up.
5. North of Lodi
Early in Delta's search, the old Victor Meat plant came up as a possible site. The cost of cleaning up the property as well as extending infrastructure across the river seems to have knocked that site off the list early on in the process. Mokelumne Christian School also has plans to use the old plant to expand its high school. Farther north, the cost of building a campus on Delta's property in Galt and connecting it with roads, sewer and power could prove prohibitive, yet, the school does own 140 acres there. Cost: $10 to $15 million.
(Costs are an approximation based on current land values and estimated construction costs.)
Source.
Delta drafts grand jury reply
By Joelle Milholm
News-Sentinel Staff Writer
Updated: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 6:12 AM PDT
STOCKTON — The San Joaquin Delta College board of trustees agreed Monday to six of a grand jury's recommendations that included following an ethics code, ensuring the board complies with the Brown Act and working more closely with the school's bond oversight committee.
Trustees voted to accept the recommendations at a special meeting Monday. The meeting was part of the trustees' efforts to reply to a scathing report from the San Joaquin County Grand Jury, which accused the board of mismanaging its $250 million Measure L bond.
The six-member board (with Maria Elena Serna, who represents Lodi, being absent) approved six of the grand jury's nine recommendations, including agreeing to closely evaluate staff and consultants' recommendations, follow an ethics code, make a new Measure L team, make sure the board is in compliance with the Brown Act and work more closely with the Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee.
Since the grand jury's report, which questions the decisions about how the school is spending its $250 million Measure L bond, was released last spring, little progress had been made about what to do with the allegations.
During Monday's meeting, the trustees sifted through the remaining 10 of the grand jury's 14 findings, coming to conclusions on whether or not they were accurate before voting on all nine of the grand jury's recommendations. The trustees did not agree on the report's recommendations to not enter into a partnerships with developers to build a campus in Lodi or Galt, or to come up with new estimates for development based on the current student numbers, or that the oversight committee has to meet once a month to pre-approve all expense charges to Measure L. Delta President Dr. Raul Rodriguez had prepared responses to each, and the purpose of the meeting was to make sure those responses reflected the feelings of the board. The board needs to submit its response to the jury by Sept. 18.
"We have to meet the deadline, and we are taking this very seriously," said Manteca-Escalon Trustee Ted Simas. "That's why most of us are willing to take the time rather than just airbrush through this thing … I think overall it would have been simple to say yes we agree with this and it would have saved us a lot of hours, but I think the majority of the board knows that is just not the way to go."
The trustees debated some of the findings, splitting 3-3 on the first two topics of the meeting. They were deadlocked as to whether or not the partnership between Delta college and developer Gerry Kamilos delayed construction at the Mountain House campus, raising costs and deterring public support, and whether or not the board has to completely revise the Mountain House plan.
When the board revisited the items, one or more board members changed their position, and the board disagreed with the grand jury on both issues. There were hardly any arguments.
"Overall, I was satisfied with the responses. Compared to last time, I thought the board was overly sensitive and on the defensive side, and I think we faced reality a little bit better this time," Simas said after the meeting. "I was satisfied that we stood up to the fact that the grand jury is 99.9 percent correct. That's why I was willing to compromise somewhat on some of the responses."
The loudest critical voice came from Motecuzoma Sanchez, who is running for a spot on the board in the upcoming election. He thanked the board members who are retiring or not running after this year and asked for the firing of Dr. Rodriguez. When items were deadlocked on 3-3 votes, Sanchez adamantly told the Trustees to "get it together" and "make a decision."
Trustee Dan Parises stood his ground, stating that the grand jury's report was erroneous on several of its findings, including whether the trustees heeded the warnings and recommendations from the consultants hired by the board.
"I think we are in trouble because we listen to them," he said during discussions.
The board members and Rodriguez agreed for the most part that the report was too general, and in some cases the items were specified and then agreed upon. The board also agreed that it lacked oversight and felt rushed on several of the decisions it made in the past on the Measure L spending, which have lead to the problems.
Dr. Raul Rodriguez will present the board with Monday's additions and revisions to the trustee's response to the report in another board meeting scheduled for today at 4 p.m.
San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustees response to Grand Jury
Recommendations
1. Delta College Trustees and administrators avoid making the same mistake by gathering into a public-private partnership to develop a campus in Lodi or Galt.
Response: Will not be implemented because it is based on an erroneous assumption.
2. The Board of Trustees thoroughly evaluate all staff and consultants' recommendations prior to making bond decisions and commitments.
Response: Has been implemented.
3. The Board of Trustees use the most current student usage numbers to determine curriculum needs for students, i.e., brick and mortar vs. Internet usage.
Response: Will not be implemented because all of the projects are past the stage of gathering demographic information. However, it will be implemented in the future.
4. The Board of Trustees refocus on the needs of the students and not personal agendas and work together as a cohesive unit.
Response: Has been implemented and trustees have attended workshops to improve function of the board and have adopted a code of ethics.
5. Delta College Trustees and administrators support and work with their new, recently formed committee, Measure L Team, to oversee various bond programs.
Response: Has been implemented.
6. The Delta College Board of Trustees to comply with the Brown Act. Further training on the Brown Act to be given to ensure understanding and compliance.
Response: Will be implemented.
7. The Bond Oversight Committee meet once per month in an effort to pre-approve all expenses charged to Measure L funds.
Response: Will not be implemented because it is not legal or proper to have the (oversight committee) pre-approve expenses and it is a volunteer committee without time to meet once a month.
8. The Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee question all changes in projects selected for funding, project plans, or delays in construction. This is a precautionary measure to ensure that Measure L funds are not being wasted.
Response: Will be implemented.
9. The Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee to ensure that all aspects of the Brown Act are adhered to in order to give the public a clear picture of the committees' workings. The grand jury believes that the Brown Act ensures a transparent democracy. The violation of the Brown Act cannot be tolerated.
Response: Always has been and will continue to be implemented in the future.
Source
News-Sentinel Staff Writer
Updated: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 6:12 AM PDT
STOCKTON — The San Joaquin Delta College board of trustees agreed Monday to six of a grand jury's recommendations that included following an ethics code, ensuring the board complies with the Brown Act and working more closely with the school's bond oversight committee.
Trustees voted to accept the recommendations at a special meeting Monday. The meeting was part of the trustees' efforts to reply to a scathing report from the San Joaquin County Grand Jury, which accused the board of mismanaging its $250 million Measure L bond.
The six-member board (with Maria Elena Serna, who represents Lodi, being absent) approved six of the grand jury's nine recommendations, including agreeing to closely evaluate staff and consultants' recommendations, follow an ethics code, make a new Measure L team, make sure the board is in compliance with the Brown Act and work more closely with the Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee.
Since the grand jury's report, which questions the decisions about how the school is spending its $250 million Measure L bond, was released last spring, little progress had been made about what to do with the allegations.
During Monday's meeting, the trustees sifted through the remaining 10 of the grand jury's 14 findings, coming to conclusions on whether or not they were accurate before voting on all nine of the grand jury's recommendations. The trustees did not agree on the report's recommendations to not enter into a partnerships with developers to build a campus in Lodi or Galt, or to come up with new estimates for development based on the current student numbers, or that the oversight committee has to meet once a month to pre-approve all expense charges to Measure L. Delta President Dr. Raul Rodriguez had prepared responses to each, and the purpose of the meeting was to make sure those responses reflected the feelings of the board. The board needs to submit its response to the jury by Sept. 18.
"We have to meet the deadline, and we are taking this very seriously," said Manteca-Escalon Trustee Ted Simas. "That's why most of us are willing to take the time rather than just airbrush through this thing … I think overall it would have been simple to say yes we agree with this and it would have saved us a lot of hours, but I think the majority of the board knows that is just not the way to go."
The trustees debated some of the findings, splitting 3-3 on the first two topics of the meeting. They were deadlocked as to whether or not the partnership between Delta college and developer Gerry Kamilos delayed construction at the Mountain House campus, raising costs and deterring public support, and whether or not the board has to completely revise the Mountain House plan.
When the board revisited the items, one or more board members changed their position, and the board disagreed with the grand jury on both issues. There were hardly any arguments.
"Overall, I was satisfied with the responses. Compared to last time, I thought the board was overly sensitive and on the defensive side, and I think we faced reality a little bit better this time," Simas said after the meeting. "I was satisfied that we stood up to the fact that the grand jury is 99.9 percent correct. That's why I was willing to compromise somewhat on some of the responses."
The loudest critical voice came from Motecuzoma Sanchez, who is running for a spot on the board in the upcoming election. He thanked the board members who are retiring or not running after this year and asked for the firing of Dr. Rodriguez. When items were deadlocked on 3-3 votes, Sanchez adamantly told the Trustees to "get it together" and "make a decision."
Trustee Dan Parises stood his ground, stating that the grand jury's report was erroneous on several of its findings, including whether the trustees heeded the warnings and recommendations from the consultants hired by the board.
"I think we are in trouble because we listen to them," he said during discussions.
The board members and Rodriguez agreed for the most part that the report was too general, and in some cases the items were specified and then agreed upon. The board also agreed that it lacked oversight and felt rushed on several of the decisions it made in the past on the Measure L spending, which have lead to the problems.
Dr. Raul Rodriguez will present the board with Monday's additions and revisions to the trustee's response to the report in another board meeting scheduled for today at 4 p.m.
San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustees response to Grand Jury
Recommendations
1. Delta College Trustees and administrators avoid making the same mistake by gathering into a public-private partnership to develop a campus in Lodi or Galt.
Response: Will not be implemented because it is based on an erroneous assumption.
2. The Board of Trustees thoroughly evaluate all staff and consultants' recommendations prior to making bond decisions and commitments.
Response: Has been implemented.
3. The Board of Trustees use the most current student usage numbers to determine curriculum needs for students, i.e., brick and mortar vs. Internet usage.
Response: Will not be implemented because all of the projects are past the stage of gathering demographic information. However, it will be implemented in the future.
4. The Board of Trustees refocus on the needs of the students and not personal agendas and work together as a cohesive unit.
Response: Has been implemented and trustees have attended workshops to improve function of the board and have adopted a code of ethics.
5. Delta College Trustees and administrators support and work with their new, recently formed committee, Measure L Team, to oversee various bond programs.
Response: Has been implemented.
6. The Delta College Board of Trustees to comply with the Brown Act. Further training on the Brown Act to be given to ensure understanding and compliance.
Response: Will be implemented.
7. The Bond Oversight Committee meet once per month in an effort to pre-approve all expenses charged to Measure L funds.
Response: Will not be implemented because it is not legal or proper to have the (oversight committee) pre-approve expenses and it is a volunteer committee without time to meet once a month.
8. The Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee question all changes in projects selected for funding, project plans, or delays in construction. This is a precautionary measure to ensure that Measure L funds are not being wasted.
Response: Will be implemented.
9. The Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee to ensure that all aspects of the Brown Act are adhered to in order to give the public a clear picture of the committees' workings. The grand jury believes that the Brown Act ensures a transparent democracy. The violation of the Brown Act cannot be tolerated.
Response: Always has been and will continue to be implemented in the future.
Source
Delta College trustees agree bond money wasted
ASSOCIATED PRESS
10:39 a.m. August 26, 2008
STOCKTON – The embattled trustees of San Joaquin Delta College say a grand jury is correct in its assessment that the board wasted millions of dollars of bond money.
In June, the San Joaquin County Civil Grand Jury had criticized the college's board for deciding to build a southern campus in Mountain House instead of Tracy. It said the decision cost taxpayers as much as $50 million.
The board voted unanimously Monday to accept the grand jury's findings.
Also this summer, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges gave trustees two years to develop a new code of ethics or risk losing accreditation. The commission said the board needs to stabilize management, be sensitive to the diverse student body and stop micromanaging the school's president.
Source.
10:39 a.m. August 26, 2008
STOCKTON – The embattled trustees of San Joaquin Delta College say a grand jury is correct in its assessment that the board wasted millions of dollars of bond money.
In June, the San Joaquin County Civil Grand Jury had criticized the college's board for deciding to build a southern campus in Mountain House instead of Tracy. It said the decision cost taxpayers as much as $50 million.
The board voted unanimously Monday to accept the grand jury's findings.
Also this summer, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges gave trustees two years to develop a new code of ethics or risk losing accreditation. The commission said the board needs to stabilize management, be sensitive to the diverse student body and stop micromanaging the school's president.
Source.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Machado asks for Delta board audit
By The Record
August 16, 2008 6:00 AM
State Sen. Michael Machado, D-Linden, has asked the office of California state Controller John Chiang to conduct an audit of the San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustees in the wake of reports that the board has mismanaged voter-approved bond money.
Machado said in a statement this week that he wants a "thorough review of exactly how Measure L funds have been spent."
Measure L is the $250 million bond passed in 2004.
A San Joaquin County civil grand jury in June said the board has squandered millions, particularly in its decision to pursue a south-county campus in Mountain House rather than Tracy.
The campus has yet to be built.
Source
August 16, 2008 6:00 AM
State Sen. Michael Machado, D-Linden, has asked the office of California state Controller John Chiang to conduct an audit of the San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustees in the wake of reports that the board has mismanaged voter-approved bond money.
Machado said in a statement this week that he wants a "thorough review of exactly how Measure L funds have been spent."
Measure L is the $250 million bond passed in 2004.
A San Joaquin County civil grand jury in June said the board has squandered millions, particularly in its decision to pursue a south-county campus in Mountain House rather than Tracy.
The campus has yet to be built.
Source
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
San Joaquin Delta College District needs new people, fresh perspective
By The Record
August 13, 2008 6:00 AM
In one of the healthiest election signs recently, a dozen candidates have surfaced for the four seats up for election in the San Joaquin Delta College District.
In recent years, unfortunately, there has been a decided lack of interest in college-board service. That means some incumbents, who are not inconvenienced by term limits, have served for decades. While there is an argument to be made for the accumulated institutional knowledge they bring to the task, a more convincing argument cries out for new blood, new thinking.
Recent news revelations about cost overruns and project delays surrounding a $250 million bond approved by voters four years ago no doubt stirred some candidate interest. A nasty report by the county grand jury was another wake up call. Among other things, jurors charged the board with being dysfunctional and that the decision to build a south county campus in Mountain House rather than Tracy unnecessarily cost district voters about $30 million. Then there was the threat to the district accreditation. While the loss of accreditation is unlikely, the very threat is an embarrassment.
Enough is enough, the crowded field seems to indicate. There are two candidates running against Area 1 incumbent Anthony Bugarin - James Grunsky and Jennet Stebbins. There are five candidates for the Area 2 seat of Leo Burke, who did not seek re-election - Mary Ann Cox, Motecuzoma Patrick Sanchez, Thomas LaBounty, Gregory Benigno and David Rishwain. In Area 5, Steve Castellanos is the lone candidate to replace Dan Parises. And Area 6 incumbent Greg McCreary who hasn't faced an opponent since being elected 12 years ago now has two - Carolyn Gamino and Teresa R. Brown.
The challengers face an uphill battle against incumbent trustees, controversies, bad press, vicious grand jury reports and accreditation problems notwithstanding.
That's because in addition to no term limits which keeps office holders in place, so does the way they are elected. They run from districts - Area 6, for example, is the Tracy area - but they are elected at large. All voters in the sprawling district vote in all area elections. That means a candidate must somehow develop name recognition beyond the area that person will represent. That's a tough, expensive proposition and goes a long way toward explaining how some incumbents have camped in office for more than 30 years.
The district should rethink how trustees are selected and how long they stay once elected.
Source
August 13, 2008 6:00 AM
In one of the healthiest election signs recently, a dozen candidates have surfaced for the four seats up for election in the San Joaquin Delta College District.
In recent years, unfortunately, there has been a decided lack of interest in college-board service. That means some incumbents, who are not inconvenienced by term limits, have served for decades. While there is an argument to be made for the accumulated institutional knowledge they bring to the task, a more convincing argument cries out for new blood, new thinking.
Recent news revelations about cost overruns and project delays surrounding a $250 million bond approved by voters four years ago no doubt stirred some candidate interest. A nasty report by the county grand jury was another wake up call. Among other things, jurors charged the board with being dysfunctional and that the decision to build a south county campus in Mountain House rather than Tracy unnecessarily cost district voters about $30 million. Then there was the threat to the district accreditation. While the loss of accreditation is unlikely, the very threat is an embarrassment.
Enough is enough, the crowded field seems to indicate. There are two candidates running against Area 1 incumbent Anthony Bugarin - James Grunsky and Jennet Stebbins. There are five candidates for the Area 2 seat of Leo Burke, who did not seek re-election - Mary Ann Cox, Motecuzoma Patrick Sanchez, Thomas LaBounty, Gregory Benigno and David Rishwain. In Area 5, Steve Castellanos is the lone candidate to replace Dan Parises. And Area 6 incumbent Greg McCreary who hasn't faced an opponent since being elected 12 years ago now has two - Carolyn Gamino and Teresa R. Brown.
The challengers face an uphill battle against incumbent trustees, controversies, bad press, vicious grand jury reports and accreditation problems notwithstanding.
That's because in addition to no term limits which keeps office holders in place, so does the way they are elected. They run from districts - Area 6, for example, is the Tracy area - but they are elected at large. All voters in the sprawling district vote in all area elections. That means a candidate must somehow develop name recognition beyond the area that person will represent. That's a tough, expensive proposition and goes a long way toward explaining how some incumbents have camped in office for more than 30 years.
The district should rethink how trustees are selected and how long they stay once elected.
Source
Saturday, August 9, 2008
A dozen candidates vie for Delta board
By Alex Breitler
Record Staff Writer
August 09, 2008 6:00 AM
STOCKTON - It'll be an unusually crowded ballot for the San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustees come November.
A dozen candidates filed to run for the board by Friday's deadline, some of them citing widely publicized reports of board dysfunction and alleged mismanagement of a $250 million voter-approved bond.
New blood on the board is already guaranteed for the first time in more than a decade after longtime Trustee Dan Parises announced he would not seek another term.
Also, board Chairman Leo Burke, first elected in 1975, did not file for re-election. He was out of town Friday and could not be reached for comment.
Five people are seeking Burke's seat.
"Delta has not been getting what it deserves," said one of them, Stockton native and business and real estate attorney David Rishwain.
Here's how the competition breaks down:
» AREA 1 (Stockton): Incumbent Anthony Bugarin, a schoolteacher, is challenged by businessman James Grunsky and businesswoman Jennet Stebbins. Stebbins in June campaigned unsuccessfully for the state Senate.
» AREA 2 (Stockton): Burke's seat is sought by five challengers: retired Delta administrator Mary Ann Cox; former full-time Delta student Motecuzoma Sanchez; accountant Thomas LaBounty; broker Gregory Benigno; and Rishwain, the attorney. Sanchez in June campaigned unsuccessfully for Stockton mayor.
"It seems like there's going to be several new faces on the board, and I think that's encouraging," said LaBounty, 49. "It seems like any change on the board will be positive."
» AREA 5 (Galt, Rio Vista and Calaveras County): Architect Steve Castellanos is the lone candidate to replace Parises.
» AREA 6 (Tracy): Trustee Greg McCreary, who has not had an opponent since he was elected in 1996, now faces two: Carolyn Gamino, a Tracy school employee; and Teresa R. Brown, a university program developer.
Delta Trustees Maria Elena Serna, Janet Rivera and Ted Simas are not up for re-election this year.
Source
Record Staff Writer
August 09, 2008 6:00 AM
STOCKTON - It'll be an unusually crowded ballot for the San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustees come November.
A dozen candidates filed to run for the board by Friday's deadline, some of them citing widely publicized reports of board dysfunction and alleged mismanagement of a $250 million voter-approved bond.
New blood on the board is already guaranteed for the first time in more than a decade after longtime Trustee Dan Parises announced he would not seek another term.
Also, board Chairman Leo Burke, first elected in 1975, did not file for re-election. He was out of town Friday and could not be reached for comment.
Five people are seeking Burke's seat.
"Delta has not been getting what it deserves," said one of them, Stockton native and business and real estate attorney David Rishwain.
Here's how the competition breaks down:
» AREA 1 (Stockton): Incumbent Anthony Bugarin, a schoolteacher, is challenged by businessman James Grunsky and businesswoman Jennet Stebbins. Stebbins in June campaigned unsuccessfully for the state Senate.
» AREA 2 (Stockton): Burke's seat is sought by five challengers: retired Delta administrator Mary Ann Cox; former full-time Delta student Motecuzoma Sanchez; accountant Thomas LaBounty; broker Gregory Benigno; and Rishwain, the attorney. Sanchez in June campaigned unsuccessfully for Stockton mayor.
"It seems like there's going to be several new faces on the board, and I think that's encouraging," said LaBounty, 49. "It seems like any change on the board will be positive."
» AREA 5 (Galt, Rio Vista and Calaveras County): Architect Steve Castellanos is the lone candidate to replace Parises.
» AREA 6 (Tracy): Trustee Greg McCreary, who has not had an opponent since he was elected in 1996, now faces two: Carolyn Gamino, a Tracy school employee; and Teresa R. Brown, a university program developer.
Delta Trustees Maria Elena Serna, Janet Rivera and Ted Simas are not up for re-election this year.
Source
Democracy needs choice
Written by Jon Mendelson
Friday, 08 August 2008
The Delta College trustees might make term limits sound like a good idea, but columnist Jon Mendelson says the real solution is much more simple.
It took long enough, but the San Joaquin Delta College trustees — including Tracy trustee Greg McCreary — will face challengers in the November election.
At long last, democracy is being served in school.
Democracy, you see, requires choice. And for far too long, voters had no choice when it came to electing the Delta College board.
Since the year George W. Bush first ran for president, only four people over four elections have challenged the seven elected directors of the county’s most-used school. So the incumbents were often merely appointed. No need to waste an election if there’s nobody running.
At the time, it seemed like no big deal. In retrospect, it turned out to be huge.
As voters were deprived — or deprived themselves — of electoral choices, the powers that be entrenched themselves at Delta, and the results are easy to read.
According to the San Joaquin Civil Grand Jury, the long-tenured board members frittered away huge chunks of a $250 million taxpayer bond.
As if that weren’t enough, the grand jury also said certain board members were found to have violated the Brown Act, passing along closed-door information to those who stood to win or lose big from the board’s decision.
Hence the money quote in the jury’s report: "The grand jury has no confidence in the Delta College Board of Trustees as they are currently constituted. The district needs capable trustees who are able to meet the task of bringing Delta College into the 21st century."
In other words: Vote the bums out.
Since that mandate, plenty of campaigners have filed papers for the upcoming election. It would have been better if we’d had the flood of challengers before the money was wasted and law flouted, but we’ll take what we can get.
Still, it’s disappointing that it took a scandal to rock the board’s boat.
Isn’t there a better way? A way to cycle rascals out of office despite public apathy?
Some would say term limits are exactly the answer this case points to. The same some, no doubt, have hoisted a City Council term limits initiative onto Tracy’s fall ballot.
They say that our council members and mayor, not unlike the Delta trustees, have sat for too many Tuesdays on the dais. Limiting council terms is the best way to end the reign of poor decision-making.
The initiative’s supporters won’t get much argument that the past’s haphazard planning has led to a mess in Tracy. It’s also true that several council members have served several terms and are responsible, to varying degrees, for that planning.
Unlike the Delta situation, however, these folks have been challenged. The long-term incumbents on the City Council — Brent Ives, Suzanne Tucker and Evelyn Tolbert — have all faced serious competition, and voters decided they were the best for the job more than once. And whether I — or anyone else — agrees with that overall decision is beside the point.
No doubt long flirtations with power tend to corrupt (read: Alaskan Sen. Ted Stevens and his oil industry buddies).
But voters can remedy that.
We have the chance with the Delta board this fall to weed out the incompetent and retain the dedicated, and we’ll have the same chance with the City Council.
It’s true that term limits make sure charlatans have only so long to do their damage. Limits also arbitrarily kick out dedicated public servants, and legislative bodies lose expertise and strong working relationships.
Limits just aren’t as smart as an engaged, informed citizenry.
The quick stop-gap fix offered by term limits is a tempting siren’s song, but they don’t address the underlying problems of influence peddling, corruption and money. They only treat certain symptoms.
The real solution, as it always has been, is simple:
Vote the bums out.
Source
Friday, 08 August 2008
The Delta College trustees might make term limits sound like a good idea, but columnist Jon Mendelson says the real solution is much more simple.
It took long enough, but the San Joaquin Delta College trustees — including Tracy trustee Greg McCreary — will face challengers in the November election.
At long last, democracy is being served in school.
Democracy, you see, requires choice. And for far too long, voters had no choice when it came to electing the Delta College board.
Since the year George W. Bush first ran for president, only four people over four elections have challenged the seven elected directors of the county’s most-used school. So the incumbents were often merely appointed. No need to waste an election if there’s nobody running.
At the time, it seemed like no big deal. In retrospect, it turned out to be huge.
As voters were deprived — or deprived themselves — of electoral choices, the powers that be entrenched themselves at Delta, and the results are easy to read.
According to the San Joaquin Civil Grand Jury, the long-tenured board members frittered away huge chunks of a $250 million taxpayer bond.
As if that weren’t enough, the grand jury also said certain board members were found to have violated the Brown Act, passing along closed-door information to those who stood to win or lose big from the board’s decision.
Hence the money quote in the jury’s report: "The grand jury has no confidence in the Delta College Board of Trustees as they are currently constituted. The district needs capable trustees who are able to meet the task of bringing Delta College into the 21st century."
In other words: Vote the bums out.
Since that mandate, plenty of campaigners have filed papers for the upcoming election. It would have been better if we’d had the flood of challengers before the money was wasted and law flouted, but we’ll take what we can get.
Still, it’s disappointing that it took a scandal to rock the board’s boat.
Isn’t there a better way? A way to cycle rascals out of office despite public apathy?
Some would say term limits are exactly the answer this case points to. The same some, no doubt, have hoisted a City Council term limits initiative onto Tracy’s fall ballot.
They say that our council members and mayor, not unlike the Delta trustees, have sat for too many Tuesdays on the dais. Limiting council terms is the best way to end the reign of poor decision-making.
The initiative’s supporters won’t get much argument that the past’s haphazard planning has led to a mess in Tracy. It’s also true that several council members have served several terms and are responsible, to varying degrees, for that planning.
Unlike the Delta situation, however, these folks have been challenged. The long-term incumbents on the City Council — Brent Ives, Suzanne Tucker and Evelyn Tolbert — have all faced serious competition, and voters decided they were the best for the job more than once. And whether I — or anyone else — agrees with that overall decision is beside the point.
No doubt long flirtations with power tend to corrupt (read: Alaskan Sen. Ted Stevens and his oil industry buddies).
But voters can remedy that.
We have the chance with the Delta board this fall to weed out the incompetent and retain the dedicated, and we’ll have the same chance with the City Council.
It’s true that term limits make sure charlatans have only so long to do their damage. Limits also arbitrarily kick out dedicated public servants, and legislative bodies lose expertise and strong working relationships.
Limits just aren’t as smart as an engaged, informed citizenry.
The quick stop-gap fix offered by term limits is a tempting siren’s song, but they don’t address the underlying problems of influence peddling, corruption and money. They only treat certain symptoms.
The real solution, as it always has been, is simple:
Vote the bums out.
Source
Delta no-go
Written by Jennifer Wadsworth
Friday, 08 August 2008
The city of Tracy still wants to host Delta College’s south county campus, but the school’s president says that’s just not possible.
Delta College again rejected an offer by the city of Tracy to locate a south county satellite campus on this parcel of land just east of town. Press file photo
San Joaquin Delta College has rejected an offer from City Manager Leon Churchill to reconsider setting up a satellite campus in eastern Tracy instead of in Mountain House.
In a letter sent mid-July, Churchill asked Delta president Raul Rodriguez to sign on as part of a multi-college complex proposed for city land near 11th Street and Chrisman Road.
"I’m disappointed," Churchill said Friday of the college’s refusal. "I think the college has a unique opportunity to correct what we think is a wrong decision, and I would hope that they have better quantitative skills, because we think we offered a superior option."
It wasn’t the first time the city has asked to partner with the Stockton-based community college. Three years ago, the city offered to give the college 108 acres and promised to cover the costs for fees and roads.
City officials and some council members said they weren’t surprised the college rebuffed the offer.
"It’s more political than anything," said Amie Parker of the city’s development and engineering department. "They’ve never been really open to the idea."
Tracy has yet to secure anything more than spoken interest from a few colleges for the planned east Tracy campuses, Churchill wrote in the letter, so plans are still open for an east Tracy Delta campus.
Churchill touted the city’s commitment to higher education and urged Rodriguez to look into the benefits of the Tracy site before finalizing plans for a south county campus.
Electricity, plumbing and other work to get the Tracy land ready for an 85,000-square-foot college building would cost about $3.2 million, according to the city.
The city offered to sell the land directly to Delta or to a private, already contracted company, which would take over building and sell the finished campus back to the school after construction.
In the meantime, the college would also be welcome to set up its already-ordered portable classrooms at the Tracy site, the letter invited.
"At this point, many options are available," Churchill offered.
He asked, if anything, that the college place the offer on the next Delta board of trustees agenda as a discussion item.
The college refused that, too.
Rodriguez wrote that the Measure L bond team decided that "it is not feasible from just about any perspective to consider scrapping the plans at Mountain House for another location," Rodriguez wrote back two weeks later. "The college has simply too much invested in planning, infrastructure and partnerships to consider any other options."
The college has $64 million to spend on satellite campuses in Lodi, Manteca and Mountain House. A few months ago, the Mountain House campus alone was slated to cost $94 million.
Tracy also offered to build a place to house Delta’s heavy equipment and diesel technology department, which the college planned to build in Manteca.
Rodriguez wrote that Delta will consider renovating the existing Stockton department instead. But he said the college is still unsure if it even has enough money to do that.
To pull out of Mountain House would send the public a mixed message, Rodriguez continued, and would oppose the direction given by both the college’s administrative staff and governing board.
Councilman Steve Abercrombie echoed city officials’ lack of surprise.
"There’s more stuff going on behind the scenes that we’re not privy to," he said. "You have to wonder if maybe they ought to stop and take a good look at what the actual bottom line is."
Source
Friday, August 8, 2008
Delta trustee race suddenly crowded
Written by Jennifer Wadsworth
Thursday, 07 August 2008
The day before a filing deadline, three people have turned in papers to run for Greg McCreary's Tracy-area seat on the San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustees.
Three candidates have filed to run against longtime San Joaquin Delta College governing board trustee Greg McCreary for the Tracy seat — one of four spots slated for the general election ballot.
Tracy physician James Halderman, elementary school food service worker Carolyn Gamino and university administrator Teresa Brown filed just days before the 5 p.m. Friday deadline.
McCreary registered for re-election in mid-July for what could be his fourth term and his turn as board president.
This year marks the first time the 70-year-old retired teacher’s spot on the board has met with some competition.
McCreary, who was unavailable for comment, has said that he welcomes challengers and the public’s renewed interest in Delta governance.
Gamino today said it made her upset to learn that with a few days left to file, no one had declared intent to run against McCreary.
The lifelong Southside Tracy resident told her husband Larry Gamino — a Tracy City Council candidate — that she was going to Stockton that afternoon to register.
Trustees, she said, “are not being held accountable. Somebody needed to run against these people to get them to answer questions about their mismanagement.”
Like Gamino, Tracy anesthesiologist Halderman read that still no one had stepped up to compete against the incumbent.
Brown, who works at the California State University, Stanislaus, Stockton extension, registered on Wednesday.
Trustees create and enact school policies and hire the college president, among other responsibilities. Elected members get a $400 monthly stipend and qualify for district-paid health benefits.
Criticism by state and academic agencies of board mismanagement has sparked more interest this election than in past years.
Teachers formed a political action committee at the college to rally more people to run against the rarely challenged incumbents. The aim, members said, is not necessarily to support opponents, but to keep sitting trustees accountable.
Typically, because no one or very few run against Delta trustees, the incumbents are re-appointed in lieu of an election.
This year, for the first time in many years, that will apparently change.
Source
Thursday, 07 August 2008
The day before a filing deadline, three people have turned in papers to run for Greg McCreary's Tracy-area seat on the San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustees.
Three candidates have filed to run against longtime San Joaquin Delta College governing board trustee Greg McCreary for the Tracy seat — one of four spots slated for the general election ballot.
Tracy physician James Halderman, elementary school food service worker Carolyn Gamino and university administrator Teresa Brown filed just days before the 5 p.m. Friday deadline.
McCreary registered for re-election in mid-July for what could be his fourth term and his turn as board president.
This year marks the first time the 70-year-old retired teacher’s spot on the board has met with some competition.
McCreary, who was unavailable for comment, has said that he welcomes challengers and the public’s renewed interest in Delta governance.
Gamino today said it made her upset to learn that with a few days left to file, no one had declared intent to run against McCreary.
The lifelong Southside Tracy resident told her husband Larry Gamino — a Tracy City Council candidate — that she was going to Stockton that afternoon to register.
Trustees, she said, “are not being held accountable. Somebody needed to run against these people to get them to answer questions about their mismanagement.”
Like Gamino, Tracy anesthesiologist Halderman read that still no one had stepped up to compete against the incumbent.
Brown, who works at the California State University, Stanislaus, Stockton extension, registered on Wednesday.
Trustees create and enact school policies and hire the college president, among other responsibilities. Elected members get a $400 monthly stipend and qualify for district-paid health benefits.
Criticism by state and academic agencies of board mismanagement has sparked more interest this election than in past years.
Teachers formed a political action committee at the college to rally more people to run against the rarely challenged incumbents. The aim, members said, is not necessarily to support opponents, but to keep sitting trustees accountable.
Typically, because no one or very few run against Delta trustees, the incumbents are re-appointed in lieu of an election.
This year, for the first time in many years, that will apparently change.
Source
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Our Voice
Written by Press Editorial Board
Tuesday, 05 August 2008
It's not too late for concerned citizens to take on the too-long-unchallenged San Joaquin Delta College trustees in this November's election.
We aren’t done ranting about Delta — neither the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and its detractors, nor the San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustees and its debacles.
Today we’ll focus on the college, as the deadline to file for a seat on the board is just two days away. When Election Day comes around in November, all of us who vote in San Joaquin County will be asked to choose four people to serve on this seven-member board that oversees our community college.
In years past, it’s really been no contest. Incumbents who are unopposed for their four-year terms are merely appointed to office. In both 2000 and 2004, no votes were cast, because there were no challengers.
Greg McCreary, who has represented Tracy since 1996, has never, in 12 years, had an opponent. And so far, only five challengers have thrown in their hats, but none of them are for McCreary’s Tracy seat. If no one steps forward, he will be unopposed once again and will move up to be president of the board.
We have no qualms about McCreary, who has said he wants to serve one more term, but we would like to hear him defend what’s happened under his watch and try to convince voters that he can help resolve the mess. We’d also like to have choices, because that’s the democratic way.
This is a board that manages our taxpayer dollars — $250 million of them in the Measure L bond — hires the college president, oversees the budget and crafts policy that affects thousands of citizens who want to extend their education past high school.
This is also a board that has been widely criticized — from the civil grand jury to a regional accreditation commission to a teacher-led political action committee — for mismanagement, misspending and infighting.
There appears to be little confidence in this board’s ability to lead, and that’s a very big deal.
Of the $250 million bond that voters passed in 2004, only $64 million is left for the college’s Lodi, Manteca and Mountain House campuses. The Mountain House project alone is budgeted for $94.2 million, and ground has yet to be broken.
We hope the board will consider whether it would be cheaper to build that south-county campus in Tracy. After all, three years ago, the city of Tracy offered to give the college 108 acres at Chrisman Road and 11th Street and promised to cover the costs for fees and roads, in exchange for scrapping the plans in Mountain House.
This isn’t the last time we’ll devote this space to Delta College. But this is our last plea for candidates — the only antidote for a ho-hum trustee election in 2008.
Source
Tuesday, 05 August 2008
It's not too late for concerned citizens to take on the too-long-unchallenged San Joaquin Delta College trustees in this November's election.
We aren’t done ranting about Delta — neither the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and its detractors, nor the San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustees and its debacles.
Today we’ll focus on the college, as the deadline to file for a seat on the board is just two days away. When Election Day comes around in November, all of us who vote in San Joaquin County will be asked to choose four people to serve on this seven-member board that oversees our community college.
In years past, it’s really been no contest. Incumbents who are unopposed for their four-year terms are merely appointed to office. In both 2000 and 2004, no votes were cast, because there were no challengers.
Greg McCreary, who has represented Tracy since 1996, has never, in 12 years, had an opponent. And so far, only five challengers have thrown in their hats, but none of them are for McCreary’s Tracy seat. If no one steps forward, he will be unopposed once again and will move up to be president of the board.
We have no qualms about McCreary, who has said he wants to serve one more term, but we would like to hear him defend what’s happened under his watch and try to convince voters that he can help resolve the mess. We’d also like to have choices, because that’s the democratic way.
This is a board that manages our taxpayer dollars — $250 million of them in the Measure L bond — hires the college president, oversees the budget and crafts policy that affects thousands of citizens who want to extend their education past high school.
This is also a board that has been widely criticized — from the civil grand jury to a regional accreditation commission to a teacher-led political action committee — for mismanagement, misspending and infighting.
There appears to be little confidence in this board’s ability to lead, and that’s a very big deal.
Of the $250 million bond that voters passed in 2004, only $64 million is left for the college’s Lodi, Manteca and Mountain House campuses. The Mountain House project alone is budgeted for $94.2 million, and ground has yet to be broken.
We hope the board will consider whether it would be cheaper to build that south-county campus in Tracy. After all, three years ago, the city of Tracy offered to give the college 108 acres at Chrisman Road and 11th Street and promised to cover the costs for fees and roads, in exchange for scrapping the plans in Mountain House.
This isn’t the last time we’ll devote this space to Delta College. But this is our last plea for candidates — the only antidote for a ho-hum trustee election in 2008.
Source
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Five will offer challenge to Delta trustee incumbents
By Natalie Flynn
Special to the News-Sentinel
Updated: Friday, August 1, 2008 6:15 AM PDT
Incumbents on the San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustees will face a field of challengers this election.
That stands in stark contrast to elections in 2000 and 2004 when they ran unopposed and in 2006 when only two challengers came forward.
This year, five people have filed paperwork with the San Joaquin County registrar of voters.
Challengers are seizing on a report by the San Joaquin County Grand Jury that criticized the board for misspending the $250 million Measure L bond passed in 2004. Many have also questioned decisions by the trustees because of delays and cost overruns associated with the bond projects.
Jennet Stebbins, of Stockton, will run against incumbent Anthony Bugarin in Trustee Area One.
Mary Ann Cox, a former Delta instructor, Thomas LaBounty, of Stockton, and Motecuzoma Patrick Sanchez, a former Delta student, are running against incumbent Leo Burke of Area Two. Burke has not decided whether or not he will run.
Steve Castellanos is currently running unopposed for Area Five, since Dan Parises announced he was not seeking re-election.
Greg McCreary, next year's board president, is currently running unopposed.
Stebbins, who served on the Stockton Unified School Board in the 1990s said she has wanted to run for the Delta board for some time. "I announced before the grand jury mess came out ... I was looking for something to get back into," Stebbins said, adding she has run for many offices, looking to make change wherever possible.
One of her primary concerns for the college is the nursing program. Stebbins hopes to expand the classes.
"You are looking at a major campus. People should be drawn to it," Stebbins said. "It's just like having a world-class library in Stockton."
LaBounty, owner and head accountant of Constar Supply, is running for Area Two against incumbent Leo Burke.
His sister-in-law is an instructor at Delta and recommended he file to run for the board about three weeks ago.
He said he has plans to set the college's finances straight.
"(My goal) is on the monetary side; looking at what they've done with a quarter of a billion dollars, they have very little to show of it after four years," LaBounty said.
Sanchez, a former Delta student, hopes his connection to the college will allow him to better serve the community.
"I'd like to add integrity," Sanchez said. "The board needs a connection to the community they serve. The current members have been together for so long, they've lost sight of the people they serve."
The final candidate for Area Two, Cox, is a former teacher and businesswoman. Cox was unavailable for comment.
Castellanos, a Stockton native and former California state architect, is currently running unopposed, and hopes to refocus the board on educational issues.
"For this district ... there is a tremendous need for a greater focus on education, economic development, changing communities," Castellanos said. "Delta plays a critical role in all of that."
Castellanos was the one candidate who has been contacted by a newly formed political action committee of Delta instructors looking to put new faces on the board.
"We're hoping, at a minimum, to replace two or three people in this election," said Sam Hatch, a Delta English teacher and one of six committee members.
However, Delta history teacher Lynn Hawley said the group does not necessarily refuse to back an incumbent. They just want things changed up a little.
The group, through affiliations with the teachers' union, hopes to have at least $20,000 to pay for promotional materials to encourage people to file before the Aug. 8 deadline.
The Tracy Press contributed to this report.
Source
Special to the News-Sentinel
Updated: Friday, August 1, 2008 6:15 AM PDT
Incumbents on the San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustees will face a field of challengers this election.
That stands in stark contrast to elections in 2000 and 2004 when they ran unopposed and in 2006 when only two challengers came forward.
This year, five people have filed paperwork with the San Joaquin County registrar of voters.
Challengers are seizing on a report by the San Joaquin County Grand Jury that criticized the board for misspending the $250 million Measure L bond passed in 2004. Many have also questioned decisions by the trustees because of delays and cost overruns associated with the bond projects.
Jennet Stebbins, of Stockton, will run against incumbent Anthony Bugarin in Trustee Area One.
Mary Ann Cox, a former Delta instructor, Thomas LaBounty, of Stockton, and Motecuzoma Patrick Sanchez, a former Delta student, are running against incumbent Leo Burke of Area Two. Burke has not decided whether or not he will run.
Steve Castellanos is currently running unopposed for Area Five, since Dan Parises announced he was not seeking re-election.
Greg McCreary, next year's board president, is currently running unopposed.
Stebbins, who served on the Stockton Unified School Board in the 1990s said she has wanted to run for the Delta board for some time. "I announced before the grand jury mess came out ... I was looking for something to get back into," Stebbins said, adding she has run for many offices, looking to make change wherever possible.
One of her primary concerns for the college is the nursing program. Stebbins hopes to expand the classes.
"You are looking at a major campus. People should be drawn to it," Stebbins said. "It's just like having a world-class library in Stockton."
LaBounty, owner and head accountant of Constar Supply, is running for Area Two against incumbent Leo Burke.
His sister-in-law is an instructor at Delta and recommended he file to run for the board about three weeks ago.
He said he has plans to set the college's finances straight.
"(My goal) is on the monetary side; looking at what they've done with a quarter of a billion dollars, they have very little to show of it after four years," LaBounty said.
Sanchez, a former Delta student, hopes his connection to the college will allow him to better serve the community.
"I'd like to add integrity," Sanchez said. "The board needs a connection to the community they serve. The current members have been together for so long, they've lost sight of the people they serve."
The final candidate for Area Two, Cox, is a former teacher and businesswoman. Cox was unavailable for comment.
Castellanos, a Stockton native and former California state architect, is currently running unopposed, and hopes to refocus the board on educational issues.
"For this district ... there is a tremendous need for a greater focus on education, economic development, changing communities," Castellanos said. "Delta plays a critical role in all of that."
Castellanos was the one candidate who has been contacted by a newly formed political action committee of Delta instructors looking to put new faces on the board.
"We're hoping, at a minimum, to replace two or three people in this election," said Sam Hatch, a Delta English teacher and one of six committee members.
However, Delta history teacher Lynn Hawley said the group does not necessarily refuse to back an incumbent. They just want things changed up a little.
The group, through affiliations with the teachers' union, hopes to have at least $20,000 to pay for promotional materials to encourage people to file before the Aug. 8 deadline.
The Tracy Press contributed to this report.
Source
Is Delta College's new $84 million math and science center really needed?
A science lab in the Cunningham building at Delta College. Some instructors find the labs outdated. (Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)
By Amanda Dyer
News-Sentinel Staff Writer
Updated: Saturday, August 2, 2008 6:18 AM PDT
When Delta College trustees committed to building a new Cunningham Math and Science center, they agreed to spend nearly a third of the college's Measure L bond money on a single, high-tech building.
Now that building is funneling money away from other projects and has some people connected to the college asking if the school really needs it.
The new Cunningham building is envisioned as a large science and math complex with cutting-edge technology and a modern, open design that is much different than the cramped corridors and busy laboratories of the existing structure.
The college initially budgeted the Cunningham building at $38 million in December 2003. The budget grew to $61 million some time later, and in June, San Joaquin Delta College's new bond team told trustees that even that budget was a gross underestimate for the 100,000-square-foot structure.
Raul Rodriguez, Delta's president and superintendent, picked Lee Belarmino, vice president of information services for Delta, to lead the new bond team in April, said Greg Greenwood, spokesman for the college. Belarmino formed the rest of the team, which consists of about a dozen Delta employees and one consultant.
A few weeks after the June bond workshop, the team recommended that the Cunningham project be completed as designed.
Board agrees building needed
Team members said that not only is the building needed to accommodate extra students, but if the college backs out or changes its plan, it would risk losing $30 million in state funding for the project.
The board agreed.
"The great push in this country is math and science," trustee Anthony Bugarin said at the meeting where board members voted to go through with the project.
The agreement to go ahead with the Cunningham project contributed to the decision to nix an $8.5 million district support services center. It also dipped deeply into funds that could have funded other up-in-the-air projects, including a satellite campus in Lodi.
Out of the $250 million bond that the college passed in 2004, only $64 million is left to go toward the college's Lodi, Mountain House and Manteca campuses. That's $31.6 million less that what the board originally budgeted for the three projects. The Mountain House project alone is currently budgeted for $94.2 million.
Delta trustees have yet to decide the fate of the satellite campuses. District officials seem to be getting increasingly comfortable with the idea of a pared-down plan for each of the sites.
The new bond team recommended that the college build the Cunningham building for several reasons, Belarmino said.
First, he said, the current Cunningham building, constructed in 1975, is inadequate for the college's math and science needs.
"My understanding is we really needed more lab space," Belarmino said.
Instructors also told the bond team that the current building's layout is inefficient for running lab classes smoothly. Supply rooms can be quite a distance from the labs they serve, creating headaches for instructors and lab technicians.
One instructor said the tables in the labs are too wide for group work. The lab stations don't have Internet access, which makes it difficult to run simulations or share data. In his classroom, none of the tables have gas piped to them to run experiments. They also don't have a sufficient number of electrical outlets.
Belarmino said the people who built the Cunningham building and the rest of the Delta campus designed as far into the future as their vision could carry them.
"They had no idea how computers were going to work," Belarmino said.
Bond team considers options
The bond team considered all its options: delaying the project, constructing a smaller version or remodeling the existing building. Each option had downsides, they said, and could incur greater or equal costs with lesser results.
The biggest of the fiscal issues is that the college would most likely lose close to $30 million in state funding if they change the project significantly.
The plans, which have already been submitted to the state, call for demolishing the existing Cunningham building. Should Delta decide to keep the existing Cunningham building, the college would violate their agreement with the state and lose its funding.
Pulling out of the agreement with the state might also jeopardize future funding requests, members of the bond team said at the June 26 bond workshop.
The bond team cautioned that putting the project out to bid now, while the market is favorable, would keep costs down. Redesigning the building, on the other hand, would incur additional costs and delay the project further. It's assumed that the cost of materials needed to construct the building would continue to increase during the delay.
Greenwood said one of the reasons that the project has become so expensive in the first place is the rising cost of materials over time.
Still, knowing the circumstances, some instructors say that the building is a money pit, draining bond funds away from other projects.
"Most of us have been against this since the conception," said one veteran science instructor, who preferred to remain anonymous. "There's absolutely no reason for a new building, as far as I'm concerned."
The instructor suggested that the administration has let the existing Cunningham building decay as an excuse to build a new one. He said most staff members won't even use the restroom unless they absolutely have to because they're so dirty.
He also worries that the new Cunningham building will be filled with the old equipment. If that's true, he said, all instructors are going to have are new walls, which, he says, doesn't make sense.
"I could teach my class in a tent," he said.
Disagreement
Other staff members don't feel quite the same way.
Nina Bookman, a senior science laboratory technician, works in the Cunningham building, making sure lab classes get all the materials they need. Her office, the first-floor prep room, is packed with chemicals, test tubes and models.
In the last few days of summer session, working in the prep room isn't too bad, she said. Come fall semester, though, she'll have students, assistants and professors crammed into the small space from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
"When it isn't working, it becomes pretty obvious," said one professor about the prep room.
Bookman's looking forward to the day when she has a better-planned space to work with.
According to current designs, the new building will consist of two interconnected structures with open-air walkways, similar to the spaces already found on Delta's campus, Greenwood said.
Renderings show the building has have a crisp design with lines that fit into the campus, skyline and a glass-contained staircase.
Though the new Cunningham building was designed to fit in with the rest of the college, some say it's fairly modern-looking as well.
Whether one agrees or not, the building is sure to be the jewel of the campus.
Belarmino has high expectations for the new Cunningham building, too.
"It is totally state-of-the-art," he said. "All the things that (we) wish were in the building, are."
The Cunningham project at a glance.
Cost of the project
# $4.5 million to design the project.
# $62.5 million for site development and construction.
# $2.5 million for demolition.
# $14.9 million for secondary, or indirect, costs, including relocating portables that are in the space where the Cunningham building will go, fees for state and local agencies, testing, inspection, construction and program management fees and contingency funding.
Funding
# $29.5 million comes from state, Proposition 1D funding.
# $54.9 million comes from the Measure L bond.
# The college has spent approximately $4.2 million to date on testing, design, engineers, the architect, program management and other miscellaneous fees.
Construction timeline
# Date construction is expected to start: Sept. 18, 2009.
# Length of construction: 24 months.
# College moves into the building: June 30, 2012.
Source: Delta College
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