By Lookout Staff

Nov. 6 -- With little need for debate, the Santa Monica Community College District Board of Trustees unanimously voted Monday night to put a $160 million bond measure on the March 2002 ballot to fund capital improvement projects at its aging campus.

The bond would cover the lion's share of the replacement and modernization projects identified in a report prepared in anticipation of the bond issue that details 21 projects costing $195.5 million. The report found that 11 of the college's 32 buildings should be considered for replacement and four need to be completely rehabilitated or reconstructed. The work would take 10 to 12 years to complete.

The bond measure will need 55 percent of the votes cast by Santa Monica and Malibu voters when it appears on the March 5 ballot.

"The bond is all about the future," said SMC Board of Trustees Chair Annette Shamey. "It will help preserve educational quality and at the same time allow us to improve the safety of our campus for our students.

"Every one of our neighboring community colleges has approved or will seek approval for similar facility improvements by next year," Shamey added. "Our action this evening is our responsibility to our own Santa Monica and Malibu communities to preserve educational opportunities and student achievement."

Before casting the vote, the board noted that 69 percent of Santa Monica and Malibu voters surveyed in a July 2001 poll stated that they or someone in their immediate family had attended SMC in the last five years.

The poll also found that, in addition to projects to renovate the aging buildings, the public recognized the need to meet current standards for campus lighting, security, and ADA requirements.

Improving access also was identified as a priority. While noting that more than one-third of SMC students arrive on campus by public transportation, survey respondents believe that providing additional student parking, both underground and at off-site locations, was "extremely important" or "very important."

Along with the recommended projects funded by the bond, the board included a number of strategies to regulate campus density. Among the strategies were moving parking, as well as non-student services such as the warehouse, off-site, along with a new Literacy Center.

A new Student Services building will centralize student-serving programs that are now housed at more than 15 sites on the main campus, most in temporary buildings.

The bond measure also will fund a new, permanent home for Emeritus College, which is currently housed in a downtown public parking structure the City hopes to replace.

The average cost of the bond will be $1.12 a month for renters and $77 a
year for the average homeowner in Santa Monica and Malibu. The first year
cost of the bond issue will be $16.21 per $100,000 in assessed valuation and
the average cost over the life of the bond will be $19.21 per $100,000.