Funds from a bond would go toward facilities improvements at Santa Monica College and toward a learning center in Malibu.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
Just as they did in 2004, Malibu voters might have a Santa Monica College District bond measure to consider on the November election ballot. The college Board of Trustees will consider a proposal for a $295 million facilities improvement bond at its meeting on Monday. The bond would pay for various projects in Santa Monica and for a “joint use learning center” at Malibu High School, although it is not clear what exactly would be done at the high school or how much money would be designated for it.
The bond would initially cost homeowners about $18 per $100,000 of the assessed value of a home, with the potential for the cost to increase, according to the district. The bond would require 55 percent approval for passage.
District staff is proposing the bond be used for the replacement of buildings for math and science, media and technology, the college’s workforce development program and fitness program, and the remodeling of other academic facilities. Also, listed in a staff report from May, under “Other Considerations,” is the proposal for a “joint use learning center in Malibu.”
High-ranking college official Don Girard said this week the college district has been meeting with Santa Monica-Malibu Unified District officials about joint use programs at Malibu High School. He said the college could offer its vast database of information for the school’s library, which could be used by community members too. A plan for the reconstruction of the Malibu High library is already in the works as part of the SMMUSD’s projects for its own bond measure that was approved in 2006.
Girard said the college district bond could also be used for “other projects on the site they [the SMMUSD] can’t do.” SMMUSD officials could not immediately be reached for comment for this story.
The $135 million Measure S bond, approved by voters in 2004, united Malibu, bringing the two perceived political factions of the city together. With that measure, $25 million was designated to Malibu, and the Malibu portion of the campaign in favor of it said the entire sum could be used for the municipal purchase of Legacy Park from the Malibu Bay Co. In the end, $2.5 million of the bond was used for the property purchase, with Malibu coming up with the rest of the money through fundraising and borrowing. The remaining $22.5 million has not been used.
At this early stage, the enthusiasm for another bond measure is not as high in Malibu as it was four years ago. The Malibu Times could find no city officials or major activists in absolute support of another bond. There is, so far, only potential support.
“I would be inclined to support another bond if the language is specific to Malibu’s needs,” City Councilmember Sharon Barovsky said this week. “It would have to be like the last bond, specific in language.”
Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich said: “I need to study it, however my initial comment is they should use the first $25 million and then come back if they need more.”
Girard said the mayor’s assessment is not accurate because all the money from Measure S is spoken for. Of the remaining money designated to Malibu, $2.5 million is proposed for the Legacy Park project (for more on that see the story on Legacy Park, page A1). The remaining sum, he said, would be used for the purchase of land in Malibu and the construction of a classroom facility. The district is currently in negotiation with the county about purchasing its property that formerly housed the City Hall in the Civic Center.
A discussion about “potential community amenities” for a college classroom facility in Malibu will take place at City Hall this week on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. during a meeting of the Malibu Public Facilities Authority, which consists of city and college district officials overseeing the use of Malibu’s portion of the Measure S money.
Girard said $20 million could be enough to cover the purchase of the county property and the transformation of the building into a college facility. His vision is for a facility that could have approximately 200 students on campus at any one time. Girard said the plan is also to have classes elsewhere in Malibu, similar to how it was throughout the 1970s, but was eventually phased out in the ’80s
“Much of the cause of not being in Malibu in the ’80s was because of being displaced by commercial pressure in the Civic Center area and that the new high school became a priority,” Girard said. “And so it isn’t that the program stopped because there was no demand.”
Girard said the district would be applying to the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to get the future Malibu campus to be considered “a center.” This is a specific designation that would entitle the campus to $1 million in extra annual revenue from the state and $4 million to $6 million in funding for the project.
As part of the process to qualify as “a center,” the district will conduct a formal assessment to determine what residents want. Girard said the first stage will be to do an inventory of what is being offered now, then community workshops will take place, followed by a mailed survey of all residents.
The community workshops are expected to be facilitated by former interim Malibu City Manager John Jalili. The college board will vote on his hiring at its meeting on Monday. The first workshop of a likely three is expected to take place later this summer.
Monday’s meeting will take place at the college board room, located at 1900 Pico Blvd. in Santa Monica. It will begin at 7 p.m. The agenda is expected to be online later this week. It can be accessed online at www.smc.edu. Click “Board of Trustees” on the left and then choose “Trustees Meeting Information.”