27 Jan Contra Costa Voters to Decide on $920M in Bonds for Community College Upgrades

This presentation slide about facility needs at Los Medanos College was shown at the Jan. 20 Pittsburg City Council meeting. (Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

Contra Costa voters can expect to see a bond measure on their June primary ballots asking them to authorize $920 million in bonds for aging facilities in the Contra Costa Community College District.

District board members on Jan. 21 approved putting the bond measure on the June 2 ballot. The funding would be used to update classrooms, meet relevant building codes, and repair outdated electrical and plumbing systems. The district includes Los Medanos College, Diablo Valley College and Contra Costa College.

According to the language slated for the ballot, the bonds would be expected to generate $57 million per year while outstanding, and the funds would be subject to oversight and audits and only be used locally but not for administrator salaries.

Though the state provides funding for general operations annually — this year, that amount was proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to be $22 billion to both community colleges and K-12 schools — money for ongoing facility updates is not part of the funding.

“Funding continues to be a challenge, and 4CD must identify new dedicated funding resources similar to our 2014 E bonds that are now nearly fully spent,” said district Chancellor Mojdeh Mehdizadeh.

Pamela Ralston, president of LMC, told the Pittsburg City Council the day before 4CD’s meeting that the E bonds were approximately 90% spent.

Before bringing the bonds for ballot consideration this year, a community opinion study indicated “broad recognition among likely voters of the need for facility improvements,” the staff report states.

Economically, 4CD brings $4.2 billion annually to the county in contributions, a report from the district found.

An economic analysis of LMC’s contributions showed that it provided more than $419 million in annual income for East County alone. Countywide, that contribution jumps to $596.5 million.

“To have LMC in our backyard, it’s just such a blessing,” said City Council member Angelica Lopez, once an LMC student herself, at the council meeting.

Two representatives of staff working in the college district urged board members to put the bond measure on the ballot to better serve students.

“I know that there have been major improvements recently at some of our colleges and our students are benefiting, yet we need more,” said John Freytag, president of the Academic Senate at DVC.

To pass, voters would need to approve the bond measure by at least 55%.