Trustee of 33 years to step down

Parises cites family, health in decision to leave Delta;
Trustees also pump $30 million into about 10 projects

By Alex Breitler
Record Staff Writer
July 16, 2008 6:00 AM

STOCKTON - The longest-tenured trustee at San Joaquin Delta College announced Tuesday he will not run for re-election in November, the same night that the college faculty publicized a vote of no confidence in the beleaguered board.

Dan Parises, 71, said his decision was about family and health. He was hospitalized with internal bleeding in May, and his wife recently battled ovarian cancer. This has lent some perspective to life, said Parises, a trustee for 33 years. "It's time to do some of the things we've put off for many years," he said.

In a written statement explaining why he's leaving the college and board in a state of "dysfunction," Parises said, "Well, you can only do the best you can. For the past few years, the dynamics involved have been very difficult."

His announcement came after a night of painful choices for the board, which is forced with scaling down or scrapping projects that had been promised under a $250 million voter-approved bond.

Trustees agreed Tuesday to pump $30 million into about 10 projects, most significantly a math and science center that is $22.9 million over budget.

While officials say the new building is badly needed, it comes at a cost. Most of the money used to bring these projects out of the red will likely bleed proposed satellite campuses in Mountain House, Lodi and Manteca.

Trustees in closed session voted 5-2 to not pay $150,000 to extend a purchase agreement for the college's proposed Lodi campus on Highway 12 east of Highway 99.

This does not mean a decision has been made not to build there, President Raul Rodriguez said. Rather, it allows the college to continue considering other options - such as buying an existing building or buying and developing property that is already in city limits.

Administrators said again Tuesday that they're not abandoning Lodi, Mountain House or Manteca. But the simple fact is there's not enough money to build all of the campuses as they were originally conceived.

After Tuesday's actions by the board, about $65 million remains to pay for the satellite campuses. Mountain House alone will cost more than that, a bond consultant said earlier this week.

"We still intend to do those projects," Rodriguez said. "But we have to make tough decisions. We think we can do them, (but) maybe not in the grandiose way we first thought."

Trustee Maria Elena Serna - who voted against Tuesday night's Lodi decision, along with Parises - said voters were told regional education centers were a priority.

"I find it very disturbing, and I'm greatly concerned," she said.

So is the city of Lodi. In a letter to the board, City Manager Blair King wrote that he is worried the board's commitment to Lodi is waning.

"Plain and simple fairness demands that the board uphold its commitment to voters," King wrote.

Also Tuesday, the College Teachers Association announced a no-confidence vote in Delta's Board of Trustees, citing four years of controversial decisions about the college and voter-approved Measure L.

"If the board doesn't change, it may be time to change the board," association President Joe Gonzales said in a statement.

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