Delta abandons Lodi campus plans

By Alex Breitler
Record Staff Writer
September 10, 2008 6:00 AM

STOCKTON - A Lodi campus long envisioned by San Joaquin Delta College officials was scrapped Tuesday by trustees who are struggling to divvy up dwindling voter-approved bond money.

Roughly $4 million had been spent planning the proposed 120-acre campus on Victor Road just east of town. On Tuesday, trustees voted 5-0 in closed session to abandon that campus.

Trustee Dan Parises abstained, and Trustee Maria Elena Serna, who is recovering from surgery, was absent.

"I guess the students that would be using (the Lodi campus) aren't being thought of," Parises said after the vote.

There's simply not enough money left from the Measure L bond to make every project happen, officials said. About $66 million remains to pay for three proposed satellite campuses: Mountain House, Lodi and Manteca.

As originally planned, Mountain House alone would cost somewhere shy of $90 million.

"Obviously, there's way more in options than there is in funding," said Kathy Roach, a consultant helping Delta manage the $250 million Measure L bond, approved by voters in 2004.

Still in limbo are the Mountain House and Manteca campuses. College officials say it's too late to turn back on Mountain House, but the campus will have to be scaled down from the original plans.

Roach and college administrators gave trustees a range of options Tuesday night, with a final decision to be made in October.

Many Measure L projects on and off the Stockton campus are costing more than originally expected. In some cases, past consultants hired to manage the bond did not include the cost of furnishing buildings, for example, college officials have said.

Rather than build a brand-new Lodi campus from scratch, other choices include buying existing buildings or purchasing property that is already within city limits.

Lodi Mayor Bob Johnson could not be reached for comment Tuesday. In a letter earlier this summer, Lodi City Manager Blair King said he was concerned that the board's commitment to Lodi was "waning."

A $27 million spike in the cost to construct Delta's Mountain House campus would, in and of itself, be enough to build the Lodi campus, King wrote.

"Plain and simple fairness demands that the board uphold its commitment to voters and move forward with a Lodi Education Center," he wrote.

Roach has told board members that the Lodi campus was risky. Opposition from neighbors and possible litigation were among the threats, she said during a bond workshop in June.

While college officials say it's too late to pull the plug on the controversial Mountain House campus - a civil grand jury alleged in June that the board wasted millions by building there instead of Tracy - some observers disagree.

"It's not too late. We haven't gone too far," former Delta administrator Mary Ann Cox told the board Tuesday night. She is seeking a seat on the board in November.

Delta President Raul Rodriguez said the college is "so far into this now, it's going to be very hard" to pull out of Mountain House.

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