More bad news for Delta College, and more might be on the way

By Mike Martinez
Tri-Valley Herald
Article Created: 06/27/2008 06:03:50 PM PDT

STOCKTON — San Joaquin Delta College needs to make more than $60 million in cuts to projects that were expected to be built through a bond measure approved in 2004.

A bond team, made up of administrators and faculty at the college's Stockton campus, is expected to provide the Board of Trustees with a series of scenarios where the savings could be made up, including scaling back new campus sites planned for Mountain House and Lodi.

"We'll get it done,'' Trustee Dan Parises said after the meeting. "I'd like to see the more in-depth study that's going to come out of all this. The housing market going down and the price of construction going up — those are things we had no control over.''

It's the latest bad news for the college district, with the possibility of more on the way.

Last week, the San Joaquin County Grand Jury slammed the college's governing body, saying the trustees wasted millions in bond money.

Their investigation also found at least one board member provided closed-session information to the developer and his consultant.

In another potential blow to the college, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, which oversees the accrediting commission for community colleges and junior colleges in California, is expected to release a less than stellar accreditation review in the next few days.

Complete story

San Joaquin trustees refuse to discuss Grand Jury report, Andal situation

Photo: Dean Andal, Lincoln Unified School Board member, Alleged Consultant to Gerry Kamilos, and Former Calif. Franchise Tax Board member.

By Jeff Mitchell

Although they were believed by many observers to be ready to finally answer questions about a scathing Civil Grand Jury report alleging, among other things, that they violated the state's Brown Act by passing closed session information onto the agent of a developer, trustees with the San Joaquin Delta College District remained silent on the controversy during a meeting late this week.

The agent or consultant who allegedly received the closed session data on behalf of his employer is believed to be Dean Andal, the Republican challenger opposing incumbent freshman U.S. Rep. Jerry McNerney, (D-Stockton) this November for control of the 11th Congressional District seat.

Complete story here...

Delta's $62M hole

Written by Press staff / San Joaquin News Service
Friday, 27 June 2008

Delta College will have to slash $62 million from its list of promised construction from a $250 million bond voters passed in 2004.

STOCKTON — San Joaquin Delta College’s new bond team admonished the board Thursday that it had passed the point of no return on building a Mountain House campus — despite the fact that Measure L bond projects are $62.5 million over budget.

“There was a decision that was made that says you guys are at Mountain House,” bond program manager Kathy Roach said, adding that switching gears by moving the planned Mountain House center to Tracy could cost an extra $30 million “and a lot of time and energy.”

The college's new bond team, made up of consultants and college administrators, updated the board Thursday on the cost, scope and completion date of all of its purposed projects. They delivered the grim news in an all-day meeting, where they barred any discussion of past mistakes or public questions about last week’s release of a scathing grand jury report.

After crunching numbers, the team estimated that the Measure L bond projects planned for the Stockton campus and for satellite campuses in Mountain House, Lodi and Manteca are over budget and need to be cut by $62.5 million.

Measure L is a $250 million bond passed by San Joaquin County voters in 2004. The grand jury harshly criticized Delta trustees for mismanagement of the Mountain House project, leaking closed-session information to developers and squandering millions of dollars.

The trustees will meet again July 15 to discuss the grand jury report — and also decide what bond projects will have to be cut. Another public workshop may be planned before that meeting.

Many of Delta’s future plans are marred by previous mistakes, said Lee Belarmino, who heads the bond team.

“We didn’t do things the best way at times up to this point.”
Complete story here...

Delta projects need a $62.5M trim

By Alex Breitler

Record Staff Writer

June 27, 2008 6:00 AM

STOCKTON - San Joaquin Delta College must ax $62.5 million in improvements that had been planned for the Stockton campus and for satellite centers in Lodi, Manteca and Mountain House, officials said Thursday.

A $250 million bond passed by voters in 2004 will not pay for everything college officials had envisioned, administrators said at a public workshop Thursday.

Not all of the shortfall can be blamed on a Mountain House campus that some trustees now say was a mistake. Many other facilities are over budget as well, meaning some must be scaled back or cut completely.

"I know we're going to have to make some hard decisions," Trustee Maria Elena Serna said.

The smattering of citizens at Thursday's workshop had little chance to comment on a scathing grand jury report that said the board squandered as much as $50 million by planning its campus in Mountain House rather than Tracy.

College officials made it clear such comments were not welcome Thursday. The workshop was "not a forensic review of the past, so don't 'act as if' it is," said guidelines posted on the wall of the room.

Questioning board members about the grand jury report was not the purpose of the meeting, Delta College President Raul Rodriguez said.

"There will be other days," he said. "Today is not the day."

Complete article...

Delta College $62.5 million over bond budget

Future of Lodi campus remains uncertain; 2 trustees optimistic

By Amanda Dyer
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Updated: Friday, June 27, 2008 6:02 AM PDT

San Joaquin Delta College's Measure L bond projects are $62.5 million over budget, but at least two trustees say they're still committed to a Lodi campus.

"I want to see one (in Lodi)," said Trustee Dan Parises.

"So do I," said Maria Elena Serna, also a board member.

Both Parises and Serna represent the Lodi area.

However, how the board is going to build a satellite campus at the Victor Road site east of Lodi and juggle its other planned projects, most of which are over budget, remains undecided.

And Trustee Ted Simas said the idea of building the Lodi site in partnership with private developers could lead to more trouble.

The college's new bond team, a mixture of consultants and Delta College employees updated the board on the cost, scope and completion date of all of its purposed projects Thursday afternoon.

College officials called the meeting a new effort at transparency.

The team delivered the grim news to the board in an all-day, on-campus meeting, where they barred any discussion of past mistakes and looked to the future.
Complete article here...

San Joaquin Delta College President Dr. Raul Rodriguez looks on as Delta's financial situation is reviewed during a meeting Thursday. (Dan Evans/News-Sentinel)

Andal denies involvement in Brown Act violations

By Lisa Vorderbrueggen

Tri-Valley Herald

Friday, June 20th, 2008 at 6:36 pm

Congressional GOP candidate Dean Andal emphatically denied that he was the unnamed consultant listed in a San Joaquin County civil grand jury report who received confidential closed-session information in a case involving allegations of a Brown Act violation by several members of the Delta College Board of Trustees.

The report, released earlier this week and detailed in a Tri-Valley Herald story yesterday, said the “San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustees has wasted millions of taxpayer dollars and violated open government laws by discussing closed-session matters outside its meetings.”

The story said that day after a Feb. 9, 2006, “closed-session meeting (with Delta College board members), phone calls and a faxed letter indicated that one or more board members had relayed confidential information about the ‘breach of contract’ discussion to the developer and his consultant, Dean Andal.”

The grand jury report does not identify Andal by name although a college trustee who made the initial allegations had previously named Andal in Stockton Record story as the recipient of closed-session information.

Andal is, of course, a well-known consultant to PCCP Mountain House, LLC, a group led by Sacramento developer Gerry Kamilos, although he is far from the only consultant on the large project.

According to federal financial disclosure statements, Andal earned $217,589 in 2007 in consultant fees and salary from Kamilos, PCCP Mountain House and another PCCP development called Mariposa Lakes.

With respect to the grand jury investigation, the company was in discussions at the time with San Joaquin Delta College to provide the college with $14 million for infrastructure as the landowner and the college developed their respective properties in Mountain House, a master-planned community near Tracy. Mountain House and Tracy had been engaged in a well-publicized competition for the new college, which Delta College eventually agreed to build in Mountain House.

Andal said he lobbied at least one Delta College board member but said he never received any confidential, closed-session information from any elected official.

“If someone had tried to give me closed-session information, I would have stopped it,” Andal said. “I am very experienced with the requirements of the Brown Act.”

Andal called himself a staunch advocate of the Brown Act, a state law which spells out how publicly elected boards must conduct themselves in both public and closed sessions. Elected officials cannot disclose what was said in closed session and the law limits the topics under which they are permitted to hold discussions outside of the public eye.

Delta College Trustee Ted Simas, however, was quoted in a Stockton Record story of Aug. 21, 2006, saying that Andal had called him on the telephone several hours after the board concluded its Feb. 9 meeting and “had information that could have been obtained only by board members in closed session.” Simas said Andal told him that two college trustees had provided details of the closed-session negotiations to Kamilos. Andal was quoted in the same story saying that he did not remember the conversation.

Despite the conflicting accounts of this incident, watch for this issue to make its way into what will be a fierce general election campaign between Andal and incumbent Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton. Andal is known as a veritable “Boy Scout” and these allegations could call that image into question if the Democrats are able to gain sufficient traction on the issue.

Grand Jury releases scathing report on San Joaquin Delta College board

Scathing report says Delta trustees wasted funds

By Mike Martinez
Tri-Valley Herald

Article Created: 06/18/2008 01:01:28 PM PDT

STOCKTON — The San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustees has wasted millions of taxpayer dollars and violated open government laws by discussing closed-session matters outside its meetings, charges a San Joaquin County civil grand jury report released Wednesday morning.

The seven-page report found the board made decisions that have "caused serious problems'' and that trustees were "ill-prepared'' to handle the Measure L funds, a $250 million school bond approved by San Joaquin County voters in 2004.

"The Delta College Board of Trustees made decisions which have caused serious problems and wasted millions of Measure L funds,'' the report reads. "The District needs capable trustees who are able to meet the task of bringing Delta College into the 21st Century.''

In 2003, Delta College and PCCP Mountain House, LLC — a group led by Sacramento developer Gerry Kamilos — began working on a plan to develop their respective properties in Mountain House. Kamilos, who has planned to build hundreds of homes adjacent to the college in the master-planned community, promised to provide $14 million to cover Delta's fees and infrastructure costs.

At a closed-session meeting held by the board on Feb. 9, 2006, the college's attorney and administrative team said a developer would be missing the deadline for delivery of letters of credit, resulting in a breach of contract. The board then discussed the possibility of returning to a deal offered by the city of Tracy to put the campus on the corner of 11th Street and Chrisman Road, according to the report.

The city offered the college a 108-acre site, including all fees and infrastructure, which was estimated to cost upward of $10 million. The city also offered to limit Delta's costs and pay another $2 million for joint-use facilities. College staff estimated they could save as much as $50 million by selling the Mountain House property and accepting the Tracy offer, which was eventually rejected by the board.

The day after the closed-session meeting, the report says, phone calls and a faxed letter indicated that one or more board members had relayed confidential information about the "breach of contract'' discussion to the developer and his consultant, Dean Andal, the Republican nominee for the 11th Congressional District seat in November.

"If true, this is a violation of the Brown Act,'' the report reads. "The Grand Jury has no confidence in the Delta College Board of Trustees as they are currently constituted.''

Andal was out of the area Wednesday and unavailable for comment, a campaign spokeswoman said. Kamilos did not return calls seeking comment.

Original college estimates pegged the cost of building the first phase of a campus in Mountain House at $55 million. But as recently as this past January, the cost has soared to about $94 million, and is expected to rise further, with taxpayers bearing the burden. The current plan calls for portable buildings to house the students.

The campus was anticipated to open within 24 months after a groundbreaking ceremony in Oct. 2006. Last August, college President Raul Rodriguez said the project was on track. As of Wednesday afternoon, there has been little work done at the Mountain House site, with no roads or lights installed and the latest opening date pushed back to spring 2009.

The estimated costs do not include funding for the final two phases of construction.

"Private agendas and public bickering have delayed the progress of the use of bond funds,'' the report reads. "This has resulted in a reduction of projects that will be completed and has caused the complete cancellation of other projects. Therefore, costs have risen by tens of millions of dollars due to inflation.''

Trustee Ted Simas, who is in his fourth term on the board, said the report was "100 percent on.''

He called the findings the result of "micromanaging from the board members.''

"Hopefully, out of all this, the outcome will be for the betterment of the college,'' Simas said. "Unfortunately, in all this, people forget that the students come first. Much of what I blew the whistle on, I tried to get the board to rectify among ourselves first. But I am a member of that board. I give my apologies to the public. I am not singling myself away from the Board of Trustees.''

Reach Mike Martinez at 209-832-3947. or mike.martinez@bayareanewsgroup.c

Link to Source

Is Delta in too deep?

From Tracy Press

Written by Jennifer Wadsworth / Tracy Press

Saturday, 21 June 2008

The grand jury bashed Delta trustees for mismanaging $250 million and for violations of open meeting laws when they voted to build in Mountain House instead of Tracy. But it may be too late for the college to reverse that vote — even if the board wants to. San Joaquin Delta College may have another shot at building a satellite campus in Tracy instead of in Mountain House, where progress has languished because of what the San Joaquin Civil Grand Jury called a failed partnership with a private developer. The grand jury charged in a report released Wednesday that trustees wasted millions of the $250 million Measure L bond, approved by voters in 2004. That money was to build a satellite campus in Lodi, possibly one in Galt and one near Tracy, the last of which college trustees voted to build in Mountain House despite construction costs that jumped from $50 million in 2005 to $94 million this year. Tracy’s original offer, made in 2005, would have given Delta $10 million in land off 11th Street and Chrisman Road, including sewage treatment, electricity and roads. College trustees eschewed the offer and partnered instead with Mountain House developer Gerry Kamilos, who agreed to prepare a site in the master-planned subdivision with sewer lines, electricity and roads — something that should have been finished last year. Today, the Mountain House property is still an empty, overgrown field. Since the offer three years ago, however, Tracy officials have tried to woo other colleges, and the conditions extended to Delta in 2005 would be a little different if the community college decided to consider the 108-acre Tracy site again, Mayor Brent Ives said Friday. For one, it would play a smaller role in what the city has decided will be a consortium of four or five college sites. "The economy’s different now," Ives said. The City Council has new members and the city’s financial situation has changed, too, he added. "But if they’re interested in talking to us, then we’re interested in talking to them." It’s probably too late to look back, though, said Delta College President Raul Rodriguez. With all the agreements, the money and time spent, and the planning that went into the Mountain House site off Interstate 205, he said, it would likely waste more money to pick up and leave. "We’re so far along that it probably wouldn’t make sense at this point," he said. "But really, that’s up to the board." Trustee Ted Simas, who represents the Manteca-Escalon area, thinks relocating to Tracy is still feasible and might be less expensive, in light of the price jump at Mountain House. "I would highly recommend that someone on our board or on our bond team at least enter into a dialogue with the city about the Tracy site," he said. "I’m still convinced, and have been from near the beginning, that (building a campus in) Mountain House was a huge, huge mistake. If we can still get out of this mess we’re in, I definitely support that." Retired college administrator Janet Rivera, a 2½-term trustee, agreed. She said that she voted for the Mountain House site only because college staff and some other board members stretched the truth in favor of a public-private partnership. "Lies had a lot of influence on my vote to move the project to Mountain House," she said Friday. "In hindsight, I can see that the Tracy site would have been a lot better for low-income and Hispanic students, and it’s close to public transit and closer to students who attend Tracy High, West High and Manteca High." Jurors who slammed trustees in a report issued earlier this week said that a board member leaked closed-session information to Kamilos’ company, which prompted it to come up with documents that basically secured Delta’s place in Mountain House. In that closed session, trustees talked about how Kamilos had missed deadlines, delaying construction, and whether they

Source...

Uncertainty reigns

Is Delta's Victor Road satellite campus still on track?

By Amanda Dyer
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Updated: Friday, June 20, 2008 6:24 AM PDT

Are plans still moving forward for a San Joaquin Delta College satellite campus on Victor Road?

The short answer: No one seems to know for sure.

A campus official acknowledged Thursday that the proposal is now in an "analysis phase."

College trustees from the area are not talking about the site.

And Lodi Councilman Larry Hansen, who served on a committee that pinpointed the Victor Road site, said his confidence is starting to wane.

"I'm trying to be optimistic that they still plan to build a campus in Lodi," Hansen said. "But my optimism is fading."

A San Joaquin County grand jury report issued this week was less than reassuring.

Complete article here

Can we trust the trustees?

Grand jury latest group to question Delta College board's competence

By The Record

June 20, 2008 6:00 AM

Just one day after news reports that trustees of San Joaquin Delta College may need sensitivity training, the board was lambasted by the San Joaquin County grand jury.

The grand jurors said the board:

» "Made decisions which have caused serious problems and wasted millions of dollars of Measure L funds." ( Measure L was the $250 million school bond measure approved by voters four years ago.)

» "Did not heed nor follow their staff recommendations or the recommendations of consultants hired by this board."

» "Although the original estimate for the building of a center/campus at Mountain House was $55 million, as of January 2008, the estimate has climbed to approximately $94 million and could go much higher costing district taxpayers tens of millions of dollars."

» "Brown Act (the state's open meetings law) violations have occurred at meetings of the Citizen's Bond Oversight Committee."

"The grand jury has no confidence in the Delta College board of trustees as they are currently constituted."

And, in the greatest understatement in the report, jurors say the district needs "capable trustees."

In summary: The board is wasting millions of dollars, is not following advice, is letting construction costs balloon, is doing things in secret and is incompetent.

Other than that, the trustees are having a pretty good run.

Delta President Raul Rodriguez was dismissive: "I think it's more of an opinion."

Of course, there is that little matter of a college accreditation team also suggesting Delta trustees are dysfunctional and need to adopt a code of ethics.

So, on top of all the complaints of the grand jury, the trustees - charged with managing hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayers' money - don't get along and don't even have an ethics code.

The college is waiting for the final report from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, which visited the campus in the spring, and refuses to release the preliminary report even though it has been discussed in public.

"It's been a problem," Trustee Janet Rivera said of the lack of a code of ethics.

You might say that.

All this would be laughable if it weren't so incredibly costly and were the district's product - competent, ready to contribute students - not so important to the future of this region.

But the shenanigans of the district aren't funny. They are deadly serious.

Too many on the board, including members who've obviously served well past their time, view board services as social club duty, a private organization paid for by others to run as they please and for their own pleasure.

That must end. They must stop bickering and start working together.

That doesn't mean a retreat at a swanky resort - paid for by taxpayers - where they circle up and sing "Kumbaya."

It means that they must start providing policies and oversight to an administration today headed by a man, Rodriguez, who seems more interested in job hunting than doing the job he's paid to do.

Nobody expects trustees to always agree. It would be just as dangerous - perhaps more so - if they did.

But it is not too much to ask that they be competent, do their homework and hold the administration accountable.

And that they do all of this in public view as demanded by state law.

The trustees were not elected to be best buddy to the college president, but to supervise him.

They were elected - hired really, because they enjoy certain and considerable remuneration - to protect the taxpayers.

It's time they did that, or it's time for them to resign.

Given what we've seen in recent months and years, the latter seems the better choice for some.

Complete article here

Grand jury slams Delta trustees

Written by Jennifer Wadsworth

Wednesday, 18 June 2008

The San Joaquin County Civil Grand Jury released a condemning report today on the Delta College Board of Trustees. The San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustees squandered millions of dollars in taxpayer money and breached open government laws by sharing closed-session information to developers outside regular meetings, according to a San Joaquin County Civil Grand Jury report issued today. Auditors deemed the board “ill-prepared” to manage the $250 million in voter-approved debt from the Measure L school bond, which voters passed in 2004 to pay for new and remodeled buildings for the local community college. Trustees and the citizen bond oversight committee were particularly criticized for the money and time wasted on the public-private partnership to build a Delta College campus in Mountain House. “Private agendas and public bickering have delayed progress,” the report reads. “Therefore, costs have risen by tens of millions of dollars due to inflation.” Original plans estimated that a satellite campus near Tracy would cost $50 million. This year, that number has jumped to $94 million and will probably increase, noted county investigators. Auditors recommended against entering into a public-private partnership to build a satellite campus in Lodi, based on what it found to be a dismal outcome of the school’s contract with Mountain House developer Gerry Kamilos.

Complete Article here...

Report may revive Delta campus in Tracy

By Mike Martinez / Tri-Valley Herald.
STAFF WRITER

Article Created: 06/19/2008 06:26:57 PM PDT

TRACY — A grand jury report critical of the San Joaquin Delta College board of trustees may open the door for the college to build its south county campus, albeit a scaled-down version, in Tracy.

The seven-page report charges the board wasted millions of taxpayers' dollars and violated open-government laws by discussing closed-session matters outside its meetings, specifically regarding the college site in Mountain House.

Ted Simas, the only college trustee to return a phone call from the Herald, said the college continues to meet its contractual deadlines and has paid $1.1 million to the developer for infrastructure costs, yet there is "nothing'' at the proposed campus site currently.

"As of this day, we're being burned at Mountain House,'' Simas said. "If it was up to me, I would get out of there right now. If the Tracy deal was still on the table, I would be out of (Mountain House) in a heartbeat. I think any reasonable person would.''

Complete article here...

Grand Jury: Delta College trustees have wasted millions of your money

By The (Stockton) Record

June 18, 2008 2:08 PM

San Joaquin Delta College trustees have wasted millions of dollars of voter-approved bond money by ignoring staff recommendations and pursuing a campus at Mountain House, the cost of which has soared from $55 million to $94 million, the San Joaquin County Civil Grand Jury charged in a report released this morning.

The Grand Jury said it has “no confidence” in the Board of Trustees, which declined an invitation to build in Tracy and stuck with a public-private partnership in Mountain House. Nothing has been built there; the college plans to bring in portables to house students in the interim, but infrastructure needed to do so has not been installed by the developer.

Complete article here

Grand jury says Delta College mishandled bond funds

By Lodi News-Sentinel Staff

Updated: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 3:23 PM PDT

A San Joaquin County grand jury has found that San Joaquin Delta College trustees misused Measure L funds.

Delta College passed its $250 million bond in 2004 to make a number of improvements to the college including adding satellite campuses in Mountain House, Lodi and possibly Galt.

Board members "made decisions which have caused serious problems and wasted millions of dollars of Measure 'L' funds," the jury's decision said.

The jury, which released its report today, also found that trustees ignored recommendations of college-hired consultants.

Complete article here...

Grand Jury Releases its Report

Complete Report Here

Delta awaits code of ethics

Board members hang on findings from accreditation report, vow change

By Alex Breitler

Record Staff Writer

June 18, 2008 6:00 AM

An accreditation team might recommend a code of ethics to guide the often-divisive San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustees in the future, according to board members and discussions held in recent meetings.

The college is awaiting a final report from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, which visited campus earlier this spring.

Delta officials declined Tuesday to release the association's preliminary findings, although recommendations in that draft report have been discussed publicly.

According to Trustee Janet Rivera, the accreditation team said board members need put a stop to divisions and work together. Part of this, she said, means avoiding future violations of the state's open-meetings law, the Ralph M. Brown Act.

"My big concern is people making deals behind closed doors," Rivera said Tuesday. "I won't stand for that." ...

Complete article

Is it time to change how Delta board is elected?

By Andrew Adams
(Lodi) News-Sentinel City Editor

Updated: Saturday, June 14, 2008 6:02 AM PDT

The last time Ted Simas won an election for his seat on the San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustees many people who voted for him probably wouldn't have been able to recognize him on the street.

"There are more people who vote for me who don't know me than people who do know me," the trustee admitted during a recent interview.

Of the approximately 75,000 people who voted for him in the last election, Simas estimated that only about 40 percent really knew who they were voting for. The rest probably just assumed the incumbent listed on the ballot was a safe bet.

Simas said that's just bound to happen when one takes a look at the Delta College district that stretches from Rio Vista out to San Andreas and from Galt down to Tracy.
Complete article

Digging up dirt on Delta's delays.

Our Voice

Written by Press Editorial Board

Tuesday, 10 June 2008

BEHIND THE TIMES: A sign put up in Mountain House in 2004 proclaiming the 2007 opening of a San Joaquin Delta College satellite campus is now a testament to a stalled process, which has pushed the projected opening of the long-awaited school site to as late as spring 2009. Press file photo. Posts on an online forum crack jokes about how San Joaquin Delta College should offer hands-on courses in public works, construction and landscaping — if, that is, its long-awaited satellite campus ever opens in Mountain House. Digging Up Dirt 101 is another option. We’re just not sure what kind of dirt would be dug up in that class. You might remember the 2004 election, in which voters passed Measure L, a $250 million bond that would pay for the $55 million Mountain House digs, plus a $13 million Manteca campus, with whatever’s left to build something in Lodi-Galt and improve the main Stockton campus. Four years later, the south county site remains a dirt field on the edge of Mountain House, with a price tag that’s ballooned to $95 million, or even as high as $200 million, depending on who’s talking. Construction was supposed to start last spring, with portable buildings that would hold 3,000 students by this fall. But delays have been as abundant as the skyrocketing costs — with everything from disputes over contracts and annexation to time-consuming proposals to scrap the Mountain House location for one in Tracy (an idea we supported). Complete Article

Criticism of Delta campus buried

Written by Ben Marrone Friday, 04 April 2008

M.J. Gravina/Sun Post

A BAD IDEA?: A planned Delta College Mountain House campus, just off Interstate 205, has met with a series of delays and skyrocketing costs since its kick-off in 2005. Newly uncovered documents show a consultant that same year told the college to scrap the site for one in Tracy, but a trustee said the report was hidden from the board.

As costs and delays continue to mount for San Joaquin Delta College’s planned campus in Mountain

House, newly uncovered documents show that a consultant told college administrators years ago to drop the project and build a campus in Tracy instead.

The consultant’s report never made it to the college’s board of trustees, leading some to accuse administrators of burying information that made the Mountain House project look bad.

The college in 2005 asked real estate consultants Public Private Ventures to compare Delta’s plan for a Mountain House campus with a competing offer from the City of Tracy to build on donated land at the east end of the city.

The series of reports, for which the college paid more than $30,000, clearly stated that Tracy’s offer was superior to the Mountain House plan, which involved a partnership with real estate developer Gerry Kamilos.

PPV claimed the Mountain House project would get bogged down in contract disputes and litigation. It advised the board to look into “exit strategies” to get out of their agreement with Kamilos, and accept the offer to build in Tracy instead.

But none of these reports were passed on to trustees, who were then in a heated dispute about whether to give up on the project in Mountain House over problems with Kamilos.

Trustee Ted Simas, who represents Manteca and Escalon, said he first saw the payment to PPV in a budget report last June and asked President Raul Rodriguez what it was for.

Complete article

The Record Has the Facts Right.

Dear Editor:
The accuracy of one your editorials has recently been challenged. In "Design for Waste"(5/26), you chide the leadership of Delta College for wasting money and delaying the Mountain House project. I believe your editorial had the facts straight. Delta has paid twice to have the new campus designed.

Alex Breitling's article in The Record, "Design will set Delta back $4 million" (5/21), cites public documents indicating that $4.2 million had already been spent for designs for the projected Mountain House campus. $2.5 million of that money was paid to Darden Architects for its work on the designs. In the article, President Rodriguez is quoted as saying the Darden designs "were a mess." Trustee Ted Simas is also quoted about the new designs: "To me, this is strictly redoing what we've already done. What we're doing is paying double."

If there was no previous design work for Mountain House, was President Rodriguez misquoted about the Darden plans he called “a mess”? Was Trustee Simas misquoted, or is he as misinformed as the editors of The Record?

If you plan on attending the daylong workshop on Measure L and want to separate facts from talking points, I would suggest you do some homework. You might try looking at the posts on SJDC Watch (sjdcwatch.blogspot.com) or searching the archives of local newspapers for articles on the Delta bond. Both The Record and the Lodi News-Sentinel have done some thoughtful coverage.

Sincerely,
Sam Hatch
Instructor
Delta College

Pres. Rodriguez Claims that Record "Misunderstands"

June 01, 2008 6:00 AM

I was surprised to read the editorial concerning Delta College's Mountain House project in The Record on Monday ("Delta's design for waste"). The surprise stems from an apparent misunderstanding contained in that editorial.

The editorial states that Delta College trustees voted to spend $4 million on design work that had already been done for the Mountain House campus. That is not true. The approval given May 20 was for the final construction drawings, the blueprints necessary to undertake construction. Those drawings could not be prepared until the other planning and design work was completed.

Complete letter here