The Associated Student Senate voted unanimously to endorse bond Measure S at its regularly scheduled meeting on Friday, Sept. 19.
“I motion to move forth in full faith,” said Trustee Nicholas Steil. “We’re gonna do this, guys.”
The senate is the second official body on City College campus that has moved to endorse the highly publicized bond measure next to the Instructors’ Association.
The Instructors’ Association primary goals are to bargain with the District for faculty salaries, benefits, and working conditions.
Measure S is now endorsed by entities that represent both the students and faculty at City College.
The student senate has agreed to go forth and participate in call nights for the Measure S campaign to help tally the number of supporters in the community for the upcoming voting deadline.
Measure S is a $288 million dollar renovation and modernization project for the City College campus that would give the aging campus new life. The 15-year plan will be used to renovate old buildings, bring them up to code, and modernize the campus.
The money would come from local homeowners, and would cost an average of around $67 dollars per year for each homeowner. It will come from the assessed value of the property, at a rate of about $17 per $100,000 of property value.
With recent budget cuts and financial woes in California, the state has left it up to the Community Colleges to ask their communities to finance these kinds of renovation projects.
With the passing of Proposition 39, community colleges and K-12 schools are able to ask their communities to finance them. They only need a 55% majority to pass a bond measure like Measure S.
In 2008, a similar but considerably smaller measure was passed. Measure V gave the school $77 million dollars to use for renovations. With this $77 million, the school modernized the Drama and Music facility and Humanities building, along with funding the new West Campus classroom and office building.
Measure S will have a few major focuses, the top of that list being a complete makeover of the Campus Center and Student Services Center. During the construction the campus will provide “swing space” to be used in lieu of the centers.
The next Associated Student Senate meeting will take place at 9 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 26 in Campus Center room 223
