BILKING THE CASH COW – How The San Mateo Community College District Continues To Deceive Voters

The San Mateo County Community College District is lying about Measure H on the November ballot.  This is not the first time they have done so.  It’s not what they tell voters they are doing with the bond money – it’s what they’re not telling.

SMCCCD says they want to modernize classrooms for science/computer learning & repairing leaky roofs but instead plan to build a new $100,000,000 theater building for creative arts!

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San Mateo taxpayers have already given them $1 Billion since 2001 and they still haven’t completed the basic improvements they said they would on 2 previous ballots.

SMCCCD lies on the ballot and deliberately misleads the public.  So what the voters think they are voting for is meaningless and gives the District a blank check.

SMCCCD knows what they intend to spend the bond money on.  Why does the ballot have the same vague language that allowed for the misrepresentation of previous projects when they have a PowerPoint presentation that specifically identifies what extravagant new construction they propose.  Shouldn’t this information be on the ballot?

SMCCCD says their educational priorities are health care; accounting; digital arts media & graphics; biotechnology & computer information science, yet they first spent prior bond money on excessive paving and parking lots, expensive new buildings for administration, kinesiology, cosmetology, auto repair, fine arts, athletic facilities and an aquatic center.

SMCCCD relies too much on consultants and contractors who have inherent conflicts-of-interest.  Like the military-industrial complex, California suffers from an education-consultant complex that is extremely wasteful of taxpayer money yet extremely generous to themselves.

SMCCCD is not being prudent with taxpayer’s money and have added construction of costly and extravagant new buildings to their stated intent of modernizing and updating the existing campuses.

SMCCCD is not meeting their core educational mission to help students transfer to 4-year colleges and gain job skills for high paying jobs.

The Bond Oversight Committee is not independent, has no authority to question what projects are built and does not have a legitimate taxpayer representative on it. SMCCCD Trustees appoint special interest groups that represent development & college boosters to the Oversight Committee.

VOTE NO ON MEASURE H

7 thoughts on “BILKING THE CASH COW – How The San Mateo Community College District Continues To Deceive Voters”

  1. Comment: Prior construction at CSM has resulted in a faulty fitness center. 3 feet of water under the elevators caused malfunction. Showers at San Mateo Athletic Club (SMAC) have been closed since early September.

    I am forwarding this info on Measure H and I thank you for your service to the community.

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  5. Comment: As a parent of a College of San Mateo student I was appalled to read the story in the journal, because it did not reflect my child’s experience at the college. First of all, international students get priority registration. So, they are taking seats away from San Mateo County residents like my son. Second, after a year or more of construction on the back parking lot of the campus all construction has stopped. Why is that? What happened to all the money that went to help pay for that construction? Who was supervising the construction? Meanwhile, we received an email at the beginning of the semester about parking off campus, shuttles, and that the college was paying for free lunches to students parking off campus. However, some local business continued to use student parking lots?
    The college is clearly not serving San Mateo County students. The gym that was built oncampus charges a membership fee. This bond is just going to build new vanity projects.

    I am still upset about the international students. Why is nobody doing any “homework” about these students? Are these students being recruited by the college? How many recruiting trips are being made? How much of our taxpayer money is going to pay for international students to come to the college? Does the college have any employees that are working outside of the United States?
    My son was also told by one of his teachers that the college is not even interested in increasing student enrollment anymore because they get better money with a low student population because the money comes directly from property taxes and not from the state.

    I hope this bond does not pass. Thank you for speaking against it. God bless you.

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  6. Thanks for your thoughtful letter. We appreciate your taking the time to let voters know of your son’s experiences. Please continue to visit our website as new information continues to be added, and please send the link to your friends!

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