Yes on P

Measure P is a great opportunity to improve Santa Barbara City College. The measure has broad support, ranging from the League of Women Voters to the Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association. The most recent bond for SBCC passed in 2008. A proposal in 2014 received a majority, but not the 55 percent of the vote required to pass a bond. A number of the projects in Measure P qualify for state funding. This is true for two major projects — the new physical education building and new and renovated science labs.

It is simply a fact that buildings require maintenance, repair, and eventually replacement. If SBCC is to remain one of the leading community colleges in the state, the community has to invest in it. The current measure is about half the size of the 2014 proposal in real, after-inflation terms. The bond rate approved in 2008 of $8.50 per hundred thousand dollars of assessed valuation would not increase.

Although Santa Barbara City College has declined in enrollment in recent years, it is an open question what the future will bring. A renewed and renovated main campus will allow more local students to enroll and begin a four-year college degree program or receive career and technical education and training that will enable them to be as successful as possible in life. Santa Barbara City College deserves our support. Vote Yes on Measure P!