To balance the budget without Measure H

By Jaime Diaz

Let's focus on bringing innovation to our county colleges. Measure H focuses on building ... buildings and does not focus on our students. I want to focus our priorities on students and not on empty buildings.

KCSM-TV will be the key to that success. It is an anchor that attracts students to our campuses.

The time has come to introduce vertical parking garages to our college campuses. This is not new technology and there are plenty of other campuses nationwide that use parking garages.

I disagree with Measure H. It asks for 542 million dollars of tax payer money. Currently, California is having problems selling its bonds due to its poor rating. As a consequence, bonds have to be sold at higher interest rates.

The tax payers pay those costs. In addition, buildings have to be maintained and operated. Higher Facilities costs should be expected as new buildings become operational and need to be maintained. So expect to see budget costs increasing if Measure H is approved.

The focus needs to be on our students and their educations. We live right in the middle of two innovative industries, and we need to leverage that and make our county and its residents succeed in today's economy.

As a final note, IF measure H passes, then my first goal would be to rebuild building 20 and bring back an even better Horticulture department! We have enough flat parking spaces already and it does not need to be torn down for that reason. Investing in a new building 20 is a symbol of us investing in our students and it can be done without Measure H funds.