Earlier this week I wrote a scathing post about the Rancho Santiago Community College District’s (RSCCD) shuffling of millions of dollars from a math/science building project to a new training facility for the O.C. Sheriffs. The facility celebrated its grand opening yesterday, and sure enough ding dong Santa Ana Councilman Carlos Bustamante showed up for the photo op (see picture above). Not good! The fact that Carlos is supporting the Carona Sheriff Training Academy tells you all you need to know about this project.
Tonight John Hanna, the President of the RSCCD Board of Trustees responded. Let me first say that Hanna is one of the few good guys in Orange County politics. But I STILL don’t like what his board and the RSCCD Bond Oversight Committee did. Below I will present Hanna’s explanation (in italic type) and rebut his response:
Art……..I can not believe that you drank the Register Kool Aid and bought into the mierda that was in the article. I expect jumanji journalism from the Register. They opposed our struggle to obtain the 15 acres on the Tustin Air base. They opposed Measure E. They opposed Measure O. I expect more from you. I expected that if you had some questions about the Register article you would call me, call Eddie Hernandez, call somebody connected with the District to see what our response was before going off on us.
The Tustin issue is a red herring. The issue I am concerned about is whether or not RSCCD made promises to voters that were in fact not kept. Also, I did not slam Hanna or his board. My post was about the RSCCD Bond Oversight Committee…and about the RSCCD Chancellor, Eddie Hernandez, whose comments in the Register article were truly unbelievable.
Also, I did not oppose Measure O – but I also did not support it. Looks like I was right to stay away from it. Remember that the RSCCD board stupidly passed a Project Labor Agreement, or PLA, which restricted bidding on Measure E construction projects to union companies.
“PLAs raise the base construction bids of building schools by 20 percent,” according to an April study by the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University in Massachusetts of PLAs in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
There you go. The RSCCD Board of Trustees signed an ill-advised PLA, that I DID speak out against, and the predictable result was of course higher prices – and they were not able to complete all the projects they had promised to build under Measure E. Thus the need for Measure O, which failed at the polls, in part because the voters were angry about the PLA.
The basic premises of the Register article were false. Consider these facts that the Register did not let get in the way of a good story:
1) There was no bait and switch. Period. Both the ballot statement and virtually every piece of literature that went out in the bond campaign highlighted the need for training facilities for law enforcement. Sheriff Carona was in virtually every mailer we sent out talking about how Measure E would help fund a facility to train law enforcement and first responders.
True – but that was not all that the mailers highlighted. Here is what the RSCCD promised the voters in the ballot statement for Measure E:
Santa Ana/Santiago Canyon Colleges lack adequate libraries, classrooms and labs. Explosive enrollment growth has led to severe overcrowding. Some buildings are 40+ years old. Roofs leak. Worn electrical systems, aging plumbing, and heating systems need renovation. Bathrooms are rundown. Classrooms built before computers/Internet need rewiring for technology. Students need classrooms, lecture halls, science labs, and learning centers.
2) Funds were never shifted from the proposed new science building to the sheriffs training academy. This is a canard. We have completed three new Santa Ana College facilities, three new Santiago Canyon College facilities and completed numerous renovations. Due to a variety of factors all have exceeded the rough estimates that were made in 2002. By the reporters logic all these facilities and renovations “shifted” money away from the proposed new SAC science building. But of course that fact wouldn’t allow the Register reporter to make a “twofer” hit–attack the bond and attack Sheriff Carona.
Note that Hanna does not address the fact that the Carona Sheriff Center ended up costing $30 million, and that money HAD TO come from somewhere. Do the math.
3) The dollar figure used in the ballot measure for the training facility was $15.5 million, not $10 million. And the deputies and officers trained at the academy are Santa Ana College students as well. They generate funds from the state that go back into Santa Ana College for the benefit of all students. And the training provides an important community and regional service.
They might be Santa Ana College students, but the Register reported that “District officials expect that police departments throughout Southern California will send their candidates through the facility.” Figure it out – RSCCD blew our tax money so they could educate cops that in many cases won’t even be working in Orange County! As for the “important community and regional service” – ask the folks at MacArthur Park, who were beaten by cops, how they felt about the service THEY received. If we invested MORE in education, we wouldn’t have to spend as much on cops. But instead of a science center we ended up with a facility to train more cops. Nice to know where RSCCD priorities lie.
4) All projects went over the original 2002 cost estimates because they were just that, estimates. After the bond passed we hired the architects and contractors and found that many of these projects would cost more money. The enormous appetite of China and a post-Katrina U.S. for raw materials increased our material costs over 30%. The building boom in both the public and private secter this decade has reduced the number of contractors and while we have always had sufficient bids, they have been higher then expected because they haven’t been hungry. Land costs escalated significantly as we had to purchase 18 acres near SCC and 4.5 acres near SAC. There were no state funds available for land acquisition and the bond funds were the only way we could complete our master plans for both campuses. Some projects were expanded to provide more efficient use and generate more dollars for the colleges. Art, here is the language from the ballot ” The budget for each project is an estimate and may be effected by factors beyond the District’s control.” The ballot language also said that the District “will work with the Citizens Oversight Committee on prioritizing those projects in the event factors beyond the District’s control require that projects be reconsidered.”
I work in construction. And I KNOW, as do most contractors, that when you do an estimate you adjust it for increased prices. Plus we also know, without a doubt, that the RSCCD screwed the voters by passing an unnecessary PLA – that may have raised prices as much as, you guessed it, twenty percent.
I am looking at the Measure E ballot statement as I write this. It does not mention estimates in the actual statement. It does mention tax estimates, in a section devot
ed to that subject. I am not sure what Hanna is talking about here.
As for the “prioritizing of projects,” what did we expect from a Bond Oversight Committee loaded with Pulido and Carona hacks?
5) Even if the Training Academy had been built for the $15.5 million, the new science building would still not have been built by now. There was no room. You see Art, we already HAVE a science building on campus and Santa Ana College told the District they did not want us to tear down Russell Hall and build a new building on the site. The problem was there was no where to put this new building. So we embarked on a path to purchase the apartments on the west side of College Avenue. We did not wish to use eminent domain so we had to patiently persuade some of the owners to sell and prices esclated. We were delayed by State regulations requiring relocation assistance which also had to be paid. Then we had to wait for the City of Santa Ana to agree to dedicate College Avenue to the college. This took what seemed to be forever. We could not close the street until the City made improvements to the signalized intersection of Bristol and Washington(of which we paid $100,000 towards the improvements). That was just finished and in November we anticipate closing College Avenue(we will be helping fund improvements at two other intersections nearby). At that time we can begin the process of building the new Maintenance and Operations facility on the new west end of the campus. Once that is done, which would be sometime in 2008-09 we can clear the area where the M&O facility currently exists and then, and only then, would we have space for the new science building.
If that is true, then why the heck did you even mention a science building to the voters? It was obviously a SHELL GAME. I realize it sucks to get caught with your hand in the cookie jar, but that is exactly what happened. Don’t blame me and the Register. We just reported how the RSCCD screwed the taxpayers.
6) There has been substantial construction and the voters and taxpayers have received full and good value for their investment. In addition to the training academy in Tustin, Santa Ana College has seen a new Digital Media Center and a new Exercise Science Locker Room facility. We will break ground shortly on a new 16 classroom building. A new child development center is coming soon and nearly $8 million in renovations have occurred on most of the buildings at SAC. And we will build the science building. Students at SAC are being served well.
And cop trainees from outside Orange County are being served better – at their new $30 million Taj Mahal – FOUR MILES from the college campus. The only issue that matters is the one Hanna keeps avoiding. The Carona Sheriff center went fifteen to twenty million over budget, and the money had to come from somewhere, didn’t it?
7) Measure E also underwrote projects at Santiago Canyon College, another point not mentioned in the article. In addition to the land acquisition, SCC has a new library, a new student services building, a new Education Center for adult education and workforce training and additional parking. And a math and science building at SCC will break ground shortly.
Red herrings all. The issue here is that voters were promised a science building at Santa Ana College, which Hanna now says should not have been promised. And the Carona Sheriff Center went WAY OVER budget. And why did the Santiago Canyon campus, which is nestled in the millionaire Orange Hills, get so much, while the Santa Ana College campus got so much less?
The faculty, staff and students at Santa Ana and Santiago Canyon Colleges have been supportive of the decisions made during the bond construction process and they should–we are following their lead as to what their priorities are. Do I wish there was more Measure E funds available for the new science building? You betcha. But I make no apologies for the great progress we have made or for the tens of millions of dollars our District has saved the taxpayers through excellent project management by our staff.
Finally, lay off Eddie Hernandez. While he is the Chancellor, the Board hires him and we make the final decisions. I’m Board President now, if you have a beef with us, come see me. I’ll be at Drinking Liberally Tursday around 9:30 if you want to follow up on any of this.
The only apology I am looking for is the massive overspending on the Carona Sheriff Center, at the expense of projects at Santa Ana College. As for Eddie Hernandez, his comments damned him. Hanna would be advised to tell Eddie to keep his mouth shut in the future, as he is so obviously adept at sticking both his feet down the gullet.
I will leave you with one more quote from Hernandez,
You really can be a schmuck Art. Hanna says it in his first few sentences….why did you not call? God forbid you actually do any investigation. I can see why you lose friends left and right. You threw Hanna and Hernandez under the bus…and they WERE your allies.
Flowerszzz,
Your post just goes to show that I was right. The RSCCD Bond Oversight Committee stinks of Van Tran’s and Carona’s corruption. And you are one of their most loyal supporters.
BTW, I have never been a fan of Hernandez. I never trusted him and I sure don’t trust him now.
Hanna on the other hand is a good guy. I am disappointed in this instance that he is opting to repeat the B.S. that Hernandez has been spewing. I expected better of Hanna.
This whole deal stinks to high heaven. Just look at your response. You MISSED all the points I brought up. That figures.
I did not feel compelled to call Hanna, or Hernandez, because the information I found was damning. The RSCCD Bond Oversight Committee failed in its only mission. Carona and the Tran cabal got their way.
I am saddened that Hanna can’t see that. And no, I won’t apologize for pointing out the obvious.
BTW, Hanna once told me he was sorry that the RSCCD board passed the Measure E PLA. He had to admit I was right about PLAs. They raised construction costs, reduced the amount of bidders, and contributed nothing but delays.
I was right about the PLA and I am right about the mistake that is the Carona Academy. RSCCD let the people of Santa Ana down. That happens a lot in my town…just look at what the Santa Ana Unified School District and the City of Santa Ana are up to.
Our people are surrounded by opportunistic, greedy, selfish jerks that come into power just so they can stuff their pockets and the pockets of their friends and supporters.
You see the same names over and over, the usual suspects from the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce, Miguel Pulido and his hacks, and the developers they are all in cahoots with.
When will the people of Santa Ana rise up and toss all these criminal overlords overboard? Perhaps the Orange Juice will pave the way for real social change in Orange County’s beleaguered downtown.
Art:
The real facts point out here that the Orange County Sheriff and his associates have revealed their true color of being an independent entity answerable to no one.
Under the color of authority they will violate the law to sustain themselves and those who can or will support them. The Sheriff and his organization are above the law and the tax payer better understand that or suffer the consequences.
Better yet he should be known as The Sheriff of Knottingham.
Jeffery Blates
Tustin
Art, Can’t you put the Forest Gump hat on Bustamonte in this photo and explain to readers why he is the self proclaimed Gump of S.A.??
Art: I have to go to work so I’ll make this short.
let’s go back to the original issue–the Register Kool-Aid that you swallowed without calling me first.
Our District did not bait and switch. Neither you nor the Register were accureate about this. Every piece of literature and the ballot statement indicated we were going to build a law enforcement training academy. And we did just that.
We did NOT shift funds from the new science building to the shriffs training academy. We had a significant number of projects that have been or are in the process of being completed. You could argue that any one or all of them “shifted” funds from the science building. The sheriffs academy needed to be built before the science building since we did not have the space available for the science building.
And Art, the fact that we did not have room at the time we passed the bond for the science building did not mean we were in some way defrauding the public. Nothing could be further from the truth. We were the 5th smallest college campus in the state in area and about the 5th largest in terms of student population. We needed more land and we used bond funds to purchase the lands. We had every expectation that there would have been adequate funds to complete the new science building once we concluded purchasing the land and moving the maintenance and operations building. That didn’t happen and I am sorry for that. But we are going to build that science building and it is going to be a larger and more modern facility then originally planned in 2002. We were right not to tear down Russell Hall and have our students be without a significant number of our classrooms for a year. We still have science classes now.
There was no bait and switch and there was no shifting of funds.
The PLA issue is a red herring. All the buildings save one(which had the highest number of problems)were done under the PLA. That may be grist for another post by you but its irelevant to the Register article.
As for your new focus and headline, am I happy that the training academy went over budget? No. But remember, the budget was simply an estimate in 2002 of replicating the old Garden Grove facility. It did not take into account new technology and needs for law enforcement that had taken place. Once Measure E passed we got that info in discussions with the Sheriff’s Department. It did not have the advantage of having architects and engineers having detailed plans for the facility(we did not have the millions that would have cost for all the projects to do before the bond passed). We did not know that the Edison Company was going to hit us with an assessment of almost a half a million dollars. And as I explained before, we had no idea that external factors would drive up the price of materials substantially. The facility is larger and substantially more modern then the prior facility was, allowing our law enforcement personnel–our Santa Ana College students—to have the tools necessary.
Art, is there anything in particular on the Tustin facility that you feel is inappropriate? Could you please specify what expenditures were made there that were not justified? Were you even out there with the 700 people to deicate the facility on Tuesday where you could have gotten a first hand look? If you can specify some specific shortcomings I will be glad to look over them and talk with our staff and respond to you. Until that time, I’m off to work and also to make sure our district continues to serve students which we do well.
Oh by the way, I get that we need nurses and we have an expanding nursing program. Keep your eye on this program because we are looking to expand it soon. Our fire technology program continues to grow and serve not only Santa Ana but the entire community. Should we not fund that program Art? Our nurses come from all over the County-should we stop that program? And finally, there are an additional 5 acres at the Tustin site that we plan in the future to devote to other first responder uses. So we get it.
If I see a problem Art, I’ll acknowledge it. I did that when we faced the Title 9 problem at SAC in 2002. And I know in every project there may be some problems. If there is something specific you have call me and I will get on it asap. But please, don’t just go off an innacurate news article to create some controversy so the OJ site will get some more hits. I know you care about Santa Ana. So do I. Give me your hand compadre, and not the back of it, so that we can make SAC even better then it is.
“Earlier this week I wrote a scathing post…”
Really? Was it scathing? Or closer to boiling hot?
Ii get a kick out of reading you pat yourself on the back, Pedroza: “Last week I wrote a brilliant post…”
You are a coward. I’ll say it again — a coward. You have lots of courage behind the safety of your computer monitor, but your a coward up front-and-personal.
Poster 6,
That’s pretty funny – an anon poster telling me that I’m a coward. I put my name to everything I write. Apparently you don’t – so who is the coward?
I also speak out quite often at public events. I was at the Santa Ana City Council meeting just the other day complaining about their water rates increase. Perhaps you missed that.
Cowards don’t stick their neck out on contentious public issues. Love me or hate me, you cannot deny that I take positions on issues on a daily basis – and I do so with my full name, not behind an anon curtain.
John,
THAT was short? LOL! Only a lawyer would say that was a short response.
We’re going to have to agree to disagree. Clearly we have a difference of opinion as to the mission of RSCCD.
I think Community Colleges are very important. I teach at Cerritos College as you know. Our young people need low priced educational options – and community colleges are an important gateway to higher learning.
Blowing $30 million on a sheriff training facility is not the sort of prioritizing I would like to see at RSCCD, to say the least.
I realize Santa Ana College has some issues re land. But those were KNOWN issues before you put Measure E on the ballot.
See you at the Memphis later tonight, but I will be pretty fried as I have a final exam tonight at UCI’s extension campus in Orange, where I am concluding a course in industrial hygiene.
I hope that RSCCD will one day have a program to develop occupational safety professionals. You and I have discussed that in the past. I hate to see valuable resources spent on sheriff training academies when the real shortage in California is in occupational safety.
Don’t even get me started on UCI’s new law school – just what our area did not need!
Does the training academy charge a fee?
Will it make money to offset its operating costs and make a return on investment to help pay for the bonds?
John Hanna writes ….
..”let’s go back to the original issue–the Register Kool-Aid that you swallowed without calling me first.”
Step up Hanna and post your phone number so the 1 million Register readers can call you and get the real story. Sounds like you’re peddling your brand of Kool-Aid and we’re not drinking it.
I did not feel compelled to call Hanna, or Hernandez, because the information I found was damning.
But Art, everyone knows you’re well acquainted with Hanna. Why wouldn’t you contact him for additional information, if not out of courtesy? Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
I’m not going to pretend to know anything to speak of about this issue. I don’t live in the RSCCD district. However, Moxley has a rather different take on the whole thing here.
Gila,
Go back to my original post. I was writing about the RSCCD Bond Oversight Committee, not the RSCCD Board of Trustees. I never thought to call Hanna because I was not writing about him. He decided to make this about him and the board.
Secondly, I wrote my post late in the evening. Too late to be calling people.
The Register runs all their stories through at least two editors. Hanna doesn
Ok Art you can treat your “Frenemies” however you like. Gila is right a courtesy call was definitely in order…your post could have waited until the morning.
Cook: The Sheriffs Academy pays for itself and then some. The full time enrollment money it and fire technology generate help sustain many science, liberal arts and nursing classes that otherwise would be cut.
Also, completing the Tustin facility on our land will save the District $255,000 annually in lease payments on the Garden Grove properties. We’ll also be getting back about $100,000 in storm drain infrastructure costs.
Anon–Art knows my number. But for you, call the District at 480-7450 if it is a district or college related question.
Gila–Thanks for your comment.
Art–Next time call me amigo. The story could have waited until the morning. You could still disagree but your post would not have been so innacurate.
And please don’t play the race card–the last 3 presidents at SAC have been Latino and we have followed their lead on these Santa Ana College programs.
Good luck on your test. I’ve told you i’d love to get your occupational safety idea going at our District but you need to sit down with our folks. Of course, you haven’t made things any easier with this thread, have you? Until later, salute!
John,
Go to this link to see projections of employment for cops in California. The median pay per hour is $34.20. There are 3,170 annual average openings. There are 73K employed and by 2014 that number is expected to grow to 86K.
The median pay per hour for safety engineers is $36.89. The current employment data is skewed because the State of California counts about a dozen different sub-categories in the safety realm.
I can tell you that every type of industry needs safety pros. My safety association has 30 pages of job listings, with an average salary of over $70K per year. No takers.
CSUF has a public health program, but that is different from occupational safety. The program does however have a minor in occupational safety. CSUN has an environmental/safety program. UCI and CSUDH have safety certificate programs.
Bilingual safety pros are in HUGE demand. Needless to say, if Santa Ana College had a two year safety program, I could practically guarantee jobs for all grads, and bilingual students would earn a premium.
If my post about the Carona facility means that RSCCD will not consider an occupational safety program, then they obviously don’t care about the young people in our area, or about the needs of area businesses. What I write should have no bearing on this decision. I already am a highly paid safety pro – I don’t need an RSCCD degree program. And I am already a teacher and a safety trainer, so no, I don’t need a job as a teacher with RSCCD.
I do plan to submit more information to you regarding an occupational safety track for RSCCD, but our safety association is still working on putting it together. These things take time as we are all overworked safety pros and the association work is strictly on a volunteer basis. Plus I want to finish my safety certificate at UCI so I can have more data to present to you re curriculum.
Finally, you and Gila are wrong. Stories don’t wait in the blogosphere. That is not how the blogosphere works. The Register provided plenty of data, most of which is correct. I stand by my post.
As for the race card, if you are telling me that Al Amezcua represents most Latinos in Santa Ana, then you are quite wrong. He is nothing more than a self promoting Pulido hack – and you know that.
See you later tonight…
Finally, you and Gila are wrong. Stories don’t wait in the blogosphere. That is not how the blogosphere works.
(Hanna and me and Flowers.)
Art, that’s utter crap. I was about to write “and you know it” but I guess you don’t.
There is ALWAYS time to learn the truth.
Apparently you fancy yourself to be the Matt Drudge of OC. The blogosphere is not an electronic version of the National Enquirer, but if that’s what you want to be then I will quote Disraeli: [you] have climbed to the top of the greasy pole.
Gila,
“Greasy Poles?” I don’t see any reason to malign our Polish friends. They suffered a lot during the Cold War.
Jokes aside, no it is not utter crap. You are not from Santa Ana, as you yourself have admitted. Trust me when I tell you that people like Al Amezcua, Carlos Bustamante and Lan Nguyen do not have the best interest of our people in mind.
John Hanna is a good man, but we are going to have to disagree as to the value of the $30 million Carona training facility monstrosity.
I am a civil libertarian. Please don’t expect me to celebrate when our hard earned tax money gets spent on training more cops. If society would do a better job with education and our young people, we would not need all these cops.
I don’t look to Matt Drudge for inspiration. As I told you tonight, there are very few people in the blogosphere and in Santa Ana who are standing up for the people of Santa Ana. I care a lot about what I do on my blog, just as Hanna cares a lot about what he does on his board.
We are trying to take out the corrupt Pulido machine with all of its tentacles. When I see his people on the RSCCD board and the Bond Oversight Committee, I automatically do not trust ANYTHING they are doing. Period.
I am sorry Hanna is caught up with all of these bad seeds. They even connived him into endorsing Chris Street. I bet he wishes he could undo that one too.
I wish Hanna the best, but please don’t expect me to stand for him or for your party. I stand with the people of Santa Ana. Everyone else takes a back seat in my book.
Art………
As above, agree to disagree on the Academy. And as I think we now agree, give me a call next time you want to put the District in your cross hairs.
I won’t expect to necessarily change your mind but do want to make sure you’re getting accurate information, unlike what the Register put out.
As for Alfredo, whatever you might think of him in relation to the alcalde, Alfredo is a strong advocate for Santa Ana College on our Board. He puts a lot of time and effort into the Board and his relationship with the alcalde has had zero influence on his decisions.
Muchas gracias por la cerveza.
John,
It sounds like we need to do an Orange Juice expose on Al Amezcua. Look for that next week…
Have a good weekend!
Art, I stand by my previous comment that whatever you think of Alfredo and his relationship with Pulido, Alfredo has been a tireless advocate for students at SAC while on the board.
I am still awaiting a call from Chancellor Hernandez.
I left my number at 714-480-7450 or he can get it from John Hanna who can get it from Art Pedroza.
If the facts are wrong, as John Hanna states, A public statement from the Chancellor should clear it right up.