WOODLAND HILLS : Cicero Outbid on Pierce College Lease

Joe Cicero, the operator of a produce stand and farm at Pierce College, has lost his bid to renew his lease, ending a 10-year era marked by controversy.

Cicero, whose last three-year lease expires April 30, bid lower than John T. Dullam, owner of Dullam Nursery in Oxnard, Pierce College President Mary Lee said Monday.

Dullam could not be reached for comment.

Dullam offered $30,000 for the first year and $35,000 and $40,000 for the second and third years of the contract, Lee said. Cicero, she said, offered $25,000 a year for each of the three years. By law, Lee said, the district is required to go with the highest bidder.

Like Cicero, Dullam will farm the land and run a produce stand on the property at Victory Boulevard and DeSoto Avenue, she said.

The contract, which she said has not yet been signed, will read exactly as Cicero’s did. Dullam, like Cicero, will be allowed to sell produce, Christmas trees and pumpkins and operate pony rides.

At the end of the three-year lease, the school may decide to “continue with a produce stand or determine some other use for the property,” Lee said. That would depend, she said, on a master plan that is being drawn up for the school.

Cicero, whose family has farmed in the San Fernando Valley for 40 years, said he is disappointed. He said he believed Dullam’s bid was so high that he would not be able to make a profit.

“I’ve never heard of anybody bidding for agricultural ground that high,” he said. “I feel that was totally out of line.”

Lee said she is not worried about whether Dullam makes a profit, as long as he pays the rent.

Cicero’s tenure has been controversial and at times it seemed that he would lose the right to operate the farm and produce stand.

About three years ago, a competitor contended that Cicero was breaking the law by selling Christmas trees, because competitors had not had a chance to bid on the publicly owned 25 acres on which the farm stand is located. The school balked at allowing Cicero to sign another lease, but backed off after a storm of protest by Cicero supporters.

Cicero said he will probably move out of the area--either to Sacramento or out of state.