SANTA ANA : Funding Snafu May Delay Opening of College Building

When construction is completed on the new campus security headquarters at Rancho Santiago Community College, the building is expected to provide safety officers everything they need to do their jobs.

But they may have to wait awhile for phones and electricity.

Because of a state funding snafu, the district faces the possibility that the security office will not be used for as long as 18 months after its completion in mid-1996, said Bob Partridge, administrative dean of facilities planning and development.

“We could very well have a building we couldn’t move into,” he told the Board of Trustees at its meeting Monday.

When plans were drawn up for the $13-million project, to be called the Cesar Chavez Business and Computer Center, the budget included $691,000 to construct a separate building for campus security and to install drainage, utilities and roads, he said.

The chancellor’s office later asked the district to divide the project into segments for planning purposes but promised funding for all of the work, Partridge said.

Recently, however, the chancellor’s office dropped the security building from its list of funded projects for the 1995-96 fiscal year. District officials successfully appealed that decision, he said, only to have the state Department of Finance reject it.

Instead, Department of Finance officials want the district to seek the money it needs as though it were part of the Cesar Chavez building--even though that is now technically a separate project. Complicating matters, the district already asked for and received an extra $900,000 for the Chavez building when it came in over budget, which could hamper any request for more money.

Partridge said he remains optimistic that the state will secure the funds but added tha district officials may have to turn to lawmakers for help if the money is withheld.