Prop. 203 to Lay Groundwork for Cal State Campus

The statewide passage of Proposition 203--approved by nearly 60% of those voting in Ventura County on Tuesday--provides seed money to begin work on a Cal State University campus here and turns a corner in a decade-long effort to create a four-year public college in the county.

Education leaders on Wednesday thanked voters and called approval of the $3-billion statewide bond measure for kindergarten-through-college construction and renovations an “investment in the future.”

The measure includes $936,000 to pay for planning sewers, water lines and other necessary infrastructure for a new Cal State campus in Ventura County beginning July 1, 1997. The bond carries an additional $4.4 million for the county’s three community colleges.

And it includes funding for an unknown portion of $96 million in projects for elementary and secondary schools in the county. However, the amount of projects to be funded by the bond and the date any funds would be available will not be known for weeks, officials said Wednesday.

Joyce M. Kennedy, director of Cal State Northridge’s Ventura satellite campus and the person closest to the county’s struggle to build a local campus, said passage of the measure has repercussions beyond merely supplying money to get the campus started.

“It sends a message to Sacramento and the [CSU] chancellor,” she said. “The community has come together to prepare for the next millennia. It’s a remarkable first step.”

And, she added, “It’s been a long time in coming.”

Sen. Jack O’Connell (D-Carpinteria) said Proposition 203’s support from 59.7% of those voting in Ventura County tells lawmakers that “we welcome a permanent four-year facility with open arms.”

That is an important message, he said, because other communities are competing to bring public facilities to their cities. In addition, Ventura County has not always been hospitable to the idea of a university. In 1985, the California Legislature set aside $7 million to purchase land in Ventura County, but the Ventura City Council rejected a bid to build the campus just west of the city in 1990.

The bond measure victory was particularly sweet considering past efforts with voters, officials said. A $450-million school bond measure failed in 1990, a $900-million measure passed in 1992 and a $900-million bond failed in 1994.

Charles Weis, Ventura County’s superintendent of schools, said Ventura County has $96 million in projects for elementary and secondary schools already approved but not funded by the School Facilities Planning Division of the state Department of Education.

State officials said Ventura County could receive from $8 million to $18 million from the bond, but no decisions would be final until the end of April.