Rejected Pierce College Projects May Get Second Look

Proposals to develop golf courses and other facilities at Pierce College, rejected by the school’s governing council last week, may get a second chance from the Woodland Hills college after all.

Calling Pierce’s evaluation process unfair, two competing bidders, developers Eddie Milligan and Jerry Katell, appealed to the trustees of the Los Angeles Community College District at their meeting Wednesday night.

They asked the trustees not to reject the proposals outright, but to instruct Pierce to meet with bidders and discuss their proposals.

The district received five proposals last month to develop 240 acres of agricultural land at Pierce. Two proposals were immediately dismissed by a Pierce committee because they lacked the required $250,000 deposits. The other three were rejected within a week because, committee members said, they would not generate money for the cash-starved college quickly enough.

“We think it’s very unfair and unethical to just throw the bids out, without any discussion with the proposers,” Katell told the trustees.

Elizabeth Garfield, the board’s president, said the trustees would not make a decision on the proposals until a Dec. 16 public hearing.

David Braun and Bert Sanchez, two Pierce instructors who helped evaluate the proposals, told the trustees they did not have enough time, or information from the bidders, to adequately judge the bids. Garfield encouraged Pierce to do whatever it needed to fully evaluate the proposals, pointing out that the college has the authority to make whatever changes are needed in the process.

Though no vote was taken, the board’s guidance may prompt Pierce to consider the proposals once more, this time discussing any possible modifications with the developers, Braun and Sanchez said.

“That is the only ethical, logical thing to do,” Sanchez said.