Meeting Set to Discuss College Fund Forfeiture

A community organization will hold an informational forum Saturday to discuss Mission College’s forfeiture of $4.7 million in state funds earmarked for new classroom buildings and parking spaces.

The Los Angeles Mission College Collaborative has invited elected officials and college administrators to a two-hour session beginning 10 a.m. in the council chambers at San Fernando City Hall, 117 Macneil St.

The panelists are expected to discuss the funding loss and its impact on the Sylmar college’s ability to meet the needs of its 6,000-student population, which is projected to double by 2003.

“We are extremely concerned that not only have we lost an opportunity to expand, but because the blunder was so blatant, we may lose future opportunities for expansion,” said Xavier Flores, president of the San Fernando Valley Mexican American Political Assn., one of several Latino grass-roots organizations in the collaborative.

Flores said members are particularly concerned about the funding loss because the college serves a predominantly Latino student population.

“I fail to see how the state can have any faith that the present administration can secure future funding for major expansion of the campus,” he said. “We want to find out what mistakes were made, who made them and how we can avoid [repeating] them in the future.”

Earlier this month, Mission College officials announced that they were unable to meet a state-imposed Dec. 30 deadline to draft a workable expansion plan. As a result, the school will lose the $4.7 million.

Invited panelists include Mission College President William E. Norlund, Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar), county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon.