Davis’ Budget Withholds Funds for CSUCI

Gov. Gray Davis dealt a setback Monday to creation of a public university in Ventura County, withholding money for the local campus until Cal State University officials make more progress on development of another campus in Stockton.

The move, announced Monday when the governor unveiled his preliminary budget for fiscal year 2000-01, angered county leaders, who argued that the CSU Channel Islands campus in Camarillo was being penalized for unrelated problems at the Stockton site.

“The whole concept to me is kind of onerous,” said Supervisor Frank Schillo, a member of the special authority that serves as landlord and financial manager for the fledgling campus.

“We should be on our own track,” he added. “Here we are doing everything we should be doing and apparently they are not, and to be held up because of that is very disquieting.”

University officials had been counting on the governor to include $10 million for Cal State Channel Islands in his budget proposal.

The money would allow planners to immediately start searching for faculty to craft the academic programs necessary to open the campus on schedule in 2002 at the former Camarillo State Hospital.

But Davis dashed those hopes for now, tying funding for Channel Islands to development of a branch campus of Cal State Stanislaus in neighboring Stockton, where CSU officials set out in 1997 to convert another state hospital into a university.

Specifically, Davis wants CSU officials to figure out what went wrong with efforts to establish a range of income-generating ventures aimed at offsetting operating costs for the satellite center in Stockton.

While the governor said Monday that he is “fully committed” to providing additional funding for the Ventura County campus, he told CSU leaders that the Stockton situation must first be resolved before he designates the money.

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Ventura County leaders and university officials are optimistic that they can satisfy Davis’ concerns in time for the $10-million allocation to be included in the governor’s May budget revision.

CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed said he has been assured by members of the governor’s staff that the money is being held in reserve for the Camarillo campus and will appear in the budget as soon as concerns at Stockton are worked out.

“We can resolve Stockton,” he said. “We’re talking about a $1.5- to $3-million problem. In a $3-billion budget, we can work that out.”

Davis’ move was not unexpected. Late last month, he told CSU officials that he intended to link the campuses because of their similar development plans.

In both cases, CSU officials are converting shuttered mental hospitals into college campuses. Both are currently satellite campuses of Cal State universities. And both are counting on leasing unused buildings and launching commercial ventures to raise money for expansion.

But the similarities end there. Stockton will remain a branch campus of Cal State Stanislaus, while the Camarillo site--which opened last fall as a branch of Cal State Northridge--is expected to evolve into a full-fledged institution by fall 2002.

Moreover, the Stockton campus has made little headway on its plan for tapping private development, while the Camarillo campus has signed private tenants, drawn up a blueprint for development around the campus core and established a nonprofit agency responsible for luring commercial ventures to the 630-acre property.

Still, Davis decided to link the two, saying Cal State University trustees must keep their commitment to Stockton before moving ahead with another project.

“Their first obligation is to make good on an earlier commitment for a campus before we begin on another campus,” Davis said in a pre-Christmas interview. “If you make two promises, you have to keep your first promise before you keep your second promise.”

There is plenty of optimism that the issue will be resolved in a way that will benefit both campuses.

State Sen. Patrick Johnston (D-Stockton), who has lobbied Davis and Reed about the need to cure problems at the Stockton campus, said he has no intention to torpedo Channel Islands or link funding for the two campuses.

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Johnston said he believes that Davis is simply trying to raise awareness about the CSU system’s newest campuses as they get up and running.

“I think the governor wants CSU Channel Islands to work and he wants the Stockton center to work,” he said.

“Because they are relatively new projects, I think he just wants to set them aside for further discussion by the CSU administration and the Legislature. But in no way do I think that Channel Islands will be held back because of the Stockton problems.”

CSU trustee William Hauck, who chairs the 24-member governing board, said he also believes the issue will be settled in time for Channel Islands to receive its full share of state money.

“I’m confident that we can work that out and that ultimately we will reach some resolution that will be beneficial to Camarillo and to Stockton,” Hauck said.

Nevertheless, some county leaders said they are frustrated that the local university is being used as leverage to solve problems at another campus.

“I’m very disappointed,” said Assemblyman Tony Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks), who along with other members of the county’s legislative delegation urged Davis to support the Camarillo campus.

“We have united support among the legislators, united support among communities,” Strickland added. “We should not be punished for having the kind of support we have in Ventura County.”

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Already, Cal State University officials have made some progress toward addressing Davis’ concerns.

The university system is in the process of studying the development issues at the Stockton campus and figuring out other ways to boost revenue for the center.

That study is expected to be completed by April 1, which is plenty of time to show the results to Davis and convince him to provide money for Channel Islands, officials say.

“The only version of the budget that counts is the final version,” said state Sen. Jack O’Connell (D-San Luis Obispo), who has spearheaded efforts to establish the Ventura County campus.

“Certainly, we have to be encouraged that in print the administration says it is fully committed to providing additional funding to Channel Islands,” he said.

“I am very confident that in the final version of the budget we will secure the necessary resources to continue development of the Channel Islands campus.”