Davis Delays Funds for Channel Islands Campus

Gov. Gray Davis dealt a setback Monday to development of a public university in Ventura County, withholding money for the local campus until Cal State University officials make more progress on creating a 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 Channel Islands campus was being penalized for lingering problems at the Stockton site.

“The whole concept to me is kind of onerous,” said County Supervisor Frank Schillo, a member of the special authority that serves as the landlord and financial manager for the fledgling campus. “We should be on our own track,” he said.

University officials had been counting on the governor to include $10 million in his proposed budget for Cal State Channel Islands. The money would allow planners to immediately start searching for faculty to craft the academic programs necessary to open the Camarillo campus on schedule in fall 2002.

But Davis dashed those hopes for now by tying funding for Channel Islands to development of a branch campus of Cal State Stanislaus in Stockton. The governor wants Cal State officials to figure out what went wrong with efforts to establish a range of income-generating ventures aimed at offsetting operating costs in Stockton.

Although the governor said he is “fully committed” to providing additional funding for the Ventura County campus, he told Cal State leaders that the Stockton situation must first be resolved before he hands over the money. 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 his May budget revision.