SBCC Bond Measure Has Wide Support
A Santa Barbara City College bond measure looks like it will head to the November ballot after survey results released Thursday showed a high approval rating among voters. In fact, 73 percent of respondents in a phone survey conducted by an independent firm said they’d vote yes or “lean yes” to support the measure. Fifty-five percent is needed for approval.
President Lori Gaskin is recommending that SBCC’s board put a $288 million measure — less than a $310 million amount the board had previously entertained — on the ballot. The board has until June 26 to formally deliver a resolution to the county registrar.
The measure would replace the campus center (a $30 million job) and pay for the construction of new classrooms (a $35 million project) as the school has to remove its remaining portables per a mandate from the California Coastal Commission. The measure would also modernize several existing buildings on the main campus, as well as ones at the Schott Center.
To top off the good news, Ruth Bernstein from the polling firm told trustees that 93 percent of respondents said they were “favorable” toward the college, a rating consistent from surveys conducted in 2013 and 2007. The survey was based on interviews with 501 randomly selected likely voters who live within the SBCC district, which spans from Carpinteria to Goleta.
