If UC students were required to be college ready (high school exit exams, SATs in math, english and one science (physics, chemistry, or biology) enrollment would fall and thousands of rentals be available to local families. No rent control needed.
SBCC in 2026 is still trying to account for a gift in 2021? Memo to SBCC: It should not take 5 years to determine where, oh where, has the $20 million gone? DOGE would have answered this in less than a week, and perhaps even in a day. The sad answer might have been provided by Elon Musk who recently said the money given by Mackenzie Scott was being used to attack democracy, which would be a reason why the actual use is still being hidden.
Was this missing money spent on direct grants to the qualifying Promise students, or for administrative overhead since three (3) persons were listed on the SBCC Foundation website dedicated to the Promise Program? (Fund raising, administrative support, grant administration, actual grant distribution --all unknown at this time)
Too bad the former Foundation Director when this was all going on, moved on and is no longer in town to answer these questions. We await the results of the in-house investigation. And the documented direction made by the current board members for the allocation of what remains of this one-time major $20 million dollar charitable gift.
In addition, the failure to account for this money for these past several years was also a violation of SBCC/ACCJC Accreditation Standards for Fiscal Oversight. Is it time to bring in the state AG Office who provides additional oversight for misused charitable donations?
You ask, why ignore budgeting for facilities and maintenance at SBCC?
Because the Great 2010 SBCC Replacement of the prior fiscally prudent SBCC board, was led by the SBCC employee unions. There had been only two prior SBCC bond issues at that time since the inception of the SBCC district in 1965.. One to purchase the West Campus and another for facilities but only after the first bond issue had been paid off.
Internal budgeting, successful charitable fund-raising, and state bond funding had been used for prior capital needs, up to that time. Voters previously had rejected a SBCC bond issue to modernize the college Adult Ed facilities. But often the community was generous and stepped up to donate for naming opportunities, or just love for the college.
However the current SBCC union leader did claim in public once that 100% of all state funding should go only to the employees, and any other remaining college needs must be funded by the local community using bond issues. (!)
So of late, two more bond issues were put on the ballot in just the past 10 years - one losing and one winning, but only because it coat-tailed the prior successful second-only 2008 SBCC bond issue.
Only after 2010 Great Replacement of the SBCC Board, did local bond issues become essential for the future capital needs of SBCC. While at the same time SBCC employee compensation packages soared, devouring up to 90% of the budget at one point.
Plus now college revenues are increasingly eroded to back-fill SBCC guaranteed pension and benefit obligations. This is the same spiral of exploding costs on automatic pilot due to past employee union promises while facing declining revenues, that most other state government institutions also face.
Obviously, this ethos of passing on SBCC capital needs to the residents using bond issues now prevails at SBCC among the newly elected board members. "You care more about buildings than you do people" is the perennial union rallying cry, when even the smallest capital outlay is made.
Anyone else remember the SBCC faculty hue and cry when a major gift of the signature fountain in front of the Garvin Theater was donated by two long-standing and very generous supporters of SBCC, Eli Luria and Michael Towbes? Instead of saying thank you, they wailed "you spent college money to hook it up to the campus water lines! It is ugly and we hate it. The money should have been spent on us."
And so it goes. SBCC has been one more casualty of employee union takeover of its governing boards that has been in play our across this state since the 2010 Great Replacement of nearly all state and local offices by Democrat party operatives - the same years when California state pension reform was on the ballot that could have made a difference. But was defeated twice.
Does not Mackenzie Scott care about where and how her contribution is spent? No strings or direction to a demonstrably incompetent...if not complictly corrupt board? Given her very Left and very Liberal history, no doubt she felt comfortable the donation was in the hands of like minded ideologues.
Reminds me of the majority of politicians....essentially spending/giving away other peoples money...OPM...while basking in the attendant accolades for such "benevolence".
She created a remarkable experiment - what in fact does $26 million dollars in unrestricted money buy us? When the hue and cry is for all billionaires to pay their "fair share"....... for the good of the state. What indeed did this very handsome gift accomplish in toto? That needs to be the next chapter.to explore.
Or was it like the now 20 year old Stem Cell Research Bond issue California voters also passed ....for the good of the people. Go to their website and it only reports how many people got hired, and how much of those millions of taxpayer dollars got "redistributed" back into the economy.
But it is virtually silent about any actual health care breakthroughs in the past 20 years, let alone patented royalties intended to recoup its original cost to the taxpayers. Keep this in mind now that SEIU wants to claw back even more taxpayer money from this latest Billionaires Tax on the November ballot.
I read this article titled "Blue State Taxes, Philanthropy, and the High Cost of Failure"
by Justin Shores. I have a new title "Look no further than Our Starchy Shirted Jackass US Congress for the High Cost of EVERYTHING." I quote from same "Massive spending on education, health programs, diversity initiatives, and social services produces persistent failures in student outcomes, homelessness, fiscal balance, and basic governance. Fraud and waste flourish under weak (and, let’s face it, virtually non-existent) oversight."
Think FAT-CAT Congress taking their Vacations and their Insider Trading and ect >
"My husband is busting his ass today in a steel mill in 90+ degree heat 60 hours a week all summer long and I’ll be at my job on July 4 at the hospital while you enjoy your holiday you starchy shirted jackass. Tell me we don’t work as hard as you."
Anyone work in a Steel Plant here? Post, I am really interested in the work habits of the SB Elite.
We all know the problem: no accountability, enforcement or consequence for bad, unlawful behavior. Whether it’s CA Accredidation, FCMAT (Fiscal Crisis Mgt, Assessment Team, FPPC (Fair Political Practices Commission), Bond Oversight Committee or whatever the ridiculous group, NOTHING will ever protect the spending of our tax dollars or how our generous donation gifts are spent. The Mackenzie money helped pay for ‘Yes of P’ the newest bond to 2063. All of the above groups notified and asked to review ‘Yes in P’. Too bad each group is corrupted by bureaucrats, school administrators: the power players.
It’s up to each of us to think hard prior to donating or voting to tax ourselves and the next generation.
If UC students were required to be college ready (high school exit exams, SATs in math, english and one science (physics, chemistry, or biology) enrollment would fall and thousands of rentals be available to local families. No rent control needed.
SBCC in 2026 is still trying to account for a gift in 2021? Memo to SBCC: It should not take 5 years to determine where, oh where, has the $20 million gone? DOGE would have answered this in less than a week, and perhaps even in a day. The sad answer might have been provided by Elon Musk who recently said the money given by Mackenzie Scott was being used to attack democracy, which would be a reason why the actual use is still being hidden.
Was this missing money spent on direct grants to the qualifying Promise students, or for administrative overhead since three (3) persons were listed on the SBCC Foundation website dedicated to the Promise Program? (Fund raising, administrative support, grant administration, actual grant distribution --all unknown at this time)
Too bad the former Foundation Director when this was all going on, moved on and is no longer in town to answer these questions. We await the results of the in-house investigation. And the documented direction made by the current board members for the allocation of what remains of this one-time major $20 million dollar charitable gift.
In addition, the failure to account for this money for these past several years was also a violation of SBCC/ACCJC Accreditation Standards for Fiscal Oversight. Is it time to bring in the state AG Office who provides additional oversight for misused charitable donations?
You ask, why ignore budgeting for facilities and maintenance at SBCC?
Because the Great 2010 SBCC Replacement of the prior fiscally prudent SBCC board, was led by the SBCC employee unions. There had been only two prior SBCC bond issues at that time since the inception of the SBCC district in 1965.. One to purchase the West Campus and another for facilities but only after the first bond issue had been paid off.
Internal budgeting, successful charitable fund-raising, and state bond funding had been used for prior capital needs, up to that time. Voters previously had rejected a SBCC bond issue to modernize the college Adult Ed facilities. But often the community was generous and stepped up to donate for naming opportunities, or just love for the college.
However the current SBCC union leader did claim in public once that 100% of all state funding should go only to the employees, and any other remaining college needs must be funded by the local community using bond issues. (!)
So of late, two more bond issues were put on the ballot in just the past 10 years - one losing and one winning, but only because it coat-tailed the prior successful second-only 2008 SBCC bond issue.
Only after 2010 Great Replacement of the SBCC Board, did local bond issues become essential for the future capital needs of SBCC. While at the same time SBCC employee compensation packages soared, devouring up to 90% of the budget at one point.
Plus now college revenues are increasingly eroded to back-fill SBCC guaranteed pension and benefit obligations. This is the same spiral of exploding costs on automatic pilot due to past employee union promises while facing declining revenues, that most other state government institutions also face.
Obviously, this ethos of passing on SBCC capital needs to the residents using bond issues now prevails at SBCC among the newly elected board members. "You care more about buildings than you do people" is the perennial union rallying cry, when even the smallest capital outlay is made.
Anyone else remember the SBCC faculty hue and cry when a major gift of the signature fountain in front of the Garvin Theater was donated by two long-standing and very generous supporters of SBCC, Eli Luria and Michael Towbes? Instead of saying thank you, they wailed "you spent college money to hook it up to the campus water lines! It is ugly and we hate it. The money should have been spent on us."
And so it goes. SBCC has been one more casualty of employee union takeover of its governing boards that has been in play our across this state since the 2010 Great Replacement of nearly all state and local offices by Democrat party operatives - the same years when California state pension reform was on the ballot that could have made a difference. But was defeated twice.
Does not Mackenzie Scott care about where and how her contribution is spent? No strings or direction to a demonstrably incompetent...if not complictly corrupt board? Given her very Left and very Liberal history, no doubt she felt comfortable the donation was in the hands of like minded ideologues.
Reminds me of the majority of politicians....essentially spending/giving away other peoples money...OPM...while basking in the attendant accolades for such "benevolence".
She created a remarkable experiment - what in fact does $26 million dollars in unrestricted money buy us? When the hue and cry is for all billionaires to pay their "fair share"....... for the good of the state. What indeed did this very handsome gift accomplish in toto? That needs to be the next chapter.to explore.
Or was it like the now 20 year old Stem Cell Research Bond issue California voters also passed ....for the good of the people. Go to their website and it only reports how many people got hired, and how much of those millions of taxpayer dollars got "redistributed" back into the economy.
But it is virtually silent about any actual health care breakthroughs in the past 20 years, let alone patented royalties intended to recoup its original cost to the taxpayers. Keep this in mind now that SEIU wants to claw back even more taxpayer money from this latest Billionaires Tax on the November ballot.
I read this article titled "Blue State Taxes, Philanthropy, and the High Cost of Failure"
by Justin Shores. I have a new title "Look no further than Our Starchy Shirted Jackass US Congress for the High Cost of EVERYTHING." I quote from same "Massive spending on education, health programs, diversity initiatives, and social services produces persistent failures in student outcomes, homelessness, fiscal balance, and basic governance. Fraud and waste flourish under weak (and, let’s face it, virtually non-existent) oversight."
Think FAT-CAT Congress taking their Vacations and their Insider Trading and ect >
https://x.com/KaseyHelton05/status/2072348228708659586 > TIME STAMP 1:45
"My husband is busting his ass today in a steel mill in 90+ degree heat 60 hours a week all summer long and I’ll be at my job on July 4 at the hospital while you enjoy your holiday you starchy shirted jackass. Tell me we don’t work as hard as you."
Anyone work in a Steel Plant here? Post, I am really interested in the work habits of the SB Elite.
Howard Walther Member of a Military Family
PS1- This is how you bring Steel Plants back to the US forget useless Starchy Shirted Jackass US Congress> https://x.com/GuntherEagleman/status/1904179983439827190
We all know the problem: no accountability, enforcement or consequence for bad, unlawful behavior. Whether it’s CA Accredidation, FCMAT (Fiscal Crisis Mgt, Assessment Team, FPPC (Fair Political Practices Commission), Bond Oversight Committee or whatever the ridiculous group, NOTHING will ever protect the spending of our tax dollars or how our generous donation gifts are spent. The Mackenzie money helped pay for ‘Yes of P’ the newest bond to 2063. All of the above groups notified and asked to review ‘Yes in P’. Too bad each group is corrupted by bureaucrats, school administrators: the power players.
It’s up to each of us to think hard prior to donating or voting to tax ourselves and the next generation.