Final Report - Case No. 12-06 San Joaquin Delta Community College

The Delta College Board of Trustees made decisions which have caused serious problems and wasted millions of dollars of Measure L funds. The District needs capable trustees who are able to meet the task of bringing Delta College into the 21st century.

This Grand Jury found that the Board of Trustees of Delta Community College was ill prepared to handle the Measure L Bond funds. At the time the bond measure was proposed, the Board of Trustees knew that they would not be able to obtain the amount of money necessary to cover all of the proposed needs as listed on the ballot. There appears to have been no clear path to fulfill student needs for the future.

Despite Brown Act training, there continues to be numerous allegations of Brown Act violations by the Delta College Board of Trustees. This Grand Jury found evidence of closed-session discussion being shared outside of the Board of Trustee meetings.

The public/private partnership between Delta and the developer has delayed construction and has and will cost Delta in many ways such as money, credibility, and community support. Delta College now finds itself in a worse position having no power to cause infrastructure to be completed at the Mountain House site. Public/private partnerships are fraught with complications. Differing goals and divergent project timelines make these partnerships extremely difficult to work successfully.

The Board of Trustees has had to completely revise the entire Mountain House site plan to accommodate lack of infrastructure availability from the developer.

The Board of Trustees did not heed nor follow their staff recommendations or the

The City of Tracy offered a 108 acre site to Delta College, including all fees and infrastructure at an estimated cost of $6 to $10 million. The City of Tracy included an offer to cap Delta’s cost and to contribute an additional $2 million toward mutually defined joint-use facilities. Delta’s staff and consultant PPV, Inc. recommended leaving the Mountain House site for the Tracy location. Staff estimated that by going to Tracy and selling the Mountain House property Delta College could save as much as $50 million. Delta College Board of Trustees on a split vote (4-3) decided to stay with the Mountain House location.

The demographic studies used by the Delta College District for facilities planning are questionable at best. They did not take into consideration the curriculum type that might be needed i.e. brick and mortar vs. internet usage.

Although the original estimate for the building of a center/campus at Mountain House was $55 million, as of January 2008, the estimate has climbed to approximately $94 million and could go much higher costing District taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. These figures do not include funds for Phase II and Phase III. At this time the plans call for portables (trailers) to be used to house students.

Private agendas and public bickering have delayed the progress of the use of bond funds. This has resulted in a reduction of projects that will be completed and has caused the complete cancellation of other projects. Therefore, costs have risen by tens of millions of dollars due to inflation.

Due to a lack of oversight by the Trustees, the Bond Management Company has wasted untold dollars and delayed all projects.

Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee meets quarterly to review past expenditures related to Measure L. Although Proposition 39 outlines responsibilities, committee members were trained to believe they do not have a mandate to question Measure L expenditures other than those deemed illegal. Although Proposition 39 outlines much broader responsibilities, committee members have been trained that their role is to review financial statements to ensure only authorized expenditures are charged to Measure L, to review project budgets and to the annual report. New committee members received no organized training.

Brown Act Violations have occurred at meetings of the Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee. Meeting agendas were not posted at the meeting site 72 hours in advance and were not available to the public at one meeting attended by this Grand Jury’s members.

The formation of the new Measure L team and chairperson is a step in the right direction in getting control of bond funds and projects.