Bond proposal marked for approval

By Jason White

Mt. Hood Community College board members will meet Saturday to discuss furthering its East County bond proposal.

According to Gary Murph, the college’s chief financial officer, the infant-stage proposal is approaching crunch time, with ballot wording due between March and April, and expectations mounting to have all polling and research completed in time to get the bond on the November ballot.

Board members will, said Murph, hopefully finalize the go-ahead at their meeting. “I think they’re going to do it,” he said.

Previous exploratory meetings, intended to dissect the feasibility of pitching a bond to East County, concluded the community might accept a bond, as long as details were clear and reasonable. Past bond proposals failed, said Murph, because things weren’t outlined in a way people could understand, and also because the college was asking for too much funding. Now, though, the proposal’s projects are taking a moderate face, both in terms of needs and dollars, said Murph.

Volunteer contractors from the area helped put dollar amounts to the variety of upgrades, remodels and additions the college could use, said Murph, but of the more than $250 million worth of estimates, the exploratory committee had to prioritize. The college has narrowed its projects to safety and security, which will include lighting and parking lots upgrades, roof maintenance and investing in upgrades to help the college conserve energy.

The board had requested all project costs be finalized in rough form before further steps could be taken in the bond proposal process.

Moore Information, a survey consultant, is anticipated to get the board’s vote – meaning community polling of 350 East County voters on a 45-question survey could be underway soon. The group, which will design the survey, interview subjects, tabulate findings and report back to the board with its observations, could, according to Murph, help propel the college out of its exploratory stage, at a fee of $13,600 once the group is hired.

The poll, according to Murph, will help the college gauge which of the numerous projects the community will support. “We might find that the community will support more” than what the college is asking, he said, but we could find that they won’t support very much at all. “That’s why we’re still in the exploratory stage,” he said.

“They’re being fiscally conservative” right now, said Murph, but “it’s East County’s college” and it’s been their college from the beginning. The board is considering a bond theme along the lines of “Protect Your Investment,” said Murph. He hopes the community will realize how much MHCC contributes to the local economy.
The board will also discuss revisions to board policies.

According to Murph, the college looked at Portland Community College’s board policies and noticed MHCC had an excess number of items compared to PCC. The purpose of the revisions, said Murph, is to “whittle down” unnecessary policies, move other policies under an administrative classification and reclassify certain policies as bylaws.

College President Robert Silverman will deliver a budget review presentation in preparation for the coming fiscal-year shift, and will cover such issues as where the college stands in terms of funding and where it’s heading.

The retreat will be held at Persimmon Country Club, 500 SE Butler Road in Gresham, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is open to the public.