Measure J will help foster ties between Mercy, Merced College
By CHUCK KASSIS
A couple of weeks ago, I visited a classroom at the Business Resource Center in downtown Merced to see a group of our Dignity Health Mercy Medical Center employees going through training developed and delivered by Merced College.
The group was close to graduating from the Customer Service Academy (CSA). It was their fourth class of five full-day, weekly classes that make up the 40-hour curriculum the College customized for our employees. I enjoy visiting the classes because I can watch, with my own eyes, as our people grow as professionals and human beings.
And, as I’ve done during every visit, I asked the 30 or so Mercy Medical Center (MMC) employees, “Who among you willingly came to do the program when it began?”
Maybe one or two raised their hands.
Then I asked, “Knowing what you know now, given the same choice, would you volunteer?”
Everyone said, “Yes.”
They all said they wished they could keep going because the training had been that rewarding to them. Those responses explain Merced College’s value to MMC specifically, and to this community at large.
Those responses also shed light as to why MMC, the leading provider of health care in this community, and Merced College, the leading provider of workforce training in this community, have such a great partnership.
That program, our connection to the Allied Health department at Merced College, and our personal working relationships with Jonae Pistoresi and Patty Pistoresi — they guide the CSA and the Emerging Leaders Institute at the College — are valuable connections for us.
They are valuable because MMC and the College believe in the same central question: How do we best serve this community? Jonae says it best when she talks about the energy and sense of purpose they bring into the sessions when they’re all on the same page. She says when people have pride and purpose and are engaged in their work, they’re more invested. Successful communities are fueled by people who are invested in what is going on around them.
The Customer Service Academy trains thousands of people from both local and regional employers like Dignity Health, UC Merced, Gallo Farms and many others. The program has evolved over 20+ years and now includes courses ranging from customer service and team building to conflict resolution and values and ethics. The training they do in the CSA, which won national recognition for Economic Best Practices from the Association of Community College Trustees, has allowed our people to take complete ownership in what we’re doing. Then they take those principles and use them in everyday life.
The relationship doesn’t stop with the academy or the leaders institute. We believe enough in the Merced College mission to also fund a nurse educator position in the College’s Allied Health program. We have done that for over a decade because we are committed to helping solve the area’s healthcare worker shortage.
The only way Merced College programs like Allied Health can grow is through Measure J. It is a new bond and only the second the College has ever sent to voters. We have already seen how effective additional financial support can be through the nearly 600 RNs and the additional 900 or so LVNs and radiology and sonography technicians total that have been put into the workforce since the Allied Health Complex went up in 2009.
We want to continue to work with Merced College on solutions. We want to have to support another one or two nurse educators. We want to have to figure out how to work with Merced College and UC Merced to create a pathway from the RN training at Merced College to a bachelor’s degree in nursing at UC Merced.
Yes, I do believe that Measure J is another important step this community needs to take to ensure that the future is a bright and strong one for all.
Please, join me in voting yes on Measure J.
Chuck Kassis is the president/chief executive officer of Mercy Medical Center of Merced.
Measure J: A Good Investment For Our Communities
By EJ ALMO LORENZI & VINCENT PIRO
We urge you to vote yes for Measure J because it is a good investment in our local communities.
For over 50 years, Merced College has served our community. It has trained and educated many of us as well as our children and grandchildren for high demand jobs or transfer to a university.
Merced College has provided our local communities with firefighters, police officers, teachers, nurses, and paramedics, and it has trained many in our county for jobs in agriculture, business, welding, automotive technology, and engineering.
Now Merced College needs OUR support.
Many Merced College buildings are nearly a half a century old and are in need of renovation and repair.
Numerous buildings need basic repairs to leaky roofs, old rusting plumbing, and faulty electrical systems. Others need asbestos or lead removal. Vocational buildings in industrial technology and agriculture need upgrading with modern lab facilities, technology, and equipment. Art and music buildings need upgrading and expanding. The Los Banos campus needs to grow to offer more certificates and degrees.
However, the state of California does not invest adequately in our community colleges. Merced College receives no capital funding for new facilities and only minimal, insufficient funding for scheduled maintenance or upgrades without local matching funds.
It’s time for us to invest in OUR community college by voting yes on Measure J.
Measure J will provide essential local funding to repair or replace deteriorating buildings and upgrade or expand existing Merced College classrooms, science labs and training facilities. Measure J, if approved, would allow construction in Los Banos of a Career Technical Education Complex and a Child Development Center and Laboratory.
The best news is that this investment stays local. By law, every penny of money raised by Measure J must be spent locally on Merced Community College district facilities and is overseen by independent, local citizens.
And although Proposition 13 would address funding for community colleges to repair aging buildings, Measure J is the only option to provide local funding that is completely dedicated to Merced College.
If you must make a choice, vote yes on J and vote no on Prop.13.
And this investment in our local college facilities is cost-effective. Measure J is estimated to cost property owners $25 per $100,000 of assessed property — about $45 per year for the typical homeowner.
Merced College has provided excellent, affordable education and job training to our community for generations, and now it’s time for us to invest in our local community college district.
We urge you to vote yes on Measure J because it is a good investment for our community.
EJ Almo Lorenzi is a local business owner. Vincent Piro is a Merced College instructor.
Measure J will help prepare new generation of skilled workers
By BEN DURAN
If you were raised in Merced County and are making your home here, it is a good bet that you or someone in your family attended Merced College.
Since its founding in 1962, Merced College has been essential to the social and economic well-being of the county.
My friends and I enrolled at Merced College in 1966, after graduating from Le Grand High School. Hundreds of other graduates from the other high schools in the county did the same that year. My mother and her friends changed their lives from being farm workers to becoming Child Development teachers at Merced College. Since its founding, for thousands of area residents, Merced
College has been the portal to the rest of their lives.
It is impossible to walk into a business without finding Merced College graduates serving you. Most nurses, police and fire men and women in our communities took their training and degrees at Merced College. Teachers in our schools and pre-schools who care for our children daily began their journeys to their profession at Merced College.
Merced College’s Agricultural program is highly touted in the rest of the state as is its transfer rate to four-year universities for those students wishing to continue their educations.
Our College is not only an integral part of our community but will continue to be so for decades to come. It is undeniable that our wives, husbands, children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews will enjoy better lives because of the presence of our community college.
That’s why I support Measure J. This bond will result in the construction of new buildings to prepare the next generation of workers for the new economy and renovate existing facilities that are in serious need of updating to continue to serve students.
Merced County residents have always been supportive of education bonds that have appeared on their ballots over the years. It is one of the many things that makes me proud to be a Merced resident. I urge you to continue to support education in our county and ask you to ask your family and friends to join you to vote yes on Measure J.
Benjamin T. Duran, Ed.D., is a Merced College President Emeritus and a member of the Merced College Class of ’69.
Measure J will have lasting, positive impact for our community
By ERNIE OCHOA
One of the rewarding things I get to experience, as the current board president of the Merced Community College District Board of Trustees, is seeing big projects come to fruition.
I did when we unveiled the new Flag Pole Project at the entrance to Merced College last fall. That day reminded me how this community campus and its people are both at their best when they are evolving.
My colleagues and I are also responsible for setting projects in motion. Right now we are approaching the biggest such challenge Merced College has taken on since it opened in 1962.
On March 3rd, our community will vote on Measure J—a $247-million bond that will pay for a facilities overhaul at Merced College.
Our facilities need this bond right now. Some buildings are 50-plus years old. The College has only asked for one other bond in its history, the one in 2002 that built the Los Banos campus. We know this 2020 bond is also a once-in-a- generation project that we have to get right. We did a feasibility study to examine all facilities, and developed a clear plan for the money.
For example, in Los Banos, we added a welding program there just a few years ago. We run that program in rented buildings off site because we don’t have room on the existing campus. The program has become so popular, we currently have a waiting list for it.
Welders and other skilled jobs are in such high demand in this area, we need to be training everyone we can. With Measure J, we can build more Career Technical Education space to bring the Los Banos students on campus and train even more people eager to grab well-playing jobs.
For me, the new bond comes down to the fact that I grew up in the Hopeton- Snelling area in a modest home where it was tough to make ends meet. My wife and I both attended Merced College and were first-generation college graduates. I have been in real estate for 22 years because of what I learned at Merced College. I know the College is a valuable Merced County institution.
And, as a Realtor, I can tell you that local school quality is the most important factor for people who want to buy a home. Even if a family doesn’t have children, they still look for good school districts because homes near great schools preserve their value and have faster resale rates. They are a smart investment.
We have already seen how upgrading facilities affects the local housing market. We have seen it play out in Los Banos. After the campus was built with 2002 bond money, we watched as the community, sitting in the shadow of the Bay Area, exploded in population
Back in the 1990s, Los Banos was a small farming community. Now it’s a commuter’s paradise. Housing prices were nowhere near what they are now.
Between 2000 and 2018, Los Banos grew by roughly 60 percent as people from the Bay Area moved into the valley for affordable homes. During that same time, local housing prices have appreciated by nearly 63 percent. The quality of Merced College played a role in that evolution.
That is how we already know that Measure J will have a lasting impact on Merced College and the surrounding communities. This is why I truly believe that a great community college can transform a community. With more space and state-of-the-art equipment for students to develop emerging job skills, Merced College can do that for generations to come.
Please join me in making that happen. Vote yes on Measure J.
Ernie Ochoa is an Atwater Realtor, and the president of the Merced College District Board of Trustees
Recognize the value of Merced College to community
By JILL CUNNINGHAM
Social media is powerful. It tells positive stories of local happenings, shares inspirational ideas, and connects us with thousands of friends and supporters.
Unfortunately, it has also become a source of unsubstantiated stories and false narratives; otherwise known as “fake news,” with little-to-no consequences or oversight.
Part of my job is to share the amazing things Merced College is doing to transform this community through high quality and affordable education and workforce development. The other part of my job is giving accurate and factual information to the community.
As many of you know, Measure J is a $247-million bond that will allow us to renovate old buildings, modernize career technical education programs, and build new facilities for our growing community.
Along with Measure J is another bond measure, Proposition 13, which has created quite the confusion among voters. It has the same number as Proposition 13 of 1978, but has absolutely nothing to do with it. The State of California recycles propositions numbers every 10 years; thus, opening the door for mass confusion and conspiracies.
The truth about this Proposition 13 is straightforward and much-less controversial than many would have you believe.
The Proposition 13 on the March 3 ballot is a request to authorize bonds to pay for school infrastructure. The statewide bond, if passes, will allow the state to borrow $15 billion for school infrastructure and it is NOT a tax. Rather, the debt of the bond is paid for out of the State’s general fund.
Coupled with Measure J, Proposition 13 will provide matching funds for our local community college, which could actually reduce the overall debt and local taxes by allowing Merced College to build and renovate the necessary facilities with less local bond dollars.
Measure J will transform our local community college by expanding access to populations in our service area who need it the most.
Proposition 13 will help your local dollars go further with matching state funds. It will not reassess your property value, increase property taxes, or repeal the original Prop 13 from 1978 — they are not related.
To set the record straight on a few other errors of fact: 1) Merced College enrollment is up — almost 15% over the past five year, 2) our completion and success rates are at all-time highs, and 3) we have not lost any funds due to missed performance metrics — in fact, we have exceeded all indicators.
My ask is simple. Make informed decisions, recognize the value of Merced College to this community. Opponents have encouraged you to “read your ballots” and I wholeheartedly agree. Read your ballot, know the facts, and support your local education by voting Yes on Measure J.
Facts are important. And the fact is we need your support on March 3.
Jill Cunningham is the associate vice president of External Relations at Merced College