By Lookout Staff

August 9, 2013 -- Santa Monica College is seeking representatives of a taxpayers’ organization and the local business communities of Santa Monica and Malibu to serve on the Citizens Bond Oversight Committee, although applications for additional members are encouraged.

The committee -- which consists of at least seven members -- oversees the implementation of three bond measures that are funding capital improvement projects at the college. So far, the bonds, which total $590 million, have bankrolled everything from new bike parking to the Bundy campus.

Pursuant to state laws, the committee was established in 2002 after Santa Monica and Malibu voters approved Bond Measure U, a $160 million bond. Voters subsequently approved Measure S, a $135 million bond in 2004, and Measure AA, a $295 million bond that won by a landslide in 2008.

Under Prop AA, the average Santa Monica and Malibu renter pays $1.12 a month and the average homeowner $7.34 a month to fund modernization projects on the half-century-old main campus and its satellite facilities.

The latest bond measure has bankrolled new state-of-the-art math and science buildings on the main campus, a new media and technology complex, a job training building on two of SMC’s satellite campuses and improvements to the main campus' Pico Boulevard entrance.

The bond also will fund the replacement of 64-year-old Corsair Stadium and is funding ongoing efforts to make the college more sustainable.

To qualify, an applicant must be at least 18 years old, must not be a college employee or official and must not be a vendor, contractor or consultant to the college.

Members of the committee are appointed for a two-year term by the Board of Trustees based on criteria established by Prop 39, with at least:

• one representative of the local business community;

• one person active in a senior citizens’ organization;

• one person active in a bona fide taxpayers’ organization;

• one student who is both currently enrolled in the District and active in an organization, such as student government, who may, at the discretion of the Board, serve for up to six months following graduation;

• one person active in the support and organization of the District, such as a member of one of its advisory councils or the District Foundation;

• additional appointees as selected by the Board of Trustees to represent the communities of Santa Monica and Malibu.

The SMC Board of Trustees will review all applications and make the final appointments. Applications are available by calling (310) 434-4402 or by going to http://www.smc.edu/ACG/CitizensBondOversightCommittee/Pages/Citizens-Bond-Oversight-Committee.aspx