A proposition on the November ballot would give UCLA half of the
funds it needs to rebuild its woebegone Engineering I building.
Proposition 47, a multi-billion dollar bond measure that
allocates $1.6 billion for higher education construction projects,
would hand the university $24.9 million to bring the engineering
building into compliance with earthquake safety laws.
The building, which sits west of Math Sciences and south of
Ackerman Union, “poses a serious seismic safety
hazard,” according to the university.
It currently houses instruction and research in chemical
engineering, civil and environmental engineering, and material
sciences and engineering departments. The new building will be
equipped with a modern laboratory for engineering research.
It is the only project on campus that would be funded by the
bond.
“If the bond measure is approved, UCLA will be able to
make critical safety and seismic upgrades to aging
facilities,” said Chancellor Albert Carnesale in a
statement.
The bond will only give the campus enough money to make the
building seismically sound. The rest of the money needed to rebuild
the structure ““ an additional $25 million ““ will come
from the university’s coffers.
If the bond does not pass, “the university is in
trouble,” said Keith Parker, Assistant Vice Chancellor of
Government and Community Relations.
“There aren’t other funds readily available,
particularly in the budget climate that we’re in,” he
said.
The bond is important in UCLA’s quest to secure donors as
well, Parker said, because without state support, donors are more
reluctant to contribute.
Plans for construction have been discussed for ten years,
according to project manager Jeff Averill, and if the bond
doesn’t pass, plans will likely be postponed again.
An August field poll showed that 54 percent of California voters
favor the bond, with a margin of error of 5 percent, indicating
that the vote may be close.
General obligation bonds, such as Proposition 47, allow the
state to borrow money and pay it back from the General Fund. They
do not affect property taxes.
A bond approved in 1998 gave the campus $75.4 million for
seismic upgrades and construction, including the construction of
two health sciences buildings that will replace the buildings
damaged during the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
Construction of these buildings will begin in March 2003 and is
expected to be completed in summer 2005.
Proposition 47 is endorsed by the University of California Board
of Regents and the California Taxpayers’ Association, among
others.
Its most outspoken opponents include state Sen. Pete Knight,
R-Palmdale, and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.