About MPC Transforms

Overview

In recent months, Monterey Peninsula College (MPC) has adapted to changing and challenging circumstances to continue providing high-quality, affordable education and job training to local students. Another challenge we must meet is upgrading our aging college facilities in order to keep our students safe and continue providing a modern education.

Because the cost of attending Cal State and the University of California (UC) system has become so expensive, more students are starting their education at community colleges like MPC. In fact, around 50% of all local high school graduates rely on MPC for higher education and career training.

While MPC has served the community well for over 70 years, several college buildings were built so long ago that they have asbestos, lead pipes, and do not meet proper earthquake safety standards. By law, these safety hazards need to be fixed. Upgrades to career training facilities, classrooms, and technology are also needed to give students the tools they need to complete their first two years of college affordably.

About Measure V

MPC recently commissioned a survey of local residents that found 66% support for an investment to improve aging local college facilities. As a result, on July 30, 2020 the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to place Measure V, a $230 million local facilities bond measure on the November 3, 2020 ballot. Measure V would cost property owners approximately 1.8 ¢ per $100 of assessed (not market) value, or $87 per year for the typical homeowner.

If approved by 55% of local voters, the Measure V would:

  • Repair leaky roofs, old rusty plumbing and dry rotted beams, replace faulty electrical systems to improve energy efficiency, and upgrade facilities so the College can operate in a more environmentally sustainable way

  • Keep computer systems and instructional technology up-to-date

  • Upgrade classrooms and labs to help local students complete the first two years of college affordably and transfer to the Cal State or UC system

  • Upgrade classrooms and career training facilities for science, technology, engineering, math, computer science, healthcare, hospitality, and nursing

  • Make the computer and technology upgrades needed for students to be able to take classes, listen to lectures and complete assignments online

Fiscal Accountability Required

Measure V requires a clear system of accountability, including a project list, a Citizens’ Oversight Committee and independent audits to ensure the funds would be spent properly. All funds raised by Measure V would stay local and could not be taken by the State. By law, no money from Measure V could be spent on administrators’ salaries or pensions. If approved, Measure V would help MPC qualify for up to $230 million in state matching funds.

Measure I

In November 2002 the Measure I bond measure was approved by Monterey voters to fund $145 million for facility improvements. The first series of bonds for $40 million were sold in 2003, and the Board of Trustees approved the funding plan in 2004. The second and third series of bonds for the remaining $105 million were issued in January 2008.

Through this bond, the campus Physical Master Plan was developed in 2004-05 to provide a framework to implement campus improvements and guide development over the next 20 years. The plan provided long-range guidance for the building and renovation program by determining sites for several new buildings, emphasizing academic program clusters, providing for additional parking, and improving transportation access and pedestrian pathways on campus.

In fall 2005, a similar master planning effort was conducted for the college’s education center sites in Seaside and Marina on the former Fort Ord. The MPC – Fort Ord Education Center Physical Master Plan was developed to address the immediate and long term needs of the college at these sites. The plan was adopted by the Board of Trustees on March 21, 2006.