‘92 WESTSIDE ELECTIONS : ELECTIONS / SANTA MONICA COLLEGE DISTRICT : Prop. T Bond Issue an Apparent Victor; Absentees Untallied

Santa Monica College officials declared victory Wednesday for Proposition T, a $23-million capital improvement bond, and predicted that they will soon be among the handful of community colleges successful in passing bond measures.

The bond was approved by 67.2% of Santa Monica voters in Tuesday’s election, achieving the necessary two-thirds majority with more than 200 votes to spare.

An undetermined number of walk-in absentee ballots remained to be tallied, however, leaving the final result slightly in doubt. Those votes are likely to be tallied sometime next week, officials at the county registrar’s office said.

Richard Moore, president of the college and superintendent of the Santa Monica Community College District, said Wednesday he was confident the measure would prevail and said voters had made the college faculty and staff “very happy.”

“I think the college and the community have a love affair,” he said. “A two-thirds vote is monumental in the middle of an economic recession.”

Board of Trustees President Carole L. Currey agreed, saying the vote “reflects the commitment of the Santa Monica community to education and to the college.”

The success of the bond measure also was credited to an aggressive campaign. The $87,000 effort, supported by an extensive corps of volunteers, consisted of five mailers and heavy precinct-walking, said Patricia Dunn, campaign committee member.

Many of the 140 or so volunteers were teachers at the college. In addition to walking door to door, they appeared at dozens of community gatherings to promote Proposition T, eventually reaching about 10,000 registered voters.

“Bond measures usually don’t generate the amount of enthusiasm I saw here,” Dunn said. “People really took this as a personal thing and really wanted to make it happen.”

Very few California community colleges have been successful in passing bond measures, Moore said. Five years ago, Imperial Community College District in Imperial County passed a $2.5-million bond measure. Since then, three community college districts, including Los Angeles, have tried to pass bond measures but fallen short of the two-thirds required.

Moore pledged to spend bond money as outlined in voting literature, avoiding much of the controversy surrounding the allocation of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District’s $75-million bond measure passed by voters in 1990.

“I know the (Santa Monica-Malibu) district had problems with what were perceived as changes in plans over what the bond issue was to be spent on. That won’t happen as long as I’m superintendent.”

The safety and modernization package planned by the college includes expanding the library at a cost of $6 million, modernizing science labs for $13 million and upgrading the satellite Madison campus at a cost of $4 million.

Also on Tuesday’s ballot were Board of Trustees elections in the community college district and in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.

In the race for college board, educator Annette Shamey won a seat on the seven-member panel, edging out incumbent Blyden S. Boyle, who was seeking a third four-year term.

Incumbents Pat Nichelson and Ilona Jo Katz held on to their seats for a second and a fifth term, respectively.

Boyle, who came in fourth, said he was surprised and disappointed that he would no longer serve on the board, but he predicted that Shamey would get the job done.

“Sometimes a good person is lost and another good person replaces that individual,” he said.

Shamey, 52, brings 30 years of teaching experience to the board. She was a high school teacher, administrator and curriculum coordinator and has taught in the Santa Monica College social science department.

In the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified election, newcomer Margaret Franco was elected, as were incumbents Mary Kay Kamath and Peggy Lyons.

Franco was the top vote-getter in the five-way race for three seats on the board. She will become the first Latina to serve on the board, according to district officials.

A single mother, Franco pledged during her campaign to give a voice to underrepresented parents, students and community groups.

“I interpret the vote as saying that Santa Monica is really committed to diversity,” she said.