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December 20, 2008 (El Cajon) — La Mesa resident Ron Asbury, a general contractor and active volunteer for East County schools, is the newest appointee to the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District Citizens Bond Oversight Committee.
The CBOC is charged with ensuring that revenues from Proposition R, the $207 million local bond measure passed in 2002, will be spent solely as promised to voters. The committee's role is to review and report on district spending of taxpayers' money for construction and to provide a public accounting of the district's compliance with legal requirements.
Proposition R was approved by 60 percent of the East County electorate in response to the overcrowding and widespread repair needs of Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges at a time of decreasing state support. One of the provisions of Proposition R was the governing board's appointment of an independent CBOC.
As specified by the governing board, the committee includes East County residents with expertise in construction, procurement and finance, as well as local representatives of business and taxpayer organizations.
With 29 years of residential remodel and reconstruction experience, Asbury was appointed to fill a committee seat as a qualified professional in construction.
"As a resident and homeowner in La Mesa for the past 33 years, I feel my work-related qualifications and years of continuous volunteer work for the public schools in the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District and Grossmont Union High School District make me a suitable candidateâ," Asbury wrote in a letter submitted to the governing board. "I am a hands-on contractor--with the ability to identify code imperfections or substandard workmanship."
GCCCD Governing Board President Bill Garrett, himself a member of the CBOC prior to becoming a trustee, said Asbury's experience and expertise will serve the committee well.
"The committee serves a critical role as taxpayer watchdogs, so the willingness of people like Ron to volunteer on the committee is of enormous benefit," he said. The San Diego County Taxpayers Association has over the years singled out the district as a finalist for its Golden Watchdog award, in part for the exemplary work of the committee.
The 11-member committee, which meets quarterly, is led by Karen Lanning, a certified public accountant, as chair, and Cliff Diamond, retired El Cajon police chief, as vice chair.
Prop. R is a key funding source for the construction that's been under way for the last five years, dramatically changing the faces of both Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges. Seven new buildings and two major building remodels have been completed thus far, with a parking structure and health/physical sciences complex currently under construction at Grossmont College, and a business/computer and information science building at Cuyamaca College.
For more information about Prop. R construction, go to www.gcccd.edu and click on "construction news."
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