SMC’s financial future in hands of voters
By Rob Lawrence
Special to the Daily Press
May 09, 2009
SMC — To help balance their check book and avoid cuts, Santa Monica College trustees need voters to support every single proposition on the special election being held May 19.
That’s a direct order from SMC President Chui Tsang, who earlier this week presented a tentative budget to trustees for the 2009-10 fiscal year. The proposed budget did little to renew confidence in the stability of the college’s financial status given a projected structural deficit of $3 million, and that’s if all propositions pass.
The proposed budget of $149 million will leave a $3 million structural deficit (down nearly $1 million from the third quarter of the 2008-09 fiscal year budget) with $9.8 million in reserve. SMC is paying for the deficit with reserve funds. If the propositions don’t pass, that could mean a minimum impact of at least $7 million, said Jeanine Hawk, SMC’s vice president of business and administration.
“It’s difficult [preparing a budget] because we are offering classes in July, so we have to start delivering education to students without fully understanding what level of funding from the state we can expect,” Hawk said. “If they make reductions, that gives us less time to pull back.The college is predicting a welcomed boost in revenue thanks to an increase in enrollment and a 15.9 percent increase in non-resident tuition costs, which represents the college’s second largest source of revenue. The state is increasing the amount of money SMC receives because of more students attending, but is holding a portion of that payment — 1.3 percent or $1.2 million — because of budget constraints. SMC receives nearly $94 million from the state.
“It’s going in the right direction, but if the propositions don’t pass, the deficit factor becomes much larger to a point where we will be going backwards significantly for this year and next year,” Hawk said.
Trustees seemed relatively calm when presented with the financial scenarios at the meeting Monday night. The only squabble was over a proposed $2 million in reserve funds that the budget subcommittee recommended being placed into a Joint Powers Authority revocable trust. Their reasoning was to earn interest, which could be used to pay their active and retiree health benefits.
However, given a possible budget crises some of the trustees grew concerned about the funds transfer.
“The concern is if the college gets in more serious trouble in the fall, because of what Sacramento is unable to do, or failed to do, or what the people failed to do on the 19th of May … ,” Trustee David B. Finkel said. “There are some who say, ‘If we were to do that we would be threatening the money set aside for a specific purpose.’ In that sense there are competing values being expressed by different stakeholders.Hawk explained that the revocable trust provides the flexibility to draw it back into the reserve in case of a financial emergency.
A financial emergency is just what SMC wants to avoid and Tsang made sure to remind everyone in attendance that the budget presented is the “best of all scenarios … and that’s ignoring the $8 million possible hole, or even larger.”
Only after the special election will the trustees be able to completely know where they stand. During the next trustee meeting, scheduled for June 2, the board plans on having a revised budget based on the election.
Trustees must pass a tentative budget by July 1.
In Studio With Jason Bentley
By Rob Lawrence
March 19, 2009
KCRW — Headphones in place, the microphone at the right height, Jason Bentley, host of “Morning Becomes Eclectic” on KCRW-FM (89.9), was ready to put his guest to the test.
Tyler Bates, composer for the recently released film “Watchmen,” sat directly across from Bentley with his guitar-viol, a custom guitar played with a bow, on his knee. Bentley remained relaxed, but poised, while holding a newspaper in his hands.
Bentley’s colleagues watched eagerly from behind the soundproof glass.
“We have some stories I’ve torn from the headlines,” Bentley said to Bates. “I want to challenge you here with a story, if you could score this.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” a board technician remarked.
Bentley read a story involving a meteor that whizzed by Earth, nearly entering the atmosphere and creating a doomsday-type situation.
Bates took to the request seriously and created a nerve-racking, dramatic score that came with a twist at the end.
“I think it actually hit Earth in that version,” Bentley said jokingly.
Once the performance with Bates concluded, Bentley pointed to the crew signaling them to play the final song of the broadcast.
Bentley left the studio and proceeded to run up and down the halls doing what a music director and host of a morning show has to do — work.
“I’ll get e-mails from him late at night,” Ariana Morgenstern, producer of “Morning Becomes Eclectic” said. “The guy is working nonstop.”
Eventually Bentley had time to take a break and reflect on his three months as music director and host of “Morning Becomes Eclectic” since taking over from Nic Harcourt in December.
Response has been “mostly positive” from fans about Bentley’s short reign at the helm. Bentley said the morning show is still a “work in progress.”
“I’m going to be my own harshest critic,” Bentley said. “I can assure people that I’m listening closer than anyone and I’m critiquing.”
Bentley paused briefly to reach for a tissue before sneezing.
“I’ve been really frustrated this week because I’ve had this cold and it’s something that affects my on air sound, demeanor and energy level,” Bentley said. “It’s something that’s sort of out of my control, so it’s kind of frustrating.”
Bentley joked that his new status at the popular KCRW radio station that broadcasts from a studio beneath Santa Monica College has made him a celebrity.
“[KCRW is] going to South by Southwest [SXSW] and I fully expect to be treated like a king,” Bentley said jokingly about his upcoming live broadcast from the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas today and tomorrow.
Bentley hopes his status will allow him more realistic applications.
“My biggest fantasy is being able to get into a bar in Austin,” Bentley said with a chuckle.
Bentley will be having some special guests in his studio during the broadcast from SXSW. Peter, Bjorn and John on March 19, and PJ Harvey and John Parish on March 20.
Beyond the live broadcast, Bentley is using his position as music director to plan a large dance party called RadioActive, which happens on April 11 at the Legendary Park Plaza in Downtown Los Angeles. The party will feature most of KCRW’s DJs, who will be spinning tunes in four different rooms.
“This is the first time we’ve intentionally organized and produced a dance music event,” Bentley said with enthusiasm. “It’s always been like the after effect or by accident or ‘oh my God, people are dancing, what’s going on?’ It’s definitely a part of KCRW’s personality. It’s what I have brought to the station over the years.”
Digging into his past Bentley took a moment to reminisce on his former evening show and his love of electronic music, which he featured regularly.
“People do have a legitimate gripe with the fact that I was such a champion of electronic music and there’s not really — that sound isn’t really available, it just sort of went away all of the sudden,” Bentley said. “I know, I get it, but it’s not something that is appropriate in the morning so I don’t know what to do. I love that music too but it’s just not a ‘Morning Becomes Eclectic’ thing.”
What Bentley did set out to do from the start was to make the morning show more inclusive than it was before. Broadening the audience and the music was among his major goals.
“I think just the change from the last music director to me has meant a different definition of eclectic,” Bentley said. “That’s going to bring in more listeners.”
Bentley has added more world music, jazz, classical, folk, and some electronic music to attract more listeners. He did acknowledge it is hard grab people’s attention because KCRW is not “spoon feeding you pop music.”
When Bentley selects music for his morning broadcast he tends to follow his instincts. He just gets that “gut feeling” that tells him the hits from the misses. He always makes sure to steer away from songs that feel “too polished” or “too mainstream” for KCRW.
Once the microphone is turned off, Bentley appears to be a very approachable person who works well with the staff at KCRW, whether it’s an assistant or another on-air personality. Bentley seems to have time to trade jokes and stories with anyone in the hallways of KCRW.
“He’s very empowering to the staff and very encouraging to the DJs,” Morgenstern said, adding that he is also funny on and off the air.
Bentley feels very comfortable in his new role and enjoys being able to work in the area where he grew up.
Before his time at KCRW is up he hopes to establish two different benefit concerts for the station. One would be a continuation of RadioActive every spring and a concert during the winter holidays.
“For the here and now I’m really happy and it’s a great job,” Bentley said. “It’s a lot of work, it’s challenging but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
New Massage Law Makes City Hall Tense
BY ROB LAWRENCE
Special to the Daily Press
CITYWIDE — There might be a few kinks in City Hall’s plans to regulate massage parlors.
The new state law, created by State Sen. Jenny Oropeza (D-Long Beach), regulating massage therapy in California is creating questions and confusion as to how it will affect City Hall’s strict laws that were imposed last summer.
“Some parts of the ordinance would conflict with the Santa Monica municipal code,” Deputy City Attorney Ivan Campbell said.
“The state law may permit, or may not contain, regulations as tough as what we have on the books here, that’s something we need to discuss,” Campbell added.
Generally, city municipalities must obey state law, but there are conflicting reports coming from Sen. Oropeza’s office.
“The way I understand it, if Santa Monica has a stricter law than our new state law, anyone wanting to become a licensed masseuse in Santa Monica must comply with Santa Monica’s law,” Ray Sotero, communications director for Sen. Oropeza, wrote in a statement.
This is contrary to what Sen. Oropeza wrote in her statement: “The new rules formulated by the MTO (Massage Therapy Organization, which is a non-profit statewide organization created by the bill to certify massage therapists) would be standard across the state and will supersede local laws.”
The bill, which became law on Jan. 1 and goes into effect in September, will create a statewide standard for obtaining a massage therapy license.
In the past, a masseuse seeking certification would have had to obtain a license from each city they wished to practice in. That may not be the case anymore and Gary Hunt, a local masseuse at The Massage Company, is definitely excited.
“We’ve been campaigning to try and get a state-run organization, so we can get licensed by the state, so we don’t have to pay individual license fees,” Hunt said.
Hunt has been frustrated about individual city licensing fees and he is glad that it could be over with.
“The cities want to make money from us, this is why massage therapists are irritated, it’s taking money from us, it has nothing to do with safety,” Hunt said.
According to Oropeza’s statement, the purpose of the state law is to crack down on crime organizations using massage therapy as a front for prostitution.
Hunt argued that stiffer regulations wont have an effect on illegal massage parlors.
“If you’re into prostitution you won’t want to be licensed at all,” Hunt said. “It’s really only affecting the legitimate therapists. If you’re going to do something illegal you’re going to keep it as underground as possible.”
The Santa Monica Police Department enforces the laws regarding massage therapy, and the department is not concerned about new laws, which may make it easier to obtain a license.
“The main focus is going after criminal organizations, not just criminals, that is the most effective way to attack,” SMPD Sgt. Robert Almada said. “I don’t think the new laws will prevent us from doing that.”
Construction prices get competitive
February 09, 2009
By Rob Lawrence
Special to the Daily Press
CITYWIDE — There have been many victims of the ongoing economic crises, however, City Hall and Santa Monica College have recently been able to capitalize on a falling demand in private and commercial construction as well as a drop in labor and materials costs.
“We had a problem in the last five or six years, until just recently, the construction costs were going up tremendously,” said Greg Brown, director of facilities planning at SMC.
Brown said that Phase 1 of the college’s new $77 million Student Services Building came in $3 million under budget due to cheaper materials.
“Our budget has been tight and it has been hard to complete our projects under budget,” Brown said. “The savings will just guarantee we can complete all of our projects.”
City Hall is also seeing similar trends brought on by heavy competition in publicly funded construction.
On Sept. 25, 2007, City Hall had six contractors bidding on a citywide street light project. The final bid accepted was 12 percent below their initial estimate. Then on Nov. 11 2008, on a similar project, 12 contractors bid and the awarded contract was 30 percent below their estimate.
“We have doubled, in the amount of bidders, and it looks like our projects are coming in anywhere from 10 to 30 percent below the prices we were getting previously,” Lee Swain, director of public works, said.
“It simply means we can do more projects with the same amount of funding,” Swain added. “The more competitive the bidding market is — it’s more ideal to get projects done. You can get more work for the same dollar.”
While City Hall capitalizes, contractors cringe”The year is not looking good,” said Refaat Mina, president of Minco Construction, which is currently working on Phase 1 of the new SMC Student Services Building.
“When the housing market went belly up all of the private contractors came to the public sector,” Mina said. “These guys, who come from the private sector, are bidding really, really low. They are bringing the prices down.”
However, the transition from private and commercial to public projects isn’t without its complications. Swain and Mina both agreed that it is imperative for contractors to be educated on the strict guidelines that go along with federally-funded projects.
Regardless of the added red tape, President Abeer Sweis of SYN.THE.SIS, a residential and commercial design and construction company in Santa Monica, had no reservations when she expressed she would “love” to work on public projects.
Abeer has seen her business drop “very sharply,” about 75 percent in the last three months.
“There’s really no new projects being generated, at all, and the ones that are — people aren’t really ready to move forward,” Abeer said.
Les Cho, supervisor of building and safety for City Hall said, in a period from July 2008 to February 2009, there was a 23 percent decline in permit requests for single- and multi-family homes compared to the previous year.
Abeer said her high-end clientele don’t feel confident in the future of their jobs, and the stringent credit market hasn’t helped either.
“It’s pretty extreme,” Abeer said.
A concrete problem
The situation at Bourget Bros. Building Materials seems to be getting worse every day.
“With the recession, there are reductions of prices that are coming out daily,” John Bourget, president of Bourget Bros. said.
Bourget said most of his items are selling at 15 percent below their value. In addition to falling product values he said his transactions have dropped 25 percent.
“Competition is getting so fierce that everyone is trying to sell products at a lower price,” Bourget said. “A lot of them are cutting prices, like the bigger guys, but the little guys have trouble keeping up with them.”
Bourget blames the falling prices on the bad economy and how it has affected the upper stratum of society that populates the Westside and who he and many others in the business rely upon for new projects.
“Those type of people have to have a lot of money coming in to pay their expenses and they’re all worried,” Bourget said. “It’s cut into our industry, in our area, for the first time in 15 years it’s starting to hurt.”
Business is so bad at Bourget Bros. the company is at the “threshold” of beginning to lose money. Bourget became sentimental at the thought of what he will have to do to keep his company afloat.
“You have to cut labor and cut inventory, you got to tighten, you have to get smart,” Bourget said. “You got to do what you got to do to survive.”
If there is any other silver lining it is that not all of the private contractors in the Santa Monica are feeling the pinch.
Craig Bradley, owner of Bradley Construction and Design is surviving and flourishing in the private and commercial construction business by doing things the way he always has.
“I’m a member of what I call the 5 o’clock club,” Bradley said. “I get up at five and I’m ready at six, and people like that.”
