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Palomar seeks applicants for bond oversight committee

SAN MARCOS – Palomar College is seeking at least seven local residents to serve on the committee that will help oversee how the college expends nearly $700 million from the facilities bond measure voters approved in November.

The Independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee (ICOC) will review the expenditure of funds from the Proposition M general obligation bonds to ensure bond proceeds are expended only for the purposes described in the Proposition M ballot measure.

Applications to be appointed to the ICOC can be obtained on Palomar’s website at http://www.palomar.edu/ads/ICOC, or by calling Shawna Hearn, Employment Services, at 760-744-1150, ext. 2608. Applications are due by April 16. ICOC members will be appointed by the college’s Governing Board.

Candidates must be at least 18 years old and reside within the Palomar Community College District, which stretches from Camp Pendleton and part of Oceanside in the west, to Borrego Springs in the east, and from the Riverside County line to Poway and Rancho Penasquitos.

State law requires that the ICOC membership include at least one student enrolled and active in a community college support group, such as student government; one member active in a business organization representing the business community; one member active in a senior citizens’ organization; one member active in a taxpayers’ association; one member active in a support organization for Palomar College, such as the Palomar College Foundation and President’s Associates; and two members of the community at large.

A majority of the members must possess expertise in one or more of the following areas: large-scale construction operations, municipal/public finance, expertise with agency/entity budgeting, and project management. The committee may not include any employee or official of the district, or any vendor, contractor or consultant of the district.

Under the ICOC bylaws approved by the Governing Board last September, terms of service are generally two years with a maximum of two terms. Members are not compensated. The college anticipates that the ICOC will meet quarterly.

The ICOC bylaws stipulate the group will receive and review the district’s annual independent performance audit and annual independent financial audit; inspect college facilities and grounds for which bond proceeds have been or will be expended; review district efforts to maximize bond proceeds; inform the public and Governing Board about the district’s bond expenditures; present an annual written report to the Board; and provide other input.

The Proposition M measure allows Palomar to carry out its Facilities Master Plan. A 15-year building and re-building program is anticipated for Palomar’s San Marcos campus, Escondido Center and two new satellite campuses in the district. With state matching funds, total facility expenditures may reach nearly $1 billion.

 

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