<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; "><h1 id="articleTitle" class="articleTitle" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.2; color: inherit; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; font-size: 33px; white-space: normal !important; ">Mendocino Coast well-represented at CR trustees meeting, offer impassioned pleas</h1><div id="articleByline" class="articleByline" style="text-align: left; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: italic; font-size: 14px; ">By Matthew Reed / Staff Writer<div id="articleDate" class="articleSecondaryDate meta" style="text-align: left; font: normal normal normal 10px/16.989px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(128, 128, 128); text-transform: uppercase; white-space: nowrap; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-top: 2px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 22px; ">UPDATED: 02/06/2014 09:33:35 AM PST</div></div><br><span fd-type="start" fd-id="default"></span><div class="articlePositionHeader" style="text-align: left; "></div><span fd-type="end" fd-id="default"></span><div id="articleBody" class="articleBody" style="text-align: left; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 22.652px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><div class="articleViewerGroup" id="articleViewerGroup" style="text-align: left; float: right; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; "><span class="articleEmbeddedViewerBox" style="text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; "></span><span fd-type="start" fd-id="default"></span><span fd-type="end" fd-id="default"></span></div><span fd-type="start" fd-id="default"></span>The board of trustees of the Redwoods Community College District met Tuesday, Jan. 4, in Eureka to discuss recommendations by President Kathy Smith to close the Fort Bragg campus of College of the Redwoods in the fall. Because of an anticipated larger-than-usual crowd, the meeting was moved to the new performing arts center on the main campus.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">The agenda item was for discussion only and no action was taken. The board scheduled a special trustees meeting and public hearing Monday, Feb. 17 noon to 2 p.m. at Fort Bragg Town Hall.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">Dr. Colleen Mullery, board president, allowed public comment on College of the Redwoods, Mendocino Campus, even though that time is usually reserved for public comments on non-agenda items related to College of the Redwoods. The Mendocino Coast was well-represented with 14 speakers either from the Fort Bragg area, who made the three-plus-hour drive, or represented by Eureka area residents.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">Public expression ranged from quietly emotional to fiery.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">Jonathan Lehan, a retired judge from Fort Bragg, aroused strong audience reaction.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">"Let's call a spade a spade. Suspension of operations means closure," he said. "This is the area that turned away off-shore oil drilling in the 1980s. It's a mobilizing force. Will it take a lawsuit to keep the doors open?"</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">Barbara Rice, Mendocino Coast area trustee, was equally adamant.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">"There are 8,200 people in my area without a college degree who deserve an opportunity. We need to offer them services."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">When Smith said she had started the agenda item to present options for coast residents without "that big building," Rice shot back.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">"Those are empty promises, President Smith," she said. "We haven't seen other scenarios. We've seen only one. I'll prepare another one. It's not my job, but I'll prepare one. There are other programs in Eureka that are losing money. Let's look at cutting those."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">Smith's recommendations piqued the ire of local residents, who feel that she has been uncommunicative with the Mendocino Coast area. Among her recommendations are to suspend operations at CRMC beginning in the fall, and lease more of the buildings to ensure full coverage of facility costs. Part of the campus was leased to Three Rivers Charter School last fall.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">Smith has also recommended working with Mendocino College in Ukiah to develop articulation agreements, offer classes on the coast and engage in discussions at the administration and board level to potentially transfer the Mendocino County portion of the district to the Mendocino Community College District.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">Articulation agreements are agreements between community colleges and four-year colleges to provide a smooth transition for transfer students.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">In a statement to the newspaper, Rice said, "Closing the campus will adversely impact not only individual lives, but also our local economy and quality of life. I'd like to see a proposal that has a more equitable impact throughout the district. It is very important that the board and the president hear and consider this community's perspective."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">In the agenda packet for the meeting, Smith's office offered fiscal justifications for the closure of CRMC, which included the estimated savings for the 2014-2015 academic year. Smith estimates CR can save from about $476,000 to as much as $938,000.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">However, according to the document, those amounts include $500,000 for "additional expenditures necessary for a sustainable Del Mar Dr. location." As of press time, CR was not able to explain what the $500,000 actually meant.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">The agenda with Smith's recommendations and fiscal justifications can be found at <b style="font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.redwoods.edu/district/board" style="color: rgb(82, 120, 174); text-decoration: none; -webkit-transition-property: initial; -webkit-transition-duration: 0.1s; -webkit-transition-timing-function: ease-out; -webkit-transition-delay: initial; ">Feb. 4 CR board of trustees agenda</a>.</b></p><div><b style="font-weight: bold; "><br></b></div></div></span></body></html>