Yuba County residents press college over past bond accounting as supervisors reject SFID authorization

The Yuba County Board of Supervisors declined a request on Tuesday to authorize Yuba Community College trustees to pursue formation of a School Facilities Improvement District for Yuba and Sutter counties, after residents sharply challenged the college’s record on a prior bond and supervisors split over whether to let voters decide.

Yuba College President Dr. Toni Dotson and Chancellor Sean Pan asked the board to clear the procedural step that would allow the college trustees to consider placing a bond before Yuba and Sutter voters under an SFID. Dotson said the district has grown to more than 10,000 students and argued updated facilities and equipment are needed to keep career and technical programs current.

“An SFID gives local voters an opportunity to hold trustees accountable and ensures bond proceeds would be spent here,” Dotson said, asking the supervisors to allow the trustees the choice to place a measure before the electorate.

Their presentation drew a lengthy counter-case from community members who said past bond funds have not been transparently allocated. Several residents and a citizens’ oversight representative presented spreadsheets and oversight reports they said show Measure J proceeds were misallocated across campuses and that land purchases and district-wide projects were omitted from college spreadsheets. “Until there are clear answers consisting in accounting and honest reporting, there’s no justification for asking taxpayers to approve another bond,” one resident told the board.

Those speakers — including Joanna Lasaga, who identified herself as chair of the Yuba County Republican Party, and Connie Walzak, who said she and others had walked the campus and documented deferred repairs — urged the board to delay the SFID authorization and to refer the records to the district attorney for possible investigation. They pointed to apparent discrepancies between the college’s program cost summaries and the Measure J oversight committee reports.

College backers, including students, staff and members of the bond oversight committee, countered that the district has used bond proceeds for campus projects and that an SFID offers voters another, more locally accountable way to weigh future measures. Liz Skelly, chair of the citizens’ bond oversight committee, said audits and annual oversight reports have not yielded findings that bond proceeds were used for salaries or other improper purposes.

Supervisors debated whether today’s vote was a narrow, procedural authorization — allowing trustees to consider an SFID — or a de facto endorsement of a future bond. Some members said Yuba and Sutter voters should have the chance to decide; others said questions about past accounting and whether the college had provided adequate public notice of prior hearings warranted delay. Several supervisors suggested the county seek a legal opinion or have the district attorney review the records before authorizing the step.

Supervisor Gary (speaker 8) moved to approve the procedural authorization. After discussion, the motion failed for lack of a majority.

The vote leaves Yuba College able to proceed with internal trustee deliberations but without the board’s local authorization. College officials said the authorization is a preliminary step only and that a yes vote would not itself put a bond on the ballot. Community members who testified said they plan to continue pressing for a clearer accounting of Measure J expenditures and for stronger local oversight before any new measure is proposed.

What’s next: the college can still pursue its internal process, but supervisors indicated they may seek more documents and legal advice before taking further action. The board did not set a date to reconsider the authorization.

Sources: Board presentations and public testimony at the Yuba County Board of Supervisors meeting. Quotes and attributions are taken from on-the-record remarks during the meeting, as listed in the public transcript.