Saving Future Taxes says 'No' to UCC bond levy
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DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ore. -- The May 15 election is looming near, and one local group is asking people to vote No on the UCC bond levy.
The Saving Future Taxes group is made up of about 50 Douglas County residents who don't want to see the levy pass.
Ken Hultsman, a member of the group, says he doesn't think the new facilities are necessary. "It's not about putting up large buildings," he said, "what are we going to do within the core of these environments?"
Hultsman is no stranger to the community college system. He spent 35 years working for colleges throughout northern California, and at one point was a dean.
"I jumped into this issue because I care about students," Hultsman said. "A lot of times people are just wanting to put up buildings and structure, but will they provide the opportunities? That's the real question."
Neil Hummel, board chairman of the bond levy campaign, says he thinks they will.
He believes that providing students with the best facilities will produce the best students, and that means good things for the county.
"We need to have the Umpqua Community College on the cutting edge of technical training, job retraining, so that we can have a viable workforce in our community," Hummel said.
He said that jobs will be created before the construction is even done. "As we get into the construction phase of it, we foresee about 300 construction jobs being created right at the onset of this."
The fate of the levy will be decided by voters in the May 15 election.
