Cabrillo pulls out of Scotts Valley library talks

Cabrillo College trustees voted last week to forgo a move into the vacant portion of the new Scotts Valley library branch.
Both college president Brian King and Scotts Valley City Councilman Randy Johnson had spoken in favor of the plan, citing benefits to the city and the college.
However, trustees pulled out of the talks before a deal was reached.
“The big thing is the state budget went so far south,” King said this week.
He didn’t elaborate, except to say that college trustees decided that moving was not in the best interests of the college.
“At a time when budget cuts are forcing us to even cut class offerings, expanding facilities was not the right thing to do,” King said.
Scotts Valley Mayor Dene Bustichi said he was surprised the deal fell through.
“I find that remarkable, because the same state funding issues were there when they came to us,” Bustichi said.
He and Johnson were in negotiations with the college.
If trustees had signed off on the deal, according to King, the college would have moved from a 7,350-square-foot building it leases for about $161,000 annually to a 9,100-square-foot space connected with the library, at a comparable or lower cost to the college.
“It’s a larger space with about the same cost,” King said.
Trustee Donna Ziel who represents the San Lorenzo Valley and Scotts Valley on the board was regretful the move did not happen.
“The timing was just not right with the budget scenario looking worse and worse,” she said.
Bustichi said he suspects that Measure D property taxes that San Lorenzo Valley and Scotts Valley residents pay could be better used in the valleys if Cabrillo expanded its presence in the area.
King said the college will revisit finding a larger space in Scotts Valley in the next few years.
“We’re very interested in partnering with the city,” King said. “While (the current facility) meets our needs in the short term, it’s not the long-term answer.”
Ziel echoed King’s statement.
“My personal feeling is that this is the perfect location,” she said. “I wish in the worst way we could have done it.”