Letter: Measure F is good for the community

To the community,

On Nov. 4, I will vote yes on Measure F to provide much-needed funding to maintain and modernize Lake Tahoe Community College. I am asking you to join me in supporting our local college — a key institution in our town whose future is so closely tied to the entire South Shore community’s hopes for the future.

I have been a part of the South Lake Tahoe community since 1989, and am now a permanent, full-time resident. I’ve served on the Lake Tahoe Community College Foundation for two years, raising money to help hundreds of local college students reach their potential and meet their academic goals. I’ve seen firsthand the clear connection that exists between providing local access to a quality, modern college education, and the health and growth of our community.

For 40 years now, Lake Tahoe Community College has been a valuable community resource, providing generations of residents access to a low-cost, high-quality college education to prepare for transfer to four-year universities, and to train for better careers. As the cultural and educational hub of our community for four decades now, LTCC’s buildings and infrastructure have seen constant and heavy use. By voting yes on Measure F, we can better prepare our local students for jobs and transfer by modernizing the college’s classrooms, science labs, technology, and facilities. The campus will become more energy efficient while also providing students with the technology they require to succeed in tomorrow’s workplace. It will also expand access to university courses by creating a university center, and will bring a public safety training center to campus that will expand the college’s educational offerings and provide the South Shore with a crisis center during emergencies.

The benefits of passing Measure F are numerous for the larger community as well. Local construction and technology jobs will be generated from the college’s 10-year, $107 million facilities and technology construction plan. There is the potential for $52 million in funding to come from outside the community, through state grants and opportunities, to match the up to $55 million generated locally from the bond. This 10-year plan will generate local construction jobs for the long term, and as the college’s facilities are improved, our local economy will get a boost in the form of jobs and economic investment into local businesses that support the community’s growing workforce.

Measure F will also help to attract a larger student population at LTCC. This growth will have a spillover effect for local businesses, landlords, and other service providers. In other California communities, college bond measures have improved local home valuations. On top of that, the modern classrooms, labs and technology Measure F will deliver can lead to more highly qualified job seekers in more industries right in our community. Measure F is a small price to pay that offers a huge return on investment: the bond’s cost for a $300,000 home valuation is just $75 per year.

I hope you’ll join me on Nov. 4 in voting yes on Measure F, for our college and our community’s future. When our local college succeeds, our entire community succeeds.

Sincerely,

Leon Malmed, South Lake Tahoe