Arnold Vetoes KOCE Gift Bill

By David L. Boyd

The Governor agrees with my position and vetoes AB 532.

On September 29th, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have allowed the Coast Community College Board of Trustees to effectively donate television station KOCE to an organization known as the KOCE Foundation. Under the provisions of this bill, the Trustees would have been able to "sell" KOCE (which is valued at between $25 million and $50 million dollars) to the KOCE Foundation for as little as $1.00.

The Board of Directors of the KOCE Foundation consists of many of the business and political elite of Orange County. It is an organization that can surely afford to pay fair market value for the station.

What many supporters of the KOCE Foundation don't fully appreciate is that any sale of the station at less than fair market value (what the courts determined illegally occurred in the past) would result in taking money from the District. It would take money from the District that could be used to enhance student programs.

In the Governor's veto message, he made reference to the legal challenges currently facing the District - the same challenges I alluded to weeks ago. I cannot over emphasize that this on-going litigation could result in an economic disaster to the District, its faculty and students.

It should be noted that it took some political courage for the Governor to veto this bill. The Los Angeles Times reported that the KOCE Foundation's backers "have given nearly $950,000 to his campaign since 2002." But the Governor concluded that, in this matter, the interests of the students trump the interests of his contributors.

I hope that the voters in November will see it the same way.