Regrettably, the Right Choice

Sometimes, the price of the future is a piece of the past. It was a lesson learned painfully last week by Pierce College administrators, who received permission to offer the school’s 240-acre farm for development as a golf course. Tragic as the loss of one of the San Fernando Valley’s last pieces of open space may be, the decision to plow the farm under is right for a college that teeters on the edge of insolvency.

Neighbors and supporters of the farm naturally oppose the vote by the Los Angeles Community College Board and Trustees and vowed to take their fight to the courts. The farm serves as a reminder of the Valley’s agricultural past and was Pierce’s primary draw when the college opened more than 75 years ago. But times change and the cash-strapped college cannot afford to ignore the potential of its most valuable asset.

Under the proposal approved by the trustees, the farm could be developed. College administrators back a plan that features a golf course, driving range and an agricultural education center. Expected cash flow to the campus: $800,000 a year for 20 years, with 10% increases to adjust for inflation. That’s about 3% of the college’s annual $25 million budget. Administrators could use the extra money to pay down the school’s debt and put it on a course of financial stability. No proposal floated by opponents to the development deal provides that kind of reliable cash.

President Bing Inocencio’s primary responsibility is not to the college’s neighbors who appreciate the bucolic view. Neither is it to the active group of farm supporters. He owes both a hearing, but his primary responsibility is to Pierce’s students--both current and future. Losing open space is lamentable, but when the alternatives include cutting more classes from already bare-bones programs, postponing maintenance on buildings already falling apart and cheating kids out of an education, it is the only reasonable course.