Glendale Community College (GCC) is one of the region’s top community colleges for students pursuing degrees, certificates and transfers, boasting one of California’s highest transfer rates to the University of California system and other in-state four-year universities. Annually, nearly 25,000 students participate in education and job training programs at GCC.

The cost to attend California’s public universities has risen to nearly six times that of attending a community college. GCC provides affordable opportunities for local students to earn college credits and certifications, learn job skills at a reasonable cost and transfer to four-year colleges and universities without incurring significant debt. GCC trains many of the essential workers like nurses, medical professionals, emergency medical technicians and others who serve our community. GCC also provides job training for veterans returning to the local workforce.

GCC has served the Glendale area for nearly 100 years and most of the campus was built over 60 years ago. While some buildings have been upgraded in recent years, many classrooms, learning labs and job training facilities are outdated and in need of repairs and upgrades. For example, aging infrastructure like electrical systems, security systems, information technology systems, plumbing and gas and sewer lines need to be replaced. Classrooms and labs need updates to support modern learning technology and to meet current educational standards. Improvements to ensure earthquake safety, fire safety and campus security are also needed.

Since the State does not provide dedicated funding for upgrading community college facilities, the Glendale Community College Board of Trustees voted unanimously to place a local bond measure on the November 5th,  2024 ballot.

This potential measure would provide locally controlled funding to repair and upgrade GCC classrooms and facilities, including:

• Repairing deteriorating roofs, plumbing, gas and sewer lines, outdated information technology systems and outdated electrical systems
• Providing classrooms with equipment and technology to support critical career pathways like nursing, law enforcement, firefighting, paramedics, robotics and engineering
• Improving access for students with disabilities
• Removing hazardous materials like asbestos, mold and lead
• Improving earthquake safety, fire safety and campus security, including safety lighting in parking lots and walkways

By law, a local bond measure would require strict accountability, including:

• All funds would be controlled locally for GCC improvements only and could not be taken away by the State
• An independent citizens' oversight committee, mandatory annual audits and public disclosure of all spending would be required
• No funds could be used for administrator salaries or benefits
• A local measure would help GCC qualify for state matching funds that would otherwise go to other communities

The cost of bond measures is based on the assessed value of properties. The assessed value of property is generally based on the last purchase price and may not increase to reflect inflation by more than 2% a year. Market value, on the other hand, is based on market conditions and tends to grow at a much faster rate. Thus, the assessed value is usually much lower than the market value, especially if a property was purchased long ago at a much lower price than it could be purchased for today. It is this lower assessed value upon which the cost of a bond measure is based.

Yes. All funds would be locally controlled and would benefit GCC only. No funding could be taken away by the State or used for other purposes. 

Glendale registered voters will decide the outcome of Measure GCC on November 5, 2024.

In 2016, local voters approved Measure GC bond funding to maintain and modernize school buildings. However, since the State of California provides no consistent funding dedicated to repairing, maintaining or upgrading community college facilities, additional funding is needed to allow GCC to maintain and upgrade classrooms used to train and educate students in fields that meet the needs of our local economy.