COLLEGE CITIZENS’ OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
Monday, March 19, 2013
5:30 p.m. – Campus Center, Room 4
DRAFT MINUTES
MEMBERSHIP PRESENT:
Robert Arias
Eugene Hernandez
Benjamin Williams
Edward Woods
Irene Galvan
Donald Neal
Irwin Silon
MEMBERSHIP ABSENT:
FACILITATOR PRESENT:
GUESTS/RESOURCE MEMBERS:
Dr. Monte E. Perez (LAMC)
Walter Bortman (LAMC)
Daniel Villanueva (LAMC)
Benjamin Williams (Sylmar Homeowner Council)
George Johnson (CPM Director)
Tara Ward (LAMC)
James O’Reilly – LACCD Facilities Director
WELCOME/APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
The meeting came to order at approximately 5:45 pm in Campus Center Room 4. Edward Woods
notified the committee that the minutes from November 19, 2012 were not approved at the January
28, 2013 CCOC meeting due lack of quorum. Both the November 2012 and January 2013 minutes
were approved by the committee with minimal changes.
CONVERSATION WITH JAMES O’REILLY- LACCD FACILITIES DIRECTOR:
The Facilities Director discussed the various LACCD contracting options for building and
designing structures on the LAMC campus. He discussed the design build, design bid build and
lease lease back options. In his discussion, Mr. O’Reilly mentioned that design bid build was the
oldest executed option within the LACCD, but it is currently the most fiscally wasteful in the event
of a contractor under bidding. Mr. O’Reilly’s preference for building is the design build option
which allows the college to hire contractors based on the best value and quality of the work and not
on the least expensive bid. The last option which is currently in use only at LA Valley College, but
Mr. O’Reilly is pushing for its continued use is the lease lease back option. This option allows the
campus to lease the property to the construction company and buy the property back when the
construction is complete.
Question: What is the DSA?
Answer: It stands for Department of the State Architect
Question: Are products being used in the construction being checked?
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COLLEGE CITIZENS’ OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
Monday, March 19, 2013
5:30 p.m. – Campus Center, Room 4
Answer: Yes, the Inspector of Record (IOR) will review the materials. That person usually
works for a firm that reviews safety of products, is an agent of the state and will
work for the architect we hire as well.
Question: Who pays the IOR?
Answer: The LACCD will pay for this person to review the quality of the materials and
equipment.
Question: Which design option was the Media Arts building contracted under?
Answer: Design bid build. The building construction stopped because of the poor quality
construction, stop notices and change orders in addition to the construction
company going bankrupt.
Question: Who makes the decision to go with one construction contract option or the other?
Answer: When the LACCD campuses began construction in 2003, design bid build was the
only option to contract with construction companies, but the option was viable
because there was plenty of construction work available. In 2008, LACCD adopted
the design build option due to various construction issues around the District.
Question: Can we blacklist those firms that did poor construction?
Answer: We cannot blacklist a construction firm unless we debar it and that is nearly
impossible to accomplish.
REPORT FROM PROJECT DIRECTOR:
 Executive summary for the A/AA and J Bond monthly report:

DSA certifications to be completed before we can proceed construction projects on our
to-do- list which includes restroom remodel and accessibly improvement

Media Arts Center:

GSE is working with the litigation in the surety and the legal issues have been resolved.
The general contractor visited the site and found defects, but those issues are resolved
and a signed amendment by the surety will be finalized and the builders will come back
within a few weeks. Surety and general contractor have an agreement to come back with
Kemp Bros. DSA will review all the deficiencies and document them to see how we are
going to fix them.
Question: What percentage are we done with the Media Arts construction?
Answer: We are probably about 35% of this project

Traffic mitigation:

There has been some resolution since the campus has offered a series of community
meetings to discuss traffic issues around the campus.

Pedestrian access and street improvements project ties into campus wide accessibility
plan. A new bus stop and traffic mitigation in regards to the parking structure are on the
list.
Question: Is the bus stop city or county?
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COLLEGE CITIZENS’ OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
Monday, March 19, 2013
5:30 p.m. – Campus Center, Room 4
Answer: City buses

Deferred List – Student Services Building:

Issues with litigation with debarment with FDR and issues with media arts about what
the final costs will be to complete that building has pushed it to the deferred list.

GSE met with the DO energy oversight committee and they are convinced that the
additional energy funds available should be allocated for our central energy plant.
Central energy plant design firm is on board to get the performance criteria in for
approval. GSE will submit request for proposals for the plant in June and construction
will hopefully be completed in a year’s time.
REPORT FROM COLLEGE PRESIDENT:

Traffic Mitigation:

Due to the community meetings the LAMC administration is aware of the community
needs and San Fernando Valley Police Chief Villegas attended the last meeting to
discuss traffic, safety and parking concerns.
 Accreditation:

The Accreditation visiting team recommendations were not completely determined yet,
but they mentioned the collegial pledge signed by the unions to allow for greater
collaboration between the LAMC faculty and staff and its students.
Question: Who introduced the pledge?
Answer: All of the unions on the campus

A few of the recommendations from the Accreditation committee is the need to build up
a research capacity to study student achievement and success and provide evidence that
we are meeting the set standards. The other was in regards to student services matters.

The final report will come out in June followed by an Action letter that will determine if
the campus received reaffirmation or reaffirmation with conditions or other options, but
with two years to respond.

It is being said at the DO level that all 9 campuses will fall into Accreditation together
sometime in 2015.

Deferred Projects:
The student services building is on deferment which will allow funding to be moved to
complete other campus projects


College President Special Update:

A CCOC member and the LAMC president attended the SIBL opening day for the
baseball league.

The President threw out the first pitch.
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COLLEGE CITIZENS’ OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
Monday, March 19, 2013
5:30 p.m. – Campus Center, Room 4


A check for $4000 from the LAMC Foundation was donated to SIBL to purchase new
uniforms for the players.
The President thanked the CCOC member for attending the SIBL opening day
REPORT FROM ASO REPRESENTATIVE: No report
REPORT FROM DISTRICT DCOC REPRESENTATIVE:

DCOC member met with the Accreditation team related to building and construction.
According to the Accreditation member, the CCOC minutes were not complete.

Documents showed that minutes were the same for three consecutive meetings.

DCOC member wanted the CCOC committee to know that the minutes are the
committee’s responsibility and it’s important everyone takes notes during the meetings.

DCOC member confirmed to the Accreditation team member that communication
between LAMC and DO is occurring.

The DCOC member also attended the San Fernando Business Journal luncheon where
LAMC received two awards for construction and LEED construction techniques.
PUBLIC SPEAKERS: None
OLD BUSINESS:
PLA program:

The CCOC member wanted to applaud the methodic and strategic efforts for the
assistance to the PLA program by staff members of LAMC.

The VP of Academic Affairs and Assistant Dean visited the PLA Azusa training facility
developed by Local 300.

32 students have participated in the certification program and 16 have passed

A PLA model is being developed for the other 8 campuses within the LACCD to follow

25 people are ready to take the certification exam.
NEW BUSINESS:
CCOC Handbook:

The DO general counsel requires the CCOC members sign the CCOC handbook to
ensure that members understand the regulations and requirements and have no
construction related interest to participate.
ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting adjourned at 7:34 pm with the Committee members agreeing on the next scheduled
meeting for Monday, May 20, 2013 at 5:30 p.m.
PROPOSED MEETING CALENDAR FOR 2013:
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COLLEGE CITIZENS’ OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
Monday, March 19, 2013
5:30 p.m. – Campus Center, Room 4
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
January 28, 2013
March 18, 2013
May 20, 2013- cancelled
July 15, 2013
September 16, 2013
November 18, 2013
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