October 12, 2007
Kadow runs for 4th term as MSJC Area 1 trustee
By Timothy Smith
Record Gazette
Gene Kadow is campaigning for his fourth term as the Mt. San Jacinto Community College District Area 1 trustee.
Kadow, a Banning resident, has been the MSJC board trustee for the Pass Area for 12 years. He is currently the president of the governing body. He said his full knowledge of how the college works, personnel, administration, class offerings and needs, and property and building issues give him a good foundation to continue to work on the board of trustees.
The college district just acquired 30 more acres in Menifee to complement the 50 acres of campus land already being utilized by the district. The Menifee campus has more students than the San Jacinto campus, Kadow said. The district now offers 50 classes in the Temecula area.
The Pass Area will see more MSJC classes being offered with the use of Banning High School during the spring of 2008. “The California Post-Secondary Education Commission (CPEC) doesn't require a student body count to build a new campus. They look at the demographics of the area,” Kadow said when talking about the 48.6 acres the district owns in Banning. “The Environmental Impact Report and Fish and Game studies are done.”
The studies were done in April 2003 before the college district purchased the real estate in Dec. the same year. Planning for the purchase of land and how to fund the expansion was begun by the College Board in 2002.
Key areas of mitigation for the new campus are storm water drainage and oil and natural gas pipelines that run just north of the proposed campus. The storm water drainage is manageable and won't prevent a campus at the site.
The gas lines are also manageable and may require automatic shut-off valves to ensure student safety during a pipe breakage. Training for college personnel in the event of a pipe breakage will be mandatory for instructors and administrators that open the campus.
Research calls for the campus buildings to be able to withstand a 7.4 earthquake. Threats to plants or wildlife in the area are not an issue according to California Environmental Quality Act requirements that were studied.
In the late ‘90s Kadow worked with the city of Banning for a grade separation for the railroad tracks at Sunset Avenue. He is a past chairman of the Banning Economic Development Committee. U.S. Congressman Jerry Lewis was able to provide $250,000 for the initial investigation of the Sunset Avenue grade separation.
Plans are currently being reviewed for the project, Kadow said. State Assemblyman Paul Cook (R-65th) said the state is looking at funding options for the grade separation at Sunset Avenue.
Cook's Senior Field Representative Art Welch said that a grade separation is vital to the area south of Interstate 10 to relieve traffic congestion on Highland Springs Avenue and enhance future development of the southern property.
Banning City Manager Randy Anstine said, “progress is moving forward,” with the grade separation project. The Sunset upgrade is Banning's number-one circulation priority Banning Director of Public Works Duane Burk said. The approximately $32 million grade separation already has $16 million in funding lined up. The city will apply for another $5 million in state 1B grant money. Burk is looking for an agreement between Union Pacific and Caltrans in the next nine to 12 months that will allow the project to break ground in early 2010.
Pacific Iris, a subsidiary of Cameo Homes, is planning to develop the land that is south and east of the MSJC-owned land. The developer has agreed to mitigate any storm-water drainage issues. Water, gas, sewers and electricity are already available at the campus site, Kadow said.
Kadow has a strong teaching background that includes 20 years of teaching economics and business management at Cal State Fullerton and teaching similar courses at the University of Redlands for 12 years. He was Dean of the School of Business at San Bernardino Valley College and also served as Dean of SBVC off-campus and summer programs.
The biggest challenge at MSJC right now is to find a new college president that can handle a cornucopia of tasks, well. The position requires an administration official that can run the college day to day, but also integrate and execute the on-going college expansion with expertise.
Kadow said he asked Calif. Senate candidate Russ Bogh to join a committee to find a new college president for the college, and he is on board with the search. The committee is expected to make a recommendation to the board of trustees this week.
The district has grown over eight percent in enrollment since last year. Portable classrooms have been installed at both the Menifee campus and at San Jacinto to allow the college to be able to offer more classes to more students, Kadow said. The college district is suffering from enormous growth along with Beaumont schools that is a challenge for any education administrator. Planning for such expansion taxes the mind and boggles the senses, not to mention where to find available funding.
2006 state Measure 1D - 10.4 billion in bond funds - allowed for $3 billion in community college construction. That revenue is already tapped, Kadow said. With 107 community colleges in the state vying for that money, the funds evaporated rapidly.
Kadow said he is interested in securing funds from federal, state, and local agencies, with a bond measure as the last resort in order to move forward with a Pass Area community college campus.
The college district has five years to start construction on the property with the current plans. That gives the district until Dec. 2008 to start on the Banning project.
A Pass Area advisory committee, headed by Kathy Donnell, is currently looking at how best to bring a local facility for the college district to fruition. The Banning and Beaumont Chambers of Commerce are both interested in seeing a Pass community college become a reality.
Kadow is a native Californian from National City, just south of San Diego. He served in the Army during the Korean War as a Russian language interpreter and translator.
After life experience in different fields and serving his country, Kadow earned bachelor's and master's degrees in economics and began teaching in his 30s.