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The News Site of Fresno City College

The Rampage Online
The News Site of Fresno City College

The Rampage Online
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If Approved, Measure Q Generates $698 Million to SCCCD

Story By: Matthew Rodriguez, Reporter
September 25, 2024
Photo by: Logan Payne
Rusted lockers line the arts complex on Sept. 19, a part of campus that is planned to be renovated if Measure q goes through.

This coming November, voters will be able to weigh in on Measure Q, which could provide $698 million for expansions and improvements for colleges in the State Center Community College District.

This money will come in the form of general obligation bonds. General obligation bonds are primarily used for supporting the development of public projects and are supported by the credit and taxing power of the issuer, in this case, State Center Community College District.

This measure will be used purely in expanding facilities at each of its centers and campuses. The campuses Measure Q will be used towards include Fresno City College, Reedley College, Clovis Community College, and Madera Community College.

If 55% of voters support the measure, the $698 million in bonds will be put towards many new constructs across FCC, such as the Center for Applied Technology, Instructional Complex for math, science, language arts, and nursing, and improvements to the art complex.

The money is not for administrator salaries or any other expenses that are not a part of contributing to the improvements and expansions of SCCCD, according to Kim E. Armstrong, the president of Clovis Community College and interim president for Fresno City College.

“We’re not getting any of the money, nor is our chancellor, the money stays locally with State Center Community College District, it’s not going to go to Sacramento, the money is our money to take care of our facility needs, not salaries,” Armstrong said during an Associated Student Government meeting on the subject of Measure Q.

The money won’t be limited to just the main campus but also FCC First Responders Campus, where it would be used for a multipurpose event space and training spaces. At FCC West Fresno Center, they intend to build a new interdisciplinary classroom and cafe.

Measure Q is part of a larger mission of SCCCD known as Vision 2035. This is a deliberate process and strategy for implementing state-of-the-art facilities across the whole district that align and respond to the demands and needs of the students.

“We’re not looking for an increase in taxes, looking for the money that’s already been taxed to be designated to $698 million to State Center,” Armstrong said.

With the money from Measure Q, improvements to Reedley College include:

  • Classroom complex
  • Student support services
  • Agricultural complex
  • Industrial center

Clovis Community College improvements include:

  • Student services building
  • Central plant expansion building

Madera Community College improvements include:

  • Instructional center building
  • Replacing child development center and instructional portables

The plan has been something SCCCD has been developing since December 2022. This June, the plan was approved by the Board of Trustees.

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About the Contributors
Matthew Rodriguez
Matthew Rodriguez, Reporter
Matthew Rodriguez was born and raised in Fresno California and throughout all 21 years of his life he has lived there. Growing up he was really into funny things like video games and movies. He didn't keep up with the news that much. Along the way of growing up he found a love of animals, this led to pursuing a career as a veterinarian. Although when faced with the career he became unhappy with the study, and after a lot of thought he decided to drop it entirely. After spending some time outside of college Rodriguez would return to Fresno City college with a different career path in mind, filmmaking. Fresno City college didn’t offer a film major, so he’d major in journalism instead with the hope of transferring from City to some place that offered more in the way of film. But along the way he learned a lot of stuff important to journalism. One of these skills is writing, which Rodriguez had to do a lot of due to taking a screenwriting course which focused on building a narrative structure and many journalism courses which focused on writing news stories or the way that they were written, and evaluating them. Working on the set of a couple films also gave Rodriguez valuable teamwork skills, like collaboration, communication, organization and general people skills like being cordial, open and a greater appreciation for the people who work alongside him. Overall despite journalism not being his career goal, he has enjoyed what it has to offer.           
Logan Payne
Logan Payne, Multimedia Editor
Logan Payne returns this semester as the Multimedia Editor. He will step away from writing articles and embrace instead the more visual aspects of journalism. You'll see him most often on the Rampage instagram, reporting on the new facilities and events that occur on campus. He will also help the incoming reporters with their stories and visual accompaniments. Before joining The Rampage, Logan was involved with the Roosevelt Theater Company for four years where he wrote, directed, acted, and worked backstage for many productions. He’s also a certified linguist who has always loved to read and write stories. Logan has grown very familiar with the cutting room; hours slip away when he video edits due to his perpetual perfectionism. He is well-versed in the art of film and knows that every frame shown and every note heard makes a key difference in the bigger picture. His Youtube channel is where he promotes most of his personal projects. This isn’t his first time in a newsroom either; he’s put together many news packages for Roosevelt High, CART, and The Rampage over the years and is more than comfortable with conducting an interview or being the handyman on set. Logan can’t work on anything without being meticulous, and this eye for detail makes him a wonderful asset to the team. This is Logan’s third semester as a journalism major here at Fresno City College, and he likes to spend his time on campus productively. When he’s not in class, he’s in the library catching up on schoolwork or building a narrative with his team in The Rampage office.