Backers of community college get 3,000 signatures

IBR Contributor//March 12, 2007//

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Backers of a community college in southwestern Idaho have collected enough signatures to file petitions asking for the creation of a community college district. The group Community College YES! collected about 3,200 signatures in Ada and Canyon counties in under three weeks.

The petitions were filed last week with the Canyon County clerk. Backers of the school say that's where it would likely be built. “The Treasure Valley is the largest metropolitan area in the nation, with 700,000 people, that does not have a community college district,” said Art Swift, Community College YES! media coordinator. “It's long overdue and we're glad that this grass-roots effort has popped up over the last three weeks.”

The petitions next go to the State Board of Education, which must decide if a community college in the area would work. If the board allows the petition to proceed, Canyon County commissioners would then set a date for a vote. Ada County also would have a vote on the same day, possibly May 22. To pass, two-thirds of the ballots cast must approve of the new district. The vote would not set property tax rates.

Penny Ysursa, treasurer for the group that collected the signatures, said Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter's promise of $5 million in seed money for a community college led to the quick movement on the petitions.

“Three weeks for 3,000 signatures in just two counties I just think shows there's a broad backing for this,” she said.