Delta College board, property and Dean Andal

Something is fishy with the San Joaquin Delta College Board. It seems several board members prefer back-room politics over public meetings when it comes to how public funds should be spent.

According to the Grand Jury, the board may be in violation of the Brown Act by leaking information from its closed-door sessions; some board members are either unethical or incompetent. Come this November, voters will have a chance to change that as several members are up for re-election.

Another who seems to be involved in this fiasco is Dean Andal, consultant to the developer of Mountain House, Gerry Kamilos, and Republican candidate for the 11th Congressional District currently held by Jerry McNerney. McNerney won the seat two years ago from Republican Richard Pombo — remember him?

So why is someone like me, who lives outside the district, concerned? Mr. Andal is involved in another questionable Kamilos development down my way — West Park. Andal portrays himself as an ethical candidate who'll look out for us taxpayers. If so, why is he involved in a project that has wasted millions in public funds? As a consultant to Mountain House, he receives a percentage on each land sale in the development. Did you know that? Perhaps that is why he was pushing for the Delta College campus in Mountain House instead of Tracy, which has offered public land that can save the district millions in developer fees. So much for ethics, right, Mr. Andal?

Gordon Barbosa
Patterson

Response to Mr. Barbosa's letter

Thank you for the opportunity to reply to the adjacent letter writer who makes many unsubstantiated criticisms.

I have strongly and consistently urged Delta College to advance their construction schedule as rapidly as possible. Although I am not a Delta College official, as a taxpayer the best way to receive the maximum value from school construction projects is to design, engineer and build the projects quickly. This reduces construction inflationary costs which during the past 5 years has averaged about 14 percent. Bureaucratic delays have increased construction costs at Delta, not "fishy-ness."

I am also a strong supporter of "West Park" which would bring 37,000 well-paying living family wages jobs to the Central Valley — with no new residential homes. That is exactly what the valley needs — more jobs.

I offer no apology to the letter writer who is obviously targeting me because I am challenging liberal Congressman Jerry McNerney and he doesn't like it.

I believe my reputation and record as a public official will survive this type of nasty political attack. After all, I have great faith in the voters common sense and good judgment. Weathering this part of a political campaign, is a small price to pay for the great honor of representing your readers in Congress.

We could probably talk more about the big issues facing our nation (like high gas prices), if Jerry McNerney would accept my challenge to a face to face debate in Lodi.

Dean Andal
candidate for Congress