Mission College

Bluebird Field in Sun Valley was created as a field of dreams, existing only in the netherworld of Hollywood make-believe. MTM Enterprises built it in 1983 as the home of the "Bay City Blues," a fictitious minor league team and a weekly NBC television series bearing the same name. The Blues didn't win very often, but the only statistics that really counted were Nielsen ratings. And they were bad enough to cause the network to drop the series after only eight episodes. It was when the series was canceled and MTM packed up its cameras that a strange thing happened to Bluebird Field: It came to life.

The Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees announced Wednesday that it has reached a settlement with a Pasadena firm, Gateway Science & Engineering, over alleged billing improprieties. The company will continue to supervise the $450-million building program at Los Angeles Mission College. The district had alleged that Gateway approved payments to the construction company FTR International for work it had not performed at a 90,000-square-foot fitness center on the campus The project was plagued by delays and allegations of faulty workmanship, which were detailed in a Times series last year on the community college district's $6-billion campus reconstruction program.

Re "Mission College Gets Lesson in Local Politics," July 26. Mission College's relationship with its service community was shattered by the lack of leadership shown by its past administration. This situation has now been compounded by a majority of the board of trustees who are not willing to acknowledge the concerns of this San Fernando Valley community. Once again, downtown interests are telling Valley residents what's best for them. Board Vice President Georgia Mercer, our so-called Valley representative, has failed us. I have news for you, Ms. Mercer.

For years, the Los Angeles Community College District has relied on Gateway Science & Engineering to supervise the $450-million rebuilding of Mission College in Sylmar. Gateway is paid to police construction quality, keep contractors on schedule and review all bills and payments. For at least a year, however, Gateway collected consulting fees from one of the main contractors it was overseeing on the campus, FTR International of Irvine. At the time, FTR was building a 90,000-square-foot fitness center at Mission, a project beset by delays, cost increases and alleged lapses in workmanship, district records show.

Mission College's interim president called Wednesday for expanding the 22-acre campus into adjoining parkland owned by Los Angeles County. Thomas Oliver told the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees he had the support of county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky to build joint college and community recreational facilities at the county-owned El Cariso Regional Park and Golf Course.

Applications for admission to summer school beginning June 29 at Mission College will be available starting Monday. The college did not hold a summer session last year because it was moving into its new Sylmar campus, 13356 Eldridge St. Application forms can be obtained between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday in the campus admissions office. Applications for admission to the fall semester, beginning Aug. 24, will be available starting June 1.

Residents can get an update on city plans for improving the San Fernando Valley tonight at a Los Angeles City Council meeting at Mission College, the panel's first session in the Valley since secession failed to get voter approval Nov. 5. Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton will discuss plans to address the growing problem of gang violence in the Valley. The meeting is to begin at 6 p.m. at the Campus Center, 13356 Eldridge Ave.

Los Angeles Mission College will hold its fifth annual Re-Entry Day conference on July 17 for people considering a return to college. The free conference features seminars on study tips and techniques, college reentry issues, finding careers, successful communication, health and nutrition, relationships, parenting, overcoming addictive behaviors and problem solving. The conference, which will include lunch, will be held at the college campus center, 13356 Eldridge Ave. Reservations are required.

Mission College President Jack Fujimoto has been named to the Community College League of California's Commission on Legislation and Finance. The commission, made up of educators, students and members of community college boards, makes recommendations to the state on college financing. Fujimoto, who will serve a two-year term, was appointed to the commission by Peter MacDougall, league president and superintendent-president of Santa Barbara Community College.

Los Angeles County prosecutors are investigating possible criminal wrongdoing by two major contractors working for the Los Angeles Community College District as part of its $5.7-billion campus construction program. The inquiry centers on allegations by the district's inspector general that companies owned by Art Gastelum and Nizar Katbi submitted fraudulent billings for construction work at Mission College in Sylmar , Deputy Dist. Atty. Max Huntsman said Wednesday. The district alleges that Gastelum's firm approved a payment to Katbi's company for work it had not performed.

An internal review has found "irregularities" in the awarding of two major construction contracts at Los Angeles community colleges, with an Irvine company winning $104 million in work after a rival scored higher in initial bid evaluations. Twin reports by the inspector general of the Los Angeles Community College District questioned the awarding of two contracts to FTR International Inc. One was a $75-million contract to design and build a performing arts, classroom and office complex at West Los Angeles College in Culver City.

A Texas architect who admitted paying bribes to influence the awarding of school construction contracts in that state later helped manage major construction programs at community colleges in Southern California. Most recently, Louis M. Cruz was a project manager for a $616-million building campaign at Long Beach City College. Previously, he held similar responsibilities at the Los Angeles Community College District, managing $190 million worth of construction. Cruz was a central figure in a corruption scandal in San Antonio, Texas.

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office has opened an investigation into an alleged conflict of interest on the part of a former community college official whose family business was paid more than $500,000 for working on a public construction program that she oversaw on her campus. Deputy Dist. Atty. Max Huntsman of the Public Integrity Division said the probe was launched in response to a complaint that Karen Hoefel, former vice president for administrative services at Mission College, had an "unlawful financial interest" arising from her co-ownership of a company that worked at the Sylmar campus.

A company co-owned by the vice president of a Los Angeles community college collected more than $500,000 for working on a public construction program that she oversaw on her campus, records and interviews show. The company, M. Delvin & Associates, was paid to provide building inspectors for projects at Mission College in Sylmar, beginning in 2009. Billions to Spend: Complete Coverage At the time, Karen Hoefel, who owns the company with her husband, Michael Delvin, was the college's vice president of administrative services.

California's community colleges have dropped a controversial plan that would have allowed their students to take some courses at the online Kaplan University and make it easier to transfer to that school for a bachelor's degree. State community college officials Wednesday said they had canceled a 2009 agreement with Kaplan, a for-profit institution, because the University of California and Cal State University systems had not agreed to accept Kaplan courses for transfer credits.

Coming now, from one of the nation's top female distance-running prospects, the statement wouldn't prompt a second thought. Coming then, from a relatively unknown eighth-grader on a fact-finding trip to a private high school, it almost seemed comical. I want to run in the Olympics someday. That was Jordan Hasay's reply when Leslie Monaco, coach of the cross-country program at Mission College Prep in San Luis Obispo, asked what her goals were.

Wearing little white hard hats, four preschool-age children gleefully hoisted lumps of dirt in the air with small golden shovels as Los Angeles Mission College broke ground Monday on a 27,000-square-foot child development center that will cost $9.1 million. About half the money will come from the $2.2-billion in bond money approved by voters in 2001 and 2003 and used by the Los Angeles Community College District to fund about 110 projects completed to date.