I’ve had a very difficult time writing the President’s Message for this newsletter. There are so many fantastic things to highlight when writing about Community Conscience and the wonderful organizations housed “Under One Roof.” Some of those items are touched on in other portions of this newsletter, so please, read the entire newsletter. However, as President, I would be remiss if I did not tell our friends and supporters about some of the difficulties Community Conscience faces as well.
It has been said there is an ancient Chinese proverb (or curse) that goes: “May you live in interesting times.” Well, the times we live in certainly are interesting. In less than a year, we have seen tremendous economic change in this country. Financial institutions, whose greed dictated policy, have either disappeared or are living on a lifeline from the federal government. After years of poor business decisions by auto manufacturers, the auto industry, including the hundreds of thousands of jobs that are supported by that industry, is either bankrupt, or on the verge of bankruptcy. Unemployment is at its highest level in 30 years.
California is no better. After years of state officials making promises that were unsustainable, Standard & Poor’s recently dropped the rating of California’s general obligation bonds from an “A-plus” to an “A” (investors usually consider state bonds one of the safest investments because they are backed by…. taxpayers). While an “A” may look good standing alone, “AAA” is the highest ranking, and an “A” rating ranks as the lowest of any state in the nation.
Economically, Ventura County government is also impacted by the recession. According to Supervisor Kathy Long, counties across the state have already been hit hard by three phenomena—an increase in the cost of doing business, an "unprecedented" demand for county services, and a decline in the local economy. As for Ventura County, Supervisor Long said the county's sales and property tax revenues have already fallen due to the recession, costing the county millions of dollars, and now the state wants to grab $23 million more, or nearly 25 percent of the county's discretionary fund.
What does all this mean? Times are tough. Government is bringing in fewer tax dollars. More people are out of work or making less, and there is an “unprecedented” demand for county social services. Government has less to spend, and more people needing help. Nary a person in our community is immune from the adverse impacts of this recession.
Community Conscience was incorporated as a non-profit, 501(c)3 in 1979, during similar economic times. The country was in a recession, inflation rates were through the roof, and unemployment was at its highest level since the Great Depression. A small group of local residents who had great foresight and big hearts sat down to find a way in which a community could help care for some of her own. The result was the Community Conscience non-profit organization and the “Under One Roof” Human Services Center, a 21,000 square foot building located in the heart of Thousand Oaks. It is home to 10 of the most wonderful non-profit organizations a community could want. Currently, Community Conscience provides rent-free space (which equates to about two-thirds of the space in the “Under One Roof” building) to these non-profits, thus saving them approximately $250,000 in the aggregate in annual rent. That is money that our non-profit tenants can then use to do what they do best, provide social services to the most needy in our community.
As many of you know, Community Conscience is able to make this space available, rent free, primarily through the fair market value rent we charge the Social Security Administration (SSA), our largest paying tenant, and through the generosity of our wonderful supporters, many of whom we see at our annual fundraiser in February, the Mardi Gras Ball.
Well, it is becoming increasingly clear that the SSA is looking to move to a space that is newer, with all the bells and whistles only befitting of the federal government.
Last year, the SSA, through its agent, sent out its Solicitation for Offer (SFO), which is a list of specifications ‘needed’ for the SSA to enter into a new, long term lease. One specification of note was that the SSA wanted to be on the first floor, or otherwise require Community Conscience to install a second elevator. The second specification of note was that the SSA required an additional 399 square feet of contiguous ‘office’ space. In order to fulfill the federal government’s requirements, Community Conscience would literally have to undertake an expensive ‘build out’ of the Under One Roof building, and gut the current SSA office in order to accommodate this required additional space.
In review of the SFO, most of the additional 399 square feet it requires is to increase the space of rooms that already exist at SSA’s current location! For example, the SSA’s SFO requires an additional 20 square feet for its storage closet; 18 square feet added to the reception area; 30 square feet added to the multi-purpose room; and, an additional 50 square feet to its ‘Data Communications Room.’ In speaking with the agent for the SSA, she confirmed that the increased space requirement is purely a ‘mathematical’ increase, and that with every new, long term lease, the space requirements are increased, irrespective of need. Yet, that ‘purely mathematical increase’ is a sufficient excuse for the SSA to exclude Community Conscience and the “Under One Roof” building from consideration for entering into a new, long term lease. Thus, the SSA is seriously considering paying a private building owner significantly more in annual rent so that the SSA can get their space ‘needs’ met.
I have said many times before, there is no bigger bang for your taxpayer dollars than to have the SSA lease space at our “Under One Roof” building. First, the rental rate is fair market value, and in fact we can charge less than most as we are a non-profit and we own our building outright. Second, the SSA has to pay rent for space to somebody– it can either go to a non-profit, from which social services are provided to those most needy in our community – or it can go to “Bob Building Owner,” some private building owner who is wealthy enough to own his own building. It is estimated conservatively that if the government were to provide the same services that are currently being provided by our non-profit tenants, it would cost the government in excess of 1.5 million dollars annually. Yet, those services are being provided by the non-profit tenants at the “Under One Roof” building, primarily through donations, volunteerism, and the fair market rent charged the SSA – which for the calendar year 2008 was approximately $135,000. The “Under One Roof” building can not meet a purely mathematical space increase for the SSA, and therefore the SSA is threatening to leave its present location. While we are still in the ‘bid/negotiation’ process, the signals indicate there is cause for concern.
In February and March of this year, Theresa Rochester of the Ventura County Star wrote two good articles describing some of the dynamics involving Community Conscience and the SSA and its search for a long term lease. We have had strong support from Thousand Oaks City Officials. However, this is a federal government issue.
If you are as outraged as we are, please contact the federal officials responsible for spending your taxpayer dollars, including:
· SSA Regional Commissioner, Peter D. Spencer 1-800-772-1213. email at
SF.RPA@ssa.gov;