Calif. community colleges will close cafeterias as part of budget cuts

March 14—Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura colleges will close their cafeterias at the end of this semester, another in a series of budget cuts that have included cutting classes and laying off workers.

The Ventura County Community College District board voted 3-2 to close the cafeterias Tuesday night. Board chairman Stephen Blum, along with trustees Dianne McKay and Larry Miller, voted to close the cafeterias; trustees Art Hernandez and Bernardo Perez were opposed.

The move eliminates 10 jobs, saving $395,778 in salary and benefits. If the board did not close the cafeterias, it would have to cut somewhere else, including classes, McKay said.

"I understand its value on a campus, but it's not a core mission," she said. "Ahead of us are enormous cutbacks we need to make. We need to save as many classes as we can."