During public comments on May 6’s Covina City Council meeting, Mt. SAC’s Maya Alvarez-Galvan, an English professor, asked the council to take action against the college to prioritize funding for its students and enforce stricter legislation as it could impact the cities surrounding the school. She brought to the council’s attention of Mt. SAC violating California Education Code 84362. According to the California Community Colleges’ website, the code, which is also called the Fifty Percent Law, “requires each district to spend at least half of its current expense of education each fiscal year for salaries and benefits of classroom instructors.”

While referencing the physical copy of the CCC April 2025 audit, Alvarez-Galvan says, “We believe that Mt. SAC has employed creative accounting measures that violate the spirit of the law. They are using general tax funds, lottery funds and other restricted funding measures in ways that were not intended and disguising how we spent the money from public oversight.”

She goes on to explain how Mt. SAC appoints money onto things that don’t directly benefit the students, such as administrators and positions that aren’t in direct contact with students rather than on teachers and books. Alvarez-Galvan ended her speech with the plea and quickly left after.

In other news, Rene Martinez from A1 Party Rentals, revealed that on Thursday, June 12th, there will be an annual community event called Taste of Covina where citizens can show their support to the local restaurants and enjoy their cuisine. He was recognized as an entrepreneur who drove business into Covina as the city celebrated Small Business Week, starting from May 4 to May 10. The location of the festival has yet to be released.

The next Covina City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 3, 2025 at the Council Chamber at City Hall, located at 125 East College Street, Covina at 6:30 p.m. for closed sessions; open sessions will begin at 7:30 p.m.