Special Library Board Meeting Scheduled for Sept. 11th

A special meeting of the Middletown Library Board of Trustees has been called for Wednesday night at 6pm in the Community Room of the main library located on New Monmouth Rd. As you can see from the note below issued by Board President Brock Siebert, someone's head may be about to roll!

This is purely speculation on my part, I have no information to confirm my suspicions however, I would think that the staff person in question just my be Library Director Susan O'Neal. Tony Fiore and his hand picked Board of Trustees have been gunning for her for a long time now and they just might be ready to make their move after last month's meeting which can be viewed ... HERE.

I hope i'm wrong and if I didn't have to go to work Wednesday night, I would be at the library to show my support for whoever this mysterious staff member may be. I hope that some of the readers here could show up in my place instead to show support.

The raiding of library funds and the systematic dismantling of the former library board and the defamation of certain members thereof and its Library Director, who only wished to protect the library's best interests and mission over the past 2 years, is a travesty. Middletown is better than this, unfortunately members of Middletown's Township Committee aren't.

Something Fishy Is Going On At The Library Again

The situation at the library may be more dire than what Mr. Gabrielan has eluded to in the previous post. 

Over the past few days, I have been receiving various comments both anonymously and on the record, left in the comments section of this blog for posts Video: LVGA Meet The Candidates Night and Destruction of Library Board is Reason to Vote Democratic in Middletown . I've also received an  anonymous email from a library patron who said that they had overheard a conversation at the library pertaining to possible branch closings.

I don't know what it is all about but it is very concerning.

When I hear something more concrete or definite, I'll pass along my findings. I doubt very much however, anyone from the library board or township will speak of this matter on or off the record, seeing how they may be easily identified due to information provided and the possible ramifications that providing this type of information may have at this time. 

If anyone does have any information that can help me things together, don't be shy, please pass it along. I'll try to piece everything together, confirm what I can, then report the results.

Township Committee Actions Threaten Dismantling of Library Service

By Randell Gabrielan

The assault by the Middletown Township Committee on library funds threatens and will have the ultimate result of ending library service as township residents know, need, expect and love. The impending fiscal crisis is worsened by a reduction in equalized property valuations which will reduce the municipal appropriation, a not unreasonable practice, but one of the factors for which the library’s reserves, which were seized by the Committee, were intended to safeguard. After taking about $500,000 last year, the committee demanded and took additional funds this year, monies raised outside statutory municipal appropriations. The need to elect Linda Baum and place a voice for the people on the monolithic committee has become more urgent.

The Township is charging the library for ordinary municipal services in a manner and amounts that will end the library’s ability to maintain its hours, materials and branches. They provide no justification and regard the library as a profit center or piggy bank. The financial aspects of library operations are simple. The library pays for facilities, personnel and materials. The buildings need attention, even the totally rebuilt and now eight years old main library. Some are already saying that the branches are on the way out, a direct hit at the bayshore, Navesink and Lincroft. The new realities of the steep decline of planned revenue must have an impact on staffing and new materials. However, the township committee does not care and willingly makes war on its one facility that more residents need and use than any other. Linda Baum is a vocal advocate for an independent, property financed library.

After the township committee threatened to turn the library over to the county, but learned that it could not do so, it undertook a campaign to eviscerate the Middletown Library so residents might not care about the independence of our library and could conceivably vote in a referendum for a giveaway. But this is our library, built and paid for by Middletown to serve Middletown, operated by your staff to serve you, the people of Middletown. Your library needs at least one voice on the committee to defend it. Linda Baum is that voice.

Friends, users and advocates of our library may be expected to vote for Linda. Perhaps straight ticket Republicans may not, but they should reconsider. Regardless of a person’s broader political affiliation, local government is best run on a non-partisan basis, but if partisanship is the rule of the day, more than one voice is needed. All voters should realize that a strong, independent library is one of the assets that makes Middletown a desirable place and enhances and maintains your property values. The present dictatorial township committee, which runs a once-independent library board, would erode your property values as a convenience in their fiscal planning. They must have another voice and that voice should be Linda Baum. Voting to maintain the integrity of the library is also voting for quality of life in your town.

January 18th meeting of the Middletown Library Board sets the tone for the year. The Demands, the Numbers, and the Possibilities Part 1

by guest blogger Linda Baum

This is my second post about the 1/18/12 Library Board meeting. See my January 24th post to read about the controversy over the Board’s leadership. A lot has happened since the January meeting, as you all know. Library Trustee Sherry Miloscia resigned from the Board for personal reasons effective January 20th. Trustee and Board President Randall Gabrielan resigned from the Board effective February 7th. Seven out of nine members remain, and the Township Committee now has majority control of the Board with 4 out of 7 votes. If they fill the two empty seats, the Township will have 6 out of 9 votes and a two thirds majority.

******

The January 18th meeting was the first for the newly expanded 9-member Board. The five new faces on the Board presented a challenge for Library Director Susan O’Neal, who is to be commended for responding to a great many questions with patience, good humor, and

expertise.

Throughout the meeting, there was harsh, often aggressive criticism from the new Township appointees, who had clearly decided in advance what their collective approach would be. They seemed ready to air all of their complaints on day one. There wasn’t time for all of it at that meeting, but “just wait till the next meeting”, as an anonymous commenter on this blog warned.

The next Library Board meeting is this Wednesday, February 15th at 7:30 p.m. at the main branch on New Monmouth Road. I encourage you all to attend. (FYI, the meeting actually begins at 7:00 p.m., but the Board will go into closed session for about a half hour right after the meeting is called to order.)

Much was discussed at the January meeting, which ran almost 5 hours. Since there is incorrect information “out there”, I wanted to provide all the facts, making this my longest post by far. I organized topics by heading to make things easier for readers, and had to break up the post into three separate parts for the blog, each still long. This is part one.

THE PARKING LOT EXPANSION

Early in the meeting, it was announced that resources now exist for the parking lot expansion that was put on hold last year. The initial traffic study for the lot expansion has already been completed by Maser Consulting. The key parts of the project are improvements in safety (more lighting, traffic calming, crosswalks), more handicapped spaces, a drop off zone for short term parking, and additional parking spaces (approximately 35 more spaces).

The project is expected to cost roughly $122K-150K. Available monies include reserves, largely from expense savings that the Library was able to achieve last year, plus state aid monies.

Recall that per the 2011 agreement with the Township, the Library has two options for paying for capital improvements – they can pay cash or pay the debt service on bonds/notes issued by the Township. Libraries are not allowed to themselves issue debt, so the two payment options may not represent anything new. The Board has always preferred to save up until they have enough money for a project rather than to incur debt and pay interest. The Township does the opposite.

Also, the Library is now required to use the Township’s consulting engineer, T&M Associates, for any engineering work. T&M is not on retainer with the Township, so will bill for its services. Since the work is being directed to T&M without competitive bidding -- the Library Board would normally request bids/quotes for this job -- the cost could be higher than what the Library would otherwise pay.

THE POSSIBILITIES: “Restricting” about $150,000 in reserves for the lot expansion is to be discussed at the Board’s February 15th meeting. Since, by law, library reserves that are restricted for capital projects cannot be taken by the Township, the new trustees are sure to be opposed to it. I suspect they will make the case for allowing the Township to sell bonds/notes to raise money for the work. I suppose the new trustees could take a different tack and say the lot expansion isn’t necessary. However, part of the reason for the project is to improve safety, and I don’t think the Township would want to be seen as being against that.

Aside from leaving more reserves on the table for the Township’s use, the Township would benefit from the debt sale in several ways that I won’t get into here.

THE NUMBERS: If the Library pays cash for the lot expansion, their current budget will show the total cost of the project, or about $150,000. If the Library pays debt service, the budget for each of the next 20-25 years will show the lower debt service payment, say $15,000. The latter option results in a higher budget in future years, but a budget cut of about $135,000 for the current year.

A $135,000 cut in the Library budget increases the “take” by the Township by MORE than $135,000 -- by $162,000. Here’s why. Per law, the Library can keep a portion of its unrestricted reserves equal to 20% of its annual budget. If the budget is cut, that “frees up” some additional reserves on top of the amount cut from the budget. In short, for every $1 cut from the Library’s budget, the Township increases its take by $1.20. A CAVEAT: The new Board could vote to hand over 100% of the Library’s reserves to the Township. If so, then one dollar cut from the library’s budget is just one dollar of reserves available for the taking.

State aid monies are off limit to the Township, so would remain with the Library. Any restricted reserves are protected, but can always be unrestricted by a willing Board.

THE 2012 BUDGET

Ms. Murray objected to the 2012 budget being approved in December before the new Board came in and said that it should be re-opened.

Ms. O’Neal pointed out that the Township typically requires the Library Board to have the budget for a year in place by October of the prior year. The Township didn’t need the Library’s 2012 budget as early as usual, so the Board had a couple of extra months to incorporate more finalized information. So the December approval was later, not earlier, than usual. Ms. O’Neal emphasized that the budget was adopted in line with required procedure, not in anticipation of a different point of view, as has been suggested by anonymous commenters.

Board president Randy Gabrielan advised that the budget is a planning document only that is not written in stone.

And while it wasn’t said, the budget for a year is supposed to be ready before the start of that year -- that is the way most well run organizations do it, even if the Township doesn’t.

Because the January agenda was already full, Mr. Gabrielan suggested that a detailed discussion about finances be postponed until the February 15th Board meeting.

Marjorie Cavalier suggested that specific financial issues might be better handled by an ad-hoc committee. There was agreement that the Finance Committee would be reconstituted, and Ms. Murray will be on it.