Award Presentation Honoring Randall Gabrielan Scheduled For March 21st Library Board Meeting, Has Been Postponed

By guest blogger Linda Baum

In a 2/16 blog post, I announced that the Library Board had voted unanimously at its February 15^th meeting to rename the Library’s New Jersey room in honor of former Library trustee Randall Gabrielan and to present him with a plaque at the Board’s March 21^st meeting in recognition of his 25 years of service.

Unfortunately, there is a snag.  At its January 17^th meeting, the Township Committee passed a “naming” resolution (resolution number 12-069) which requires that the naming or dedication of any Township premises be formally approved by the Township Committee via adoption of a resolution. 

The naming resolution was drafted in response to another well-publicized matter – the memorial for the late Daniel Piano that was established at Croydon Hall with the approval of former Parks & Recreation Director Gregg Silva, but without prior knowledge and consent of Township officials.  While the circumstances in that case are very different from those supporting the room dedication, the naming resolution wording encompasses both.

I am told that Township officials are reviewing the matter, but there has been no word yet to my knowledge, nor is there anything about this on the agenda for the Township Committee meeting Monday night. 

Since the wording on the plaque will be different depending on whether or not the room is renamed, it has been necessary to postpone the plaque order.  Thus, the presentation originally slated for March 21^st must be re-scheduled.  I will update you as I know more.

Since this post is bound to draw comments questioning why Mr. Gabrielan is so deserving considering the accusations you’ve read in the press, let me address that now.  The press got it wrong.  They missed the real issues and left readers with the impression of wrongdoing, but in truth there was none.

Mr. Gabrielan’s history books are a valuable and appropriate addition to the collection of many local libraries, including ours.  By purchasing the books directly from the author, our Library avoided both the shipping costs and the surcharges typically assessed by distributors for these types of specialty books.  Therefore, public money was spent responsibly.

Nor was this about profit, however small.  Like the rest of us, Mr. Gabrielan deserves to earn something for his work.  Neither Mr. Gabrielan’s honorary role as Monmouth County Historian nor his part-time position as executive director of the Monmouth County Historical Commission include book writing as part of their duties.  That is something Mr. Gabrielan does on his own time, and it is part of the way he makes his livelihood.

This was about a signature.  Since the Library purchases large volumes of materials year-round, the Board president and treasurer sign purchase orders as a matter of course.  Both Board members’ signatures appeared on the purchase order that also included Mr. Gabrielan’s signature as the vendor for the sale of several books.  Had the president’s signature been left off that purchase order, the order would have been processed without any issue with just the treasurer’s signature.  I’m sure the mayor knows that, but he chose to make it an issue.

The actions of the Library’s former Board were in line with the spirit of the law, if not the letter.  And as I see it, it is hardly enough to tarnish the reputation of someone of Mr. Gabrielan’s caliber.  He is more than deserving of recognition for his contribution to our community and his years of dedicated service.

Middletown Library Board Meeting 2/15/12 - Video

It has taken a few weeks for this video of the Middletown Public Library Board of Trustees meeting to be posted to YouTube and to be honest I haven't had a chance to watch it in full just yet.

This meeting that took place on February 15, 2012, was the first Library Board meeting after the resignation of long time Board President Randall Gabrielan. Newly appointed member, Lawrence Nelsen, was voted to be the New President of the Board of Trustees.

 It is very apparent from the video that the new Board of Trustee members aren't ready for prime time.

The newly appointed Board Attorney Armen McOmber, makes it clear to everyone in attendance, including the new appointees, that the new members of the Library Board don't know what they are doing and therefore when it comes to the conducting of meetings and then proceeds to conduct the meeting himself.

He decides than that he will need to attend meetings until this new Board is capable of conducting meetings on its own.

There were also a few very passionate members of the audience that rose during the public comments portion of the meeting to express their feels of displeasure about the wrong direction the Middletown Library system seems to be heading.