Thanks to Wizard for summarizing the Library meeting at East Lake last night.
I attended the meeting for the Northside on Saturday, October 19th. Nine Northsiders also attended the meeting, which was held at North Regional and facilitated by Diane Hofstede and George Garnett. We too were dismayed at the potential cuts and the choices that residents were asked to comment on. It was quite an education to learn about the conditions of the 2000 agreement the Library Board struck with the former Mayor to get her support for the Referendum. They were not allowed to include operating costs in the referendum, so now that they have referendum dollars to make capital improvements, they need to make operating service reductions to make up for the amount taken from them by the current Mayor and City Council. It's not fair! We were also surprised to learn that the referendum is now the only capital budget that the Library has. Hofstede and Garnett told us that the normal CLIC allocation that they used to receive has also been withdrawn and now they just have the referendum dollars to access, even for roofs for the Franklin Library. This seems wrong to punish the Library Board for asking and receiving from Minneapolis residents approval to make substantial capital improvements. By the end of our meeting, it seemed clear that Northsiders were not in support of closing any libraries and reluctantly agreed to some of the other options that Hofstede and Garnett said must be done for 2003. Our group also expressed that they want the Library Board to have tougher stands when dealing with agreements with the Mayor or City Council. Several members of the group vowed to make calls to Council Members Johnson, Johnson Lee and Biernat to make them aware of their support for Library services. One surprising outcome was that the residents felt the Library should go out for a referendum and ask citizens to help them through dedicated funds. Garnett told our group that the Independent Boards policy that the Mayor and City Council passed earlier this year outlined that if the Library went out for a referendum, the Mayor and City Council would actively work against the referendum passage. Quess what - our group said, let them the Mayor and City Council try it, they will see how much the taxpayers value Library Services. As for me, I would work on behalf of a Library Referendum - the small amount of money onto my property tax would represent a wise investment! My family has used North Regional extensively through the years and feel it is a worthy resource for our community. Any of you who have ever visited the Sumner Branch "back in the day" when the projects were still there can attest to the value of that community library and space. I lived in the projects during the 60s and Sumner was our place to go to for a genuine welcome, a good book, friendly staff and learning. Sumner was also the site for a number of Adult Learning opportunities that I took advantage of before going to the U of M. Unfortunately, it seems clear that 2003 cuts will occur. I believe the Library Board will have to come up with a Plan B or C to figure how to restore some of the full-time positions that will be needed once the new library opens. I wish them more grease to their collective elbow. To the elected officials forcing them into this corner, I say, shame on you! Emily Nancy Ero-Phillips Ward 5 - Willard Hay Neighborhood A Northsider by Choice _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
