Responding Part II
On Wednesday, August 17, 2005, at 03:46 PM, wmmarks wrote:
Fourth: not one candidate had anything to say about thinking outside the box in an atmosphere where virtually no one in management can do that. How astute does that make present board members? Zip, zero, nada clue.
The Mayor has endorsed three candidates: Alan Hooker, Sheldon Mains and myself. All three of us are "out of the box" thinkers in that we know the current course of revenue projections, increasing need for services, and points of service all need very serious examination and emphasis if we are to deliver a library system that meets the expectations of the public. All three of us have put forward new ideas. Please see our web sites for more information.
Fifth: the culture of MPL is one of backbiting pettiness. Not one candidate talked about how to change that paradigm to one which would serve the patrons better.
I realize morale is low. That has been the painful outcome of the revenue cuts. And, before I was appointed, there had been a serious rift between management and trustees. We have gone through a governance training process, a strategic planning process, and we have had an employee survey to help guide us and give indicators of change readiness and expectations.
The board also held a series of listening sessions in which the public was invited to comment on the loss of revenue and what to do about it. The public that came said keep the buildings open no matter how few hours they operate.
I am deeply concerned about the loss of union workers. This is a very serious matter. It is not only a loss of valuable talent, it is a loss to the public that will be hard to recover from. I look at this as the truth behind closed libraries. It is more than the buildings in my mind. It is all those talented people who are not there anymore. The dignity of work is very important to me so I take it seriously when Wizard says there is backbiting pettiness. I will take steps to find out more about that.
On another level, city council and the mayor are now talking about dissolving the library board and making themselves leaders of the library.
The Mayor at the May 14, 2005 city DFL convention stated that he supports an independent Library Board.
Laura Waterman Wittstock Candidate for Minneapolis Library Board of Trustees DFL and Labor endorsed Minneapolis, MN 612-387-4915 www.laurawatermanwittstock.com http://laurawatermanwittstock.blogspot.com/ Wittstock for Library Committee 913 19th Avenue SE, Mpls, 55414 REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
