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Council: 22 cent Library levy
After passionate, “let us have a choice” pleas by a half-dozen or so Citizens, after some Council members express confusion over the Timberland process, after Bob Crumpacker says the proposed 22 cent Library levy is a “slap in the face” to other departments that have had cuts, after Dave Creighton says he wants locals to decide what kind of Library they will have, after the tag-team Peck and Lizakowski land some sharpened elbows, after some back-and-forth baiting between the Mars-like Creighton and the Greek chorus crowd, after Mayor Garland French with red face pounds the gavel to silence the rowdy crowd, after someone suggests to bring the Timberland honcho in for a Town Hall and explain all the options . . .
City Council votes, 7-0, for a 22 cent Library levy.
No Timberland option, this time.
Stay tuned for more action, Council fans . . .
let me see, 22cents,hmm………..first 2 goes to general fund and second 2 to the library or first 2 to the library and second 2 to the general fund. how about 34 and both digits go to the library. i will vote “no” on the 22 cent deal. hitler had stooges too.
Right on Randy. I’m disgusted too.
We need Timberland or another outsource to get involved, not the City! We soooooo missed the boat on that one and now the City is throwing you a life jacket…wasn’t it the City that voted to close the library doors not that long ago?
Once again an opportunity has been lost to improve services in Ocean Shores. One council person talked about the extra expense of Timberland without comparing services. Moreover, he lamented the extra $167K it would cost compared to the 22 cent offering. Strange, come 2011 we would not be paying the $167K we are now paying for the EMS Utility. Maybe the money they took then could be used for a better library.
Another missed opportunity is to act before we hire anyone and impact their lives.
The present plan, if the levy passes, is that we will hire a librarian and staff person for a term of how long? Well it all depends on if the Timberland issue is allowed to come forward again. If it does, during this two year window, these new employees could be “saved” by their own actions of taking a lower salary from Timberland and no longer being covered by city union and management contracts. I wonder how much we will have to pay to lay them off? Why spend two thirds of our library budget on personnel when we could have that spent on materials?
The citizens have looked at Timberland almost a year. The council looked at it for 20 minutes. I spoke at a Library Board meeting in August of 2009 on this topic.
Maybe it is time for Council to do the reseach before voting on anything more. It is not that we citizens are being last minute Charlies with suggestions. We are just being ignored in the process of what is presented by Staff and the Mayor. They have their own agenda and if you don’t move with the herd you are either ignored or admonished. In french: “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” or in english “the more things change, the more they stay the same”
BRING TIMBERLAND LIBRARY IN…and yes, keep current library staff.