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BUENA PARK : Maverick Library Officials Go Public

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Two Buena Park Library District trustees are unhappy about the way the library is spending money, and they are mounting a public campaign to spotlight the issue. But their public airing of board disagreements has drawn criticism from the other three members of the library panel.

Trustees Helen M. Bohen and Edward A. Erdtsieck believe that declining revenue should prompt the library district to cut the salaries of its director and top management personnel. Only that way, they say, can public services be spared.

“There have been questions we have asked in the last few months and we have not received the answers,” Bohen said. “We need to have the answers when we are faced with cuts.”

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The two trustees wrote an open letter last week to taxpayers, patrons and library staff in Buena Park and surrounding communities, complaining that many of their concerns about the library’s operations and spending have gone unanswered.

“Our library is small by many standards,” with only 19 part-time and 13 full-time employees, the letter said. “However, the top three positions on the personnel chart draw 25% ($182,00) of the salary segment. The question is not only whether the top man is worth his pay, but is it prudent for a small library to afford the luxury of having multiple managers?” The “top man” in the district is actually a woman--library director Colleen McGregor, who has held the post for 16 years. McGregor says she makes $82,000 a year plus benefits.

Patrons at recent board meetings have also questioned management salaries at a time when the library is making cutbacks. The library has considered cutting back its hours but has decided to forgo that plan for now. Instead, officials have restricted phone services and raised some fees to help offset a projected deficit in their $1.8-million budget, including an $81,000 shortfall in property tax revenues.

Bohen and Erdtsieck believe there should be more detailed public information on budget expenditures, as well as line-by-line auditing of spending.

“If we’re facing a deficit, by shaving some of the accounts down and by being more prudent in spending, maybe we can remain more solvent for a while,” Bohen said.

The trustees’ letter also questioned the use of two library-owned cars by the director and maintenance supervisor. Bohen and Erdtsieck believe the vehicles are a needless luxury.

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Board President William Hardin called the letter’s circulation inappropriate.

Trustee Robert Niccum said the letter is “an unfortunate example of confused thinking that some of the trustees continue to portray in our meetings. There seems to be a lack of understanding of exactly what is the nature of our financial situation.”

Trustee Patricia Ganer said she understands her colleagues’ concerns.

“None of us is happy to cut,” Ganer said. But she added that her colleagues are “not specific in their concerns, so how can the board address them?”

Recent board meetings on impending cuts have drawn large crowds of patrons, with the board split over how best to address their concerns.

“It seems in the last few months, the board has fallen apart. There’s no unity,” Erdtsieck said, charging that the board has ignored his concerns and those of Bohen.

“When questions are asked, they’re not taken seriously by the board majority,” he added. “The only questions considered valid are the issues the library director considers valid. . . . We ought to be able to raise issues and have staff do the work that we want.”

Niccum, however, said: “We should be pulling together to give citizens the best services with the money we have. But there seems to be an effort to confuse staff, the public and other board members rather than on trying to get to the solutions to our problems.”

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