Accusations of Racism Plague Monterey Park Library Board

Three months after forcing the resignation of its Asian American librarian, the Monterey Park library system is again simmering with disputes over alleged racism.

Marina Tse, one of two Asian Americans on the library board and president of the Chinese American Education Assn., accused other board members and their political allies of seeking to force her off the panel because of her outspoken opposition to Jeannette Cheng’s removal as librarian.

In order to force her removal, the five-member city board tried to use its rule that three unexcused absences from the monthly meetings means forfeiture of the seat, Tse said.

The situation turned bitter after her second absence.

Board President Kathleen Brzozowski dismissed the allegation as a misunderstanding, saying that the board excused the second absence.

But she expressed doubts about whether Tse belonged on the board.

“She seems to have problem understanding English. I can’t understand how she can be on a state committee,” Brzozowski said. (Gov. Pete Wilson appointed Tse earlier this year to a state education commission.)

“We tried to help her, but she is obviously not suited for this type of position,” Brzozowski said. “She needs to take a low position until she can speak the language.”

Those statements infuriated Tse.

“That is not only an insult. It is prejudice,” said Tse, who has a masters degree in education from USC and has taught English as a second language.

The problems began on April 13 after Tse missed a meeting because of a family emergency, her first unexcused absence.

She missed a second meeting May 4. That meeting had been moved forward a week from its regular date to accommodate Brzozowski’s vacation. Tse said she was only told about the change two days before and could not attend.

Brzozowski said Tse was notified three days in advance. But Brzozowski also acknowledged that the meeting’s date had been changed 17 days in advance and two weeks before Tse was notified.

Tse said that at the next meeting in June, she asked to be excused for the absence, but received no reply. The minutes of that meeting note only that Tse asked to be excused.

So earlier this month, Tse wrote a letter to Brzozowski saying she had been denied her due process rights because of the short notice, and the board decided that it actually had excused her at the June meeting.

The city manager acknowledged his oversight in not informing Tse earlier.

Meanwhile, Lois Marriott, a retired assistant dean who had previously supervised the library at Southwestern College in Chula Vista, a city in south San Diego County, took over July 1 as interim director of the Monterey Park library system.

Marriott, a librarian for 36 years, retired last month. She said she will be interim librarian for six or eight months, and has no plans to pursue the position permanently. Marriott will earn $5,000 to $6,000 a month.

Cheng, who had been one of two Asian American department heads in the city, was asked to resign April 21 by the board and given a $60,000 buyout of her contract. The move was denounced by the city’s Friends of the Library group and members of the library staff as a racially motivated action backed by a predominantly white group of longtime residents of the city, which now has a majority of Asian residents.

This is not the first time racial issues have touched the library. In 1987, the City Council took control of the library, saying it had too many foreign language books. Civil rights groups sued and a judge said the library board could not be removed by the council.