Board Urges Cities to Come Up With Library Plan

Ventura County cities should be allowed to head a new committee overseeing the reorganization of the county library system and come up with their own proposal to improve services, county supervisors said Tuesday.

The supervisors said they wanted to send a clear message to the cities of Camarillo, Simi Valley and Ventura that the new Library Services Implementation Committee would not be run by the county. The three cities boycotted the first meeting of the library committee last week because of questions over its authority.

“What we’re saying is, ‘Hey, we don’t have to be the lead in this. You go ahead and do what you want,’ ” Supervisor Judy Mikels said. “I don’t think who’s in charge is as important as getting the job done.”

The board agreed that the seven cities served by the 15-branch county library system should have the opportunity to come up with their own reorganization plan through the committee.

At last week’s meeting, Supervisors Frank Schillo and Kathy Long, the board’s representatives to the library committee, proposed their own restructuring proposal.

The plan called for cities to take over operations for the libraries in their communities and for the county to run the other eight. It also called for a joint agency to be formed to provide purchasing and accounting services.

But Schillo and Long said Tuesday that their proposal was only meant as a starting point for discussion and that they are willing to step aside so the cities could take the lead in formulating their own plan.

“I don’t care who the chairman is of the committee,” Schillo said. “I just want to get something done. That’s the attitude I have.”

The board said Tuesday that it would not negotiate separately with cities to improve library services, even though Camarillo, Simi Valley and Ventura officials said last week that they might want to keep this option open.

Despite the board’s resolution Tuesday, officials for two of the three cities were reluctant to commit to participating in the library committee, which has scheduled its second meeting Feb. 13.

Simi Valley officials could not be reached for comment.

“At this point, we have not been formally notified of anything by the county,” Ventura Councilman Jim Friedman said. “When we see what they say in writing, then we’ll give a response.”

Meanwhile, George Berg, a member of Save Our Libraries, a countywide library advocacy group, said he was encouraged by the board’s resolution.

“I think what they said is that ‘We want this to be a serious committee, we want it to have power and we will listen to it,’ ” Berg said. “I think they indicated that they really want this committee to succeed by saying we don’t have a pre-planned agenda.”

Supervisor Susan Lacey proposed setting up weekly meetings of the library committee and the drafting of regular reports to individual city councils as well as the Board of Supervisors. This way, she said, the library committee could gauge its progress and perhaps meet its goal more quickly.

Times correspondent Dawn Hobbs contributed to this story.