The library board (fwd)

[Doug Tooley]

In the spirit of Aki's **appropriate** advertisement/posting regarding the
ACLU I offer for your enjoyment:

SNC SEATTLE NEIGHBORHOOD COALITION
731 NORTH 87TH  
SEATTLE WA. 98103      

1-206-784-7217    VOICE/FAX
e-mail - kammerer at aa.net.


Library Board:

	The Seattle Neighborhood Coalition is deeply concerned with the
manner in which the Mayor utilized the Library Board to dismiss Liz Stroup
from service.  (See attached list of questions.)

	 Our membership has therefore expressed "no confidence" in the
existing Library Board, its President, the Mayor, George Corcoran and
Associates and Acting City Librarian Craig Buthod. 

	We believe the current Library Board's actions may ultimately result in 
organized opposition to proposed future library bond issues and thus their 
likely failure.  

	We believe the political nature of the City Librarian's dismissal will 
negatively affect the search for a qualified replacement.

	The Seattle Neighborhood Coalition calls for:

¥	The City Council to request the resignation of the Library Board.   

¥       The immediate  resignation of Acting City Librarian Craig Buthod.

¥	The City Council to generate a list of candidates from which the Mayor
        can select appointments for a new Board. 

¥	The City Council to insure broad community representation in board
        appointees. 

¥	That a nation-wide search for a Library Director be conducted by a new
        Board. 

	At a time in our history when trust in government has become a national 
concern, the actions of the Library Board demonstrate all too clearly why the 
public has lost faith in the process of governance.   It is particularly  
unsettling when we view the state law that created a Library Board as a 
safeguard to insulate our public libraries and their directors from political 
manipulation.  We treasure and trust our libraries as the keeper of ideas upon 
which we form public opinion.   That trust has been violated.




SUPPLEMENTARY  ISSUES QUESTIONS:

	THE SEATTLE NEIGHBORHOOD COALITION BELIEVES THAT RCW 27.12 IS
CLEAR IN ITS INTENT TO INSULATE LIBRARIES FROM POLITICAL MANIPULATION.  WE
BELIEVE THE CITY COUNCIL CAN, IF THEY CHOOSE, USE THEIR REMOVAL POWERS
UNDER RCW 27.12 IN SEEKING ANSWERS TO ALLEGATIONS CONCERNING THE POLITICAL
ASPECTS OF THE LIBRARY BOARD'S ACTIONS. 

We therefore call upon the City Council to initiate public hearings and use 
their authority to investigate issues relating to the dismissal of City 
Librarian Liz Stroup.   We believe the following are but a few of the questions 
that require complete and truthful answers.  

¥	Who and what prompted the Board action to seek a performance review of
        the City Librarian? 

¥	What communication existed between the Mayor, his staff, and the Library
        Board? 

¥	Upon whose recommendation was Corcoran and Associates selected for the
        review process? 

¥	Did the firm of Corcoran and Associates and Corcoran himself, donate a
        total of $1500 to the Rice Campaign? 

¥	Has Jim Ellis played a role to pre-empt or supersede the library site 
        selection process,  by  proposing downtown library locations to 
        enhance building developments other than the public library?

¥	Has Craig Buthod met privately with members of the Mayor's staff or the 
        Library Board, to discuss the City Librarian's performance?

¥	In Corcoran's report to the Library Board, some senior staff members
        reported the City Librarian was deficient in certain management
        skills. Were not some of those same staff members responsible for 
        the management areas they found the director deficient in; ie.. long 
        range planning, budget review and analysis, personnel assignment, 
        etc. ? 

¥	Are any members of the Library Board associated directly or indirectly
        with firms who receive fees from City business or who place orders 
        for the sale of public financing bonds? 


Kent Kammerer
President,  Seattle Neighborhood Coalition




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