To address City Councilman Gerard Rose’s expressed desire to restore hours to the Harrison Memorial Library and Park Branch at 2004 opering levels at the Special Budget Meeting on Tuesday 13 June 2006, City Administrator Rich Guillen responded as follows:
Rose: “...I have some questions of Rich...I’m wondering has any thought been given to finding creative ways of staffing the library…have you given any thought to thinking outside the box to finding people to staff our library.”
Guillen: “We haven’t at this point, I haven’t worked with the Library Director to do that...maybe go back to the county, maybe we can look at how we handle volunteers. There’s probably lot of detail we could look at but I have not personally gotten involved...”
Rose: “...If we did at least temporarily restore the hours exactly as we have them, we know what the number is, do you have recommendations of where that would could from?” (Note: The City estimates the cost of restoring library hours to 2004 operating levels is $123,000.)
Guillen: “No, not at this point. And I do have a concern…it’s an issue of equity. In 2000, when I arrived here, I made a concerted effort, I think the Council supported at that time, that as we lost people through attrition we wouldn’t replace them. That impacted every department except the library. And then in 2004, when we did the cutbacks, the library shared with everybody else, but every other department also cut again, so in my mind, every department has cut twice, the library has only cut once. And I think to restore the hours; I think it really an equity question. And I would have a concern too because I could probably march every department head up here to the podium and they could argue too all the needs they have...”
Guillen: "...but quite honestly our kids are playing computer games...And it would be nice to know how many actually go to the library. I do not know if we have that kind of data. I’d like to see what the Library Director has available. And I agree, I think we should base our decision on some data, not just the emotional side, saying oh my god, the sky is falling because we reduced the library by x hours.”
Guillen: “...We’re all here debating something all on our own personal emotion and I think Paula hit the nail on the head, I think we need to put some data together, take a hard look at this, and then maybe there’s some economy of scale, maybe there’s a different way of doing it, maybe we change hours...”
COMMENTS:
• Despite the numerous and overwhelming number of Carmelites speaking at recent City Council meetings about their respective requests of the City Council to restore Harrison Memorial Library and Park Branch library hours to 2004 levels, City Administrator Guillen did not take seriously the pleadings of these Carmelites; he did not take the initiative to investigate the possibilities of restoring library hours. Only when City Councilman Gerard Rose requested that Guillen investigate creative ways of staffing the library, making recommendations about revenue sources for restoring the hours to the library, etc., did Guillen agree to investigate and speak with the Library Director.
• While City Councilwoman Paula Hazdovac demanded library data prior to restoring any library hours, and City Administrator Guillen agreed, it is apparent from City Council Michael Cunningham that he, along with all the City Council Members, are fine with adopting a $108,000 expenditure for tourist promotion to the Monterey County Convention & Visitor’s Bureau with scant information and without any data at all.
Cunningham: Approve the $108,000 in the Budget, ”with the condition that’s setting aside the money...but that we actually hear the details from MCCVB (Monterey County Convention & Visitor’s Bureau)...make the decision of whether or not to go forward based on a much fuller vetting of the program...but I don’t feel I know enough yet of what we’re buying for 108K…”
• As Carmelite Robert Irvine, Member of the Library Board of Trustees, stated during the City Council meeting, a library changed his life as a young man; he became a writer because of his first librarian. Moreover, he stated that the “youth are the future of our society...and I think we really cannot afford to neglect the young people.”
• The incoming Head of the Carmel Public Library Foundation stated that the library “is the strongly beating heart of the City.” He stated that previous cutbacks were discouraging to members of the Carmel Public Library Foundation Board. Furthermore, the cutbacks made it more difficult to raise funds for the library because the cutbacks discouraged contributors from contributing to the library. (Note: The Carmel Public Library Foundation, in partnership with the City and Friends of the Library, is an important source of funding for the library.)
• City Administrator Guillen’s statements that restoring library hours are a question of equity appear to demonstrate Guillen’s obliviousness to the concept that not all departments are the same. Ergo, not all departments should be cut or cut the same amounts, especially in Carmel-by-the-Sea, a village of one-square mile and about 4,000 residents. More disturbing is the fact that Guillen appears oblivious to the ideas presented by Carmelite parent Sarah Imbert. She stated, “A free and open library is fundamental to Carmel’s core values and is a living icon of its’ literary and cultural heritage...However,...thinking about the future of Harrison Memorial Library requires a qualitative study about how the City seeks to sustain its’ core values of literacy and the opportunity to educate oneself. The internet is not making the library obsolete. The library is going to make the children of Carmel obsolete.”
• The record of City Administrator Guillen demonstrates the following:
1. City Administrator Guillen does not take seriously the concerns of Carmelites.
2. As a result, City Administrator Guillen does not initiate action based on the concerns of Carmelites, rather he only acts if a City Council Member demands he investigate a question and/or issue.
3. City Administrator Guillen does not recognize, comprehend and respect the core values of Carmelites and Carmel-by-the-Sea. In this particular case, the values of literacy, education, library environment, books, reference librarian services, etc.
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