Facing confusion and concern regarding a cost-cutting proposal to close the Fallston branch of the Harford County Public Library, the Harford County Council issued a resolution Tuesday night urging all library branches to remain open and requesting the County Executive David Craig transfer money in the budget to save the Fallston branch.
In a letter Tuesday to members of the Fallston Community Council and other constituents, Harford County Councilman Joseph Woods explained it was not the County Council’s decision to close the Fallston, or any other branch, of the library.
“I was as surprised as everyone else to find this was happening,” he wrote.
Woods also posed a slew of intriguing questions that he suggests citizens should ask during Thursday’s public hearing on the branch closure, which begins at 6:00 p.m. in the Bel Air Branch.
Woods ponders why the county is proceeding with construction of a new library in Churchville if there isn’t enough money to keep the ones we already have opened; what the benefit of closing the Fallston library will be if they are going to be re-locating the existing employees and just closing the building; what will happen to the vacant unmaintained building; what political reasons might be behind closing the Fallston branch; and are they closing the Fallston branch because they think the community will bail it out?
Here is the Woods’ letter:
I would like to thank you for contacting me about the Fallston Library issue. It is true that the County Council approved an additional 5% cut in to the 2010 budget with the exception of emergency services. This was an effort to lower County taxes and slow down county spending. Once the County Council approves the budget the County Executive’s Office makes the decision of what to do with the approved funds and may make adjustments as needed with the total amount given.
I believe it is very important for the community to understand that a decision to close the Fallston Branch is being made by the Executive Committee of the Harford County Library Board. It is not the authority or decision of the County Council to close or stop any county services. The Executive Committee of the Harford County Library Board feels that closing a branch is the only way to balance their budget. I do not know when they made this decision or when they selected the Fallston Branch to close. As of the morning of Friday, June 12th, the County Council was not aware that the Fallston Branch or any other Branch was being considered to be shut down. I was as surprised as everyone else to find this was happening. As soon as I received this information in an email from the Director of the Executive Committee of the Harford County Library Board I started contacting other Council Members to help us with this problem. Council Members Mary Ann Lisanti, Chad Shrodes and I met with Audra Caplan (Director) and Lucie Snodgrass (in-coming Director) of the Harford County Public Library on Friday to discuss the Fallston Branch issue. We asked them many of the same questions that I have been asked, such as how much money does the Harford County Library board need to keep Fallston open? The answer was $400,000.00. Out of a $15,000,000.00 plus budget for 11 branches and 1 administrative office they need $400,000.00 to keep Fallston open. We also asked why the Executive Committee of the Harford County Library board selected the Fallston Branch.
The answer:
*Age of Building
*Branch is not easily accessible on foot
*Low walk-in traffic
*Cost savings
*Poor location and dangerous vehicle access in and out of the property
*Close proximity to newest branches, Bel Air (7 miles), Jarrettsville (8 miles) and Abingdon (9miles),
*Low percentage of computer usage compared to other branch locationsThe Harford County Library board will hold a Public Hearing on the Fallston Branch closing before their board meeting at 6:00 pm on June 18, 2009 at the Bel Air Branch, 3rd floor meeting room. I urge every citizen to attend this hearing and ask questions and express your concerns to the Library Board Members. Tell them not to close our Library and don’t close any others.
Some of the questions that I have received that the citizens attending the
public hearing should ask are· Why are they continuing to build the new library in Churchville if there isn’t enough money to keep the ones we already have opened?
· What is the benefit of closing this library if they are going to be re-locating the existing employees and just closing the building?
· Why didn’t they base the closure of this library on usage vs. the assumption that the Fallston Community can afford to drive further.
· Did they consider alternating the days a library is open throughout the county or reducing hours?
· What will happen to the vacant unmaintained building?
· What other political reasons are there for closing the Fallston Branch?
· Are they closing the Fallston Branch because they think the community will bail it out?
Thank you for taking the time to share how important the library is to all of us. I agree that this is an important issue and that no community should have to worry about losing their library. If the Library Board decides to close the Fallston Branch, the Council and I will do everything we can to get it re-opened.
I also recommend that all members of our Community attend the regular Fallston Community Council Meetings. This group is made up of members of our community and meets regularly at the Fallston Volunteer Fire Company on Carrs Mill Road. They discuss issues like this and work on solutions to propose
to the County Executive. The next Fallston Community Council Meeting is June 23, 2009 at 6:30 pm 2201 Carrs Mill Road.Joseph M. Woods
As per http://www.savefallstonlibrary.com requests have been made to move the meeting to a larger venue to accomodate the number of concerned citizens expected to attend the hearing. Given the paltry half hour scheduled for the hearing not much input will be allowed anyway, but a public hearing should accomodate all that would like to participate. I encourage everyone to contact the individuals listed at the above website to request a change of venue and extended time. An alternative plan has been suggested by Ms. Mary Pat Massarelli in a letter to The Aegis to have each branch close an additional day. I support this idea and would like to hear the council explain why an equitable solution such as this one is not viable.
I was happy to read that Councilman Joe Woods is actively advocating to keep the branch open and troubled to read that Greg Seltzer, who represents Fallson area on the Librbry Board of Trustees , was essentially “out of the loop” on this decision. I thank them both for their advocacy. I hope to see a great turnout at the hearing and a reasonable accomodation by the Library Board for our request for a larger venue.
It WAS the County Council’s decision, obliquely, to close the Fallston Branch by choosing to slash the budget for county services instead of raising property taxes a smidge. The councilman quoted apparently doesn’t understand how money works, which is not surprising considering the budget he and the rest of the council handed down. My question to him and the rest of the council is “What did you think was going to happen?” And where were all these petitioners when the council was handing down its catastrophic budget at last month’s meeting? No one wants to see the Fallston branch close, but I sincerely hope the County Council and the people of Fallston won’t advocate even greater layoffs to library staff to make up the shortfall. There’s no point in keeping the library open if there’s no one to staff it.
John and all Taxpayers – Please read the following exerpt from the Harford County Budget that pertains to the Libraries Mission.
The libraries mission seems to bloated along with their spending.
FROM THE HARFORD COUNTY BUDGET:
MISSION STATEMENT:
TO BE THE PREMIER LIBRARY SYSTEM, RECOGNIZED FOR DELIVERING INNOVATIVE SERVICES. PROVIDING ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND
PROMOTING THE LOVE OF READING WITHIN THE COMMUNITY.
FY ‘09 – ‘10 KEY GOALS AND OBJECTIVES:
TO HAVE A CULTURE WHERE INNOVATION IS THE NORM
o Decrease cultural barriers to innovation
o Increase the number of innovative internal methods and practices
o Increase the number of innovation customer-focused programs and services
TO PROVIDE CUSTOMIZED SERVICES TO TARGETED AUDIENCES IN THE COMMUNITY
o Increase support to school-aged children and teens
o Improve library service to populations new to Harford County
o Enhance the services we provide to our online community
o Increase library access and resources for commuters
TO USE ADVOCACY, PARTNERSHIPS, AND FUNDRAISING INITIATIVES TO INCREASE RESOURCES IN SUPPORT OF INNOVATIVE STRATEGIES
o Increase key decision makers’ level of understanding about Library initiatives and issues
o Increase contributions to the Library from business partners within the community
o Improve cooperation between the Library and HCPL Foundation to support fundraising efforts
o Improve collaboration among HCPL Foundation, Friends groups, and the Library to support Friends efforts
o Increase funding to support strategic objectives
TO MEET CUSTOMER TECHNOLOGY NEEDS BY PROVIDING THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY AND TRAINING
o Increase understanding of library customers’ technology needs
o Increase the library’s knowledge and use of innovative technologies
o Increase organization’s effectiveness in training staff in new and existing technologies
o Increase customer usage of new and existing technologies
TO HELP THE COMMUNITY UNDERSTAND AND VALUE THE INNOVATIVE SERVICES PROVIDED BY HCPL
o Increase in-house understanding of Marketing’s role as an integral part of library service delivery
o Increase advertising, publicity, and promotional efforts for library main events and improve library positioning in the community
o Improve the quality of HCPL marketing materials
o Increase funding for marketing
For some reason people (including mr. woods) are not grasping the fact that the library is laying employees off in addition to closing the branch. The $400,000 for fallston is only half of the $800,000 cut. Much of the other $400,000 is being made up by laying employees off. I understand the plan is to transfer much of the fallston staff to other branches and layoff staff system wide. I’de rather see the library close and 15 people lose their jobs rather then see the branch stay open and 30 people lose their jobs. Also, this 5% is on top of the 5% already slashed by the budget so the real cut to HCPL is 10% or $1.6 million.
Councilman Woods:
Let me get this straight…
A. You voted for the budget amendment that cut $800,000 from the library system’s budget.
B. The library system’s managing board responded by cutting costs, including the closure of the Fallston Library.
C. You and your colleagues on the Harford County Council have passed a NON-BINDING resolution asking the library’s management board to reconsider closing the Fallston Library.
Now, you have the audacity to suggest questions that we should ask at the public hearing on Thursday. Instead, let’s ask you some questions:
1. Why did you vote to cut the library’s funding?
2. Why did you vote on the budget at all, especially since you said immediately after you were appointed that you would recuse yourself from the budget process because you were not involved in any of the previous budget hearings?
3. How long did you and the Council deliberate on the budget amendments that cut 5% of the County’s spending on non-emergency operations?
4. Did you understand the process beforehand or are you just starting to grasp the implications of your actions?
5. How can we trust you in the future when you have already shown to be incapable of serving our community or keeping a promise?
I hate to see this library close, they just fixed it up and we use it all the time !!!
I feel like it wsa a toss up senior center or library.
Why don’t you close the one in Bel Air.
This is purely a crass political move.
Let’s close a library in a well-to-do neighborhood and watch the feathers fly. That should be a sure fire way to get our funding back. I see Whiteford library renovations are still on the plate. Come on! A library in Whiteford! ?! How about no new book orders for the coming year…that should cover any shortfall.
Frankly, I don’t understand why we need libraries at all. Everytime I go into Barnes & Noble there are scores of people lounging around reading books for hours on end. If the folks in Fallston want a library that desperately, then run it yourselves. Not picking on Fallston per se…that applies to all towns and communities. Take back from the county government that which is yours.
What is most sad and alarming is that all of this could have been avoided. Under the County Exec’s budget, services, jobs and the library was still intact. Spending was cut to fall in line with the slowing economy.
The need for these cuts are not economy based, but artifically inflicted due to last minute wreckless actions of the county council to appease a group of angry citizens who were upset that their property taxes went up due to the rise in assessments.
This whole situation is a SELF INFLICTED wound with the County Council holding the smoking gun! This totatality of these effects are far from over. This is a sustained cut that will carry the county into furture budget years. From what I am able to tell, no other jurisdiction is having to deal with this type of post budget mess like Harford is.
Self Inflicted
Why don’t you move to Montgomery or Prince Georges County where the Government can really take care of you.
Wake up – there was no need for the Harford County budget to explode from $420 Million in 2005 to $610 Million in 2009. The County Executive and his Bloated Department Heads are to blame.
Thank goodness the Taxpayers are taking a stand. Thank goodness the County Council acted. Taxpayers are finally starting to educate themselves on Governments reckless spending. This fight is just beginning.
If you want to know why. your library is closeing, look at HCPS’S blog 23 new position’s for paraeducator’s. some body’s got to pay them.
Lets turn the new Senior Center in fallston into the library. Ir will have a new building and good access. Even if only part of the building was used, i would bet its use would be by some of the same people. And knowing Harford county, some of the Senior Center and library services would have been redundant anyway.
Vietnam Vet,
I’m not suggesting government take care of anyone, what I am suggesting is that there is a smart way to cut and reduce expenses, and there is a wreckless way of doing it. The Council chose the latter. If you look closely, much of that spending you cite is mostly attributed to infrastructure projects that were totally neglected for years. Face it, Harford County is growing up, and we need to make sure we keep pace with this growth, both natural and planned. With any growth comes the need for improved infrastructure, and with that comes a more robust economy for us all. If you don’t like the fact that this county is naturally changing due to our proximity to 95 and other major metropolitian areas. If you are looking for a place with less growth pressures, may I suggest you move to South Dakota. Like it or not, this county is a changin, we are becoming more metropolitian, more diverse culturally, economically, and socially. With that change comes certain increased demands for infrastrucutre, libraries, public safety and education, most of which government will have to take on. I’ll be happy to pay for the one way trip.
First off, HCPS is the public school system, which is not at all affected by this budget cut. 2nd, how do you figure taxpayers are doing something beneficial when really, the average household MAY save about $54 a YEAR! sorry, but i would think most people would rather see other citizens keep their jobs versus having to pay a whopping $4.5 a MONTH! and not have a drastic reduction in public services. while i honestly don’t see closing fallston library a major problem (i have lived in jarrettsville for 30+ years, and remember when this branch was built, and it was called the “Fallston-Jarrettsville Branch.” i had no problem driving to Fallston or Bel Air to go to the library, i would think it wouldn’t hurt for the roles to be reversed), i see the potential layoffs of fellow Harford County citizens a huge problem. this small savings that most people won’t even really feel will result in others potentially losing their homes to foreclosure, which then causes a lot more problems. Watch the news, see how foreclosures are what is killing our economy. deal w/the taxes – everyone loved to hear how their properties increased for years, now deal w/the consequences.
Self inFlicted I’am Born & raised Harford county. see no reason too leave. just set back & watch our elected officials strangle the county & it’s people. best Take a vacation Self Inflicted your Blood pressure is up.
I hear South Dakota is pleasant, this time of year. might be good for your blood pressure.
Why doesn’t the county ask Barnes & Noble or Borders to expand and convert the Fallston branch to one of their bookstores? Sounds like a winning solution – folks who want to browse and read can do so, and people who are tired of driving to Bel Air can purchase books and other items there. With the money they save on gas, they can buy books rather than just borrow them.
I’d bet that there is room to add a few more big box stores to save the residents even more gas money and cut down on all that nasty auto pollution. It’s the green thing to do!
Phil – now thats thinking outside the box….
John,
Under what circumstances is a 9.4% tax hike “a smidge”?
To all those who propose more spending –
The number at the bottom of your tax return that you fill out in April is only a MINIMUM requirement. If you would like to pay for more services, you can always make a donation to the government! On the other hand I, along with thousands of my friends, will be fighting everyday to lower amount we have to pay. Look forward to seeing you all tomorrow.
Doreen,
not sure how much your property is worth, but please think about this – for a $300,000 house, the savings proposed is $54 a YEAR. i’d rather pay this, than see my neighbors that are county employees laid off. your savings is probably less than going out to dinner once in the year.
Ann C – Please reconsider. The Harford County OPERATING BUDGET (not including capital) has exploded from $420 Million in 2005 to $610 Million in 2009, a 45% increase. We need to draw a line in the sand. The County Executive should remove positions not needed like any other fiscally responsible business and has the ability to reduce current salaries and benefits without laying people off.
Braveheart,
please research your information. per the salary study performed by the county and the library, it was determined that library employees are under paid by 15-20% versus those employed by the private industry. during this time of many losing their jobs and few jobs available, i firmly believe there must be a better route.
Braveheart: You are so right. The exec has created numerous new positions, most of them high paying, most of them political favors. These people need to be the first to go. The county ran quite nicely without them. The ratio of supervisors to workers is extremely out of whack thoughout every agency in the county. To the others on this blog, please don’t disparage or point fingers at the county workers themselves. They are just like me and you–trying to get by–watching the big shots make damaging decisions, none of which willl ever affect them.
Anne C,
Where is the study? Is it public information? What were the comparisons? I’m willing to look at the information. Once again, where are your facts. I have cited real facts from audited State of Maryland Financials.
You need to be careful in reviewing and comparing salaries? I’d like to see what the comparables were? Were they positions in NYC, DC, San Francisco or Scranton PA? I once found out I was undepaid by 75% – until I realized I was looking at a simlar position in NYC.
Lastly, I tried to look up the librarians’s salaries but I did not see them listed individually in Harford Counties budget. In the event that you are correct, that the librarians are underpaid, there are plenty of bloated salaries and positions in the Sheriff’s Office that can without a doubt be cut. Soon there wil be as many Chiefs as Indians in that Department.
Blue,
I appreciate your thoughts. It is ashame that our Political Leaders (on both sides of the isle) have lead us into this mess. It is our Government, they work for us, and now it is time to fix the mess they have created. I hope we all have the passion and energy to do it……
Vietnam Vet COMAR specificlly prohibits the county from cutting the education budget. It is called the maintenence of effort clause. It is required. 14 counties requested waivers and they got told NO! Further more the 23 paraeducators are required to meet the demands of IDEA a federal law!
Braveheart, The study I don’t believe was made public, but the salaries were a comparison to private positions in this county and other near by counties. Of course you couldn’t find a librarians salary listed in the budget, it would be thousands more pages if each salary was listed individually. Is you salary listed as public information?
Also, it seems you do not realize there is more staff to a library then just librarians. Libraries aren’t just buildings full of books and a couple of librarians. Libraries have staff to clean and maintain, staff to shelve books, staff to maintain and repair computers, staff to move materials from branch to branch, payroll, materials management, etc….
Anne C,
What private positions in this County – give me some examples – were the generous “fringe” benefits of Harford County factored in.
Also – Perhaps you should actually look at the Harford County Budget – salaries by position are very much public information. My salary is not public information, by the way – I work in the private sector.
Anne C – I’m very much aware of all the operating costs of a Library facility. To our point exactly, many of these structures shouldn’t have been built in the first place – One they are built – more Government workers to staff them.
When I get my hands on the detailed operating budgets of the Library – I will post them on this site.
I have been reading these posts and find it mind boggling.
Apparently no one likes libraries or roads or rec facilities or decent schools or safety……………………
Many people’s desire is to save a few dollars. And although I can recognize the basics of that, I would rather pay some of money and live in a decent place with decent services.
Just wait until you have the 0% tax but no roads to get from your home and no schools to send your children.
People who wish that others lose a job so they can save $50 a year are petty and stupid!
Nothing that is already open should close!
No one employed currently should lose their job! (Unless for a valid reason, not an idiotic and ill-conceived tax reduction).
Services should not be reduced. Increased, yes. If it means more taxes to live in a decent county then it is our obligation to pay.
People say we need to mark a line in the sand and other silly rhetoric. Can we instead enjoy what we have?
Braveheart,
Remember that public workers often get “generous fringe benefits” to compensate a lower pay than private industry. So it is likely a wash.
Let’s see, you said “I’m very much aware of all the operating costs of a Library facility. To our point exactly, many of these structures shouldn’t have been built in the first place”.
What?
Why? Don’t you want to encourage people to read and learn at these fine facilities. If anything there is a need for more of these type places. Not everyone can get to Barnes and Nobles, or can buy all that they need to learn and study. Libraries are important facilities for our citizens, right with safety and education. Only a fool calls for libraries to close……….
Seriously? The Library’s mission is inflated? Yes, heaven forbid they try to provide information, access and learning opportunities! What an awful thing! By the looks of many of the comments on this page, we could certainly use a little more literacy and learning around here, not less!
People seem to keep forgetting that the Fallston branch closing is only half of the cut needed to make up this second 5% slash. The rest will come from layoffs. Layoffs of hard-working, underpaid library employees who dedicate their time to helping people of all ages learn. Most library employees know that they are underpaid but are so dedicated to helping children read and learn that they work there anyway. The library employees were understanding with the first round of cuts and furloughs. They knew that things were tight and everyone had to make sacrifices. But these last cuts were simply to appease a small group of over-privileged people who may not use the library because they buy everything they want and don’t care about those who do need the services that the government provides.
Why should these libraries not have been built in the first place? Every area of the county has people in need of the services that libraries provide. I cannot believe how uninformed Joseph Woods is. He is on the County Council and doesn’t even understand how the budget works! The Churchville branch (which is indefinitely on hold and no construction has begun) is funded through Capital money which cannot be given back or reallocated. It was also given years ago when things were still good. The County Council slashed the Operating budget, which has nothing to do with construction. Operating budget buys the books and materials, pays the staff and energy bills, etc. So people protest the spending of things that cannot be changed, and demand reductions on the things that must be done to keep the services in tact. Those who do not understand should not demand change.
I hope the library figures out a solution, no matter what that might be. My heart goes out to all their employees who are the brighest and best in the state.
Stop the Insanity – speak for yourself. You might feel it is YOUR obligation to pay, but I don’t feel that way. It is my obligation to put food on the table for my family and put a roof over their heads. I would like to enjoy what my family has, that is why I want to give less of my paycheck to the government. Again, the number on the bottom of your tax form is a minimum payment. If you feel obligated to pay more, no one is stopping you.
Me 2 – No one that I know doesn’t want to pay for roads and police officers. However, million dollar astroturf fields, 9% raises to county employees, and building new schools when old schools are under utilized is a WASTE. That is what I want to stop.
Ann C – $54 is not a lot of money, but it is a start. Next year I want more. And the tax cap will help the long term situation. All of these mean more relief for the taxpayer. BTW, my home is worth less than $300,000, so my fight is not a monetary one…
For the record– the actual dollar sum doesn’t matter. $54 dollars could be $1 for all it matters. The big deal is that we got the Council to put a notch in the increase to our taxes.
That is, our taxes will still be increasing this year! Only they will increase at a lesser rate and our tax rate is set at $.01062 per dollar of assessed value instead of at $.01082.
If it take the privatization of some positions, meaning layoffs, then so be it. Everyone will be a little better off. Thats how it works.
The layoffs are reality and are here.
http://www.daggerpress.com/2009/06/18/harford-budget-cuts-cost-dozens-of-county-employees-their-jobs/
“Me 2 – No one that I know doesn’t want to pay for roads and police officers. However, million dollar astroturf fields, 9% raises to county employees, and building new schools when old schools are under utilized is a WASTE. That is what I want to stop.”
Let’s take those one at a time:
“million dollar astroturf fields”: They are built so that they are cheaper to maintain in the long run. You should like that……cheaper.
“9% raises to county employees”: God forbid that people get raises when they are doing a good job. Usually that 9% is less. Usually that includes a 3% COLA and a 2-6% merit increase. 9% is high but seldom do the majority get such a raise.
“building new schools when old schools are under utilized is a WASTE”: See the trailers outside the school in your neighborhood. Most of the schools are not under utilized but are in fact over crowded!
Closing Fallston Library while renovating and expanding Norrisville branch, where most of the patrons seem to be Pennsylvania residents, is ridiculous. There are other ways to proceed without closing Fallston or any other branch:
– Reduce the days or hours the branch is open.
– Place the staff on furlough for a week or two.
– Reduce the programs that are not working or very much attended.
– Call for more volunteers to help.
– Allocate funds more judiciously among all branches.
If the branch is closed, it will be difficult to reopen. Also, why close Fallston when other branches which are less used could be closed instead. However, I would not support closing any brances when the solutions suggested above should be tried first.
Bob H,
Get your facts straight. In a time long long ago – Truth was Government Workers received better benefits because their wages were somewhat lower. However – that was long ago. Fast forward to today – many have union representation, they have equal or better pay, less responsibility, security (up to now), and unbelievable benefits compared to the private sector.
Nobody is arguing the importance of libraries. Let me make it clear – I do not advocate closing libraries unless we can’t afford to operate them. Is that clear enough for ya.
Under your premise – sounds like me neeed more libraries whether we can afford it or not. Whats the right number Bob H – 14 libraries 15? Your thinking is what got this Country and County into this current mess. Socialism’s great until you’ve spent everyone else’s money.
Braveheart: Great point about the unions. That’s how the deputies got their 16% raise. The Sheriff’s Union President and Bane are tighter than tight. They are in fact going on a fishing trip this weekend where no doubt more politicking will be done which will ensure that the deputies don’t lose anything in the 2010 budget. What a mess.
To All:
If David Craig did the right thing no libraries would need to close. Time after time he has shown that he is not a leader but simply a Politician looking to get reelected.
David Craig could have easily saved the existing libraries by reducing the excess administrative costs in the budget.
Instead, he is simply cherry picking lightening rod issues to pit Citizens against Citizens. We all generally want the same things, a safe, affordable place to live and raise children.
ilma, get your facts right! The library is renovating the Whiteford branch and this project uses capital money that was already accounted for before these problems occured. You simply can not walk away from contracts without implications. The library is also already taking 5 furlough days due to the 5% cuts in Craigs budget proposal, prior to the ammendments. To make up the additional 5% from the ammendments (this would be 10% total cut for the year) it would be somewhere around 25 furlogh days for all library employees county wide. Not many people can handle a month off unpaid!
I just came from the Board meeting on the proposed closing. Hundreds of people turned out. Thankfully the Board decided to postpone their vote on the closure until next week. Place to be announced. Many good ideas were posed as to how to keep the libray open. Kudos to Greg Seltzer for his motion to move the next hearing to a larger venue. It seems to me that if some sort of closure is necessary, the Board should “share the pain”, closing all of the libraries a couple of days each month yet keeping ALL of the libraries open. Fallston should not be singled out.
why is everyone’s top priority keeping branches open over people keeping their jobs????? i think you all are missing the big picture. one branch closing may make it so 1/2 the proposed employees lose their jobs?? previous posts talk about librarian’s pay. what about everyone else in the library system?? there are many administrative positions and support staff that will be affected. how about we worry about people vs buildings????
Bob H – WRONG!
The proposed astroturf field cost $1.3 million. At the original budget Council hearing, it was asked how much a resurfacing of the field would cost. The answer: $84,000. That’s right, you could resurface the field 13 times before you would overrun the cost of an astroturf field. In a time of abundance, fine, but not during a recession.
The same goes for a 9% raise for county employees. During good times, maybe, but not at the onset of a recession. I work in the private sector, and I don’t know anyone who received a 9% raise last year.
Bob, I will repeat the same to you: if you feel like you need to pay more taxes, go for it.
Close all of the libraries and open up the ones in the High Schools. More cost effective and all books could be send in to enhance the selections. Personally, I think most of you will complain no matter what happens: Close buildings or raise taxes. Go to the book store an buy some books, I do!
Also, too blame Joe Woods for voting to cut the budget is STUPID, I would vote to cut the budget too. Most of you complaining must be Democrats because true Conservatives want to lower taxes and to keep Government out of our lives!!!!!!!!!!!!
i thought it was brought out at the meeting no one would lose their job. they would just be transfer. not much savings in that.
7 people were laid off today from HCPL.