|
Applauds the Town Board's Library Decision
To the Editor:
As local residents already know, the Philipstown Town Board has decided, based on a review of the way the Butterfield Library conducted its funding campaign in the fall, that the measure was legally defective and therefore not binding. In other words, the Library is not going to get the nearly $300,000 it asked for. applaud the Town Board's decision.
I am sorry to say this, but as I said in a letter to the PCNR in the fall, the state law under which the library asked for this money is very bad law, for three important reasons. First, once the money is approved, the town board is obliged to give that money to the library every year, without any reapproval by the voters. Second, the town board cannot adjust that amount at all, tying the hands of the town board when it may face revenue shortfalls. Third, the library is under no obligation to tell the town board how it spends this money. All this is allowed under New York State law. You have to wonder what the state legislators were thinking when they passed these changes to the law back in 1995.
There is also the question of why the Butterfield Library, which serves only a small portion of the township, should be entitled to almost 10% of the town's operating budget.
Last year, without any legal pressure, the town board gave the Butterfield Library $125,000. Despite that, the library board decided to go for broke this year, putting a funding measure before the public that more than doubled that. Why? The library board president alleged concerns about a possible change in town board policy, but offered no evidence that this was about to happen.
Now this is being turned into an essentially emotional issue, with cries that our children will be deprived of vital library services, which is unfortunate. There is another way out of this impasse.
First, the town board, despite the library's threat of legal action, is continuing to fund the library at the $125,000 level from last year. In return for this, the library should drop its plans to sue the town. This allows the library to continue to operate at a very generous level.
Second, the library and the town, working together, could lay out a long-term plan for library support, including not just town funding but also more aggressive, far-reaching fundraising by the library board.
Third, the library should expand its board, to bring in new blood and new viewpoints. In exchange for continued town funding, the library board should agree to allow a town board member to serve as a voting library board member.
Finally, if the library wants to try again for a binding public measure, it will have to do a much better job of advertising its plans and allowing for public debate. Had it not been for my letter in the fall, the library would have done little if anything in this regard.
John Dunn Cold Spring
| Click ads below
for larger version
System and Method for Display
Ads have a Patent Pending.
Click Here for More Information
|
