Library cartoonCartoon: Mel Toff

Westhampton citizens, angered by the last-minute cancellation of the Oct. 14 library board meeting as well as refusal of the board to hold meetings at night and convert to an elected board, will present their case to the board tomorrow at 9:30 a.m.

“Residents for a Free Westhampton Free Library” have opened an interactive website aimed at wresting control of the library from the self-appointed, all-woman board that the dissidents says lacks “diversity.”

Charges that the board has not been fair to some employees led to a 31-3 vote of employees Aug. 21 to form the first union at the library in its 110-year history. A record 35 residents attended the Sept. 16 meeting at which several demanded the resignation of board president Joan Levan. A larger audience is expected tomorrow.

Kevin Verbesey, director of the Suffolk Cooperative Library System, a group of more than 60 libraries, will address the board and attendees on the procedure for switching from an appointed board to an elected board. WH Library director Danielle Waskiewicz said the board meeting was postponed to Oct. 30 so Verbesey could attend.

Kevin VerbeseyKevin Verbesey

Former Westhampton Beach town attorney Hermon Bishop has said that making the switch is not a complicated matter.

“There should be democracy in the selection of trustees,” he wrote in the Oct. 8 Southampton Press. “The voters of the school district should have the same right as they do for the budget when it comes to voting for the trustees. All it would require is a small amendment. Ms. Levan has to give up her iron grip.”

Bishop was the WHB attorney for four years until his resignation in June 2010.

Plans for $4.1M Treasury Is Issue

The library, which had $4.16 million in cash/savings as of June 30, 2015, has earmarked $3 million for “capital projects” including construction in an unfinished attic. The treasury has well over a year’s expenses of $2.58M partly because of a $1.3M gift to it in 2013 from the estate of resident Ann Skovek.

Some residents criticize spending $3 million on a building that is only five years old and cost $7.5 million. They would rather see the library expand build its “intellectual capital” by hosting major speakers and doing research on topics of interest to the community.

A page one article in the Nov./Dec. library NL says the library has obtained “TDR credits for free through legislation that now allows us to redo the attic space.” TDR, which is not explained in the article, means “transferable development rights.” It typically gives developers in urban areas the right to build more densely than zoning allows. Land owners receive money for the sale of the rights but continue to own and use their land.

WHB is facing more than $1 million in legal fines and costs if it loses its five-year battle vs. the East End Eruv Assn. which wants to erect an Jewish religious boundary using 47 utility poles in WHB.

An eruv is a complicated concept that has been a matter of controversy in WHB since one was first proposed in 2008. The library has never had an exhibit or speakers on the issue.

WHB Shows Signs of Economic Stress

Other topics that need exploring include the overall WHB economy. Three of the five gas stations and more than a dozen restaurants and nightclubs closed in recent years. There are large stretches of vacant land in the center of town. The bankrupt Waldbaum’s supermarket has been sold and its new buyer says it will be closed for months for renovation starting in mid-November.

The extent to which laws and lawyer have clamped down on communication is a topic that needs to be examined. Unscripted, unrecorded conversations between corporate/institutional PR people and the press have about vanished. Directories that used to list corporate press contacts, including the membership directory of PR Society of America and O'Dwyer's Directory of Corporate Communications, ceased publication after their 2005 editions since they were no longer economically viable.

A current example of blocking free speech is right under the library’s nose. The WHB trustees allow outside legal counsel to limit and/or block comments by citizens at their meetings. The trustees refuse to answer questions of citizens, citing New York State law. Lawyers for the trustees have screamed at this reporter, “Address the board!” “Address the board!” during the five minutes we are allowed to speak at trustee meetings.

Library policy at present is to wait for groups or individual citizens to present it with topics that might be explored.

Some citizens say it must be more proactive in seeking topics for discussion. The library has 13 full-time and more than 40 part-time employees who could research topics for discussion.

The American Library Assn. says the web has taken over many of the research capabilities of libraries and that the new role of libraries is hosting discussions of important topics. ALA hosts the annual Gordon Conable Awards that distributes materials for discussion to interested libraries.

Suffolk, WH Libraries Block Access to Directors

The Suffolk Cooperative Library System, like the WH Library, does not allow public contact with its board members. The eight members of the SCLS board can only be reached if director Verbesey decides to forward messages to them.

Waskiewicz performs the same duty for the five trustees of the WH library. Not following such a policy are the Long Island Library Resources Council, whose directors provide addresses and phone numbers, and the Board of Education in WH, which provides emails of its seven members.