Westhampton, N.Y., residents who want the library board to convert to elected status and to stop plans to spend $3 million on construction on a six-year-old building will press their case tonight.
Residents for a Free Westhampton Free Library posted on Facebook a request for citizens to attend the meeting at 7 p.m. tonight to put pressure on the board to convert from appointed to elected status and to halt plans to spend $3 million+ on construction.
The residents note that the building is only six years old and question why so much money is being spent on construction plus the planned spending of $1 million on a parking lot.
Recipients of the Facebook story were asked to visit www.wflelectedboard.org for further information on citizen demands relative to the library.
Four of the six library trustees quit the board last fall after 60 residents attended a meeting and demanded more responsiveness from trustees on a number of issues. Library employees last year voted to create the first union at the library since its founding in 1896. The vote was 32-3 in favor of a union.
The Facebook page says: “Be informed. Ask questions about how over $3 million ($1.3 million is a donation) will be spent on renovating the attic and first floor of our six-year-old library, and acquiring a new parking lot. Why do unelected trustees collect our tax dollars and decide how to spend it?”
The posting notes that 68% of the libraries in Suffolk County have elected boards and that Nassau has 80% elected boards and Long Island, 71%.
“Why does our WH association library insist on remaining appointed?” the site asks. “Why not put out to a community vote if the taxpaying residents want an elected Board of Trustees?
Appointed isn't American.”
President of the library board is Tom Moore, husband of Westhampton Beach Mayor Maria Moore.
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