What’s next with local library?
City Council now must ponder options
BY Katie Pizza
Argus Observer
Saturday, March 7, 2009 11:57 PM PST
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| KATIE PIZZA | ARGUS OBSERVER
Allyson Orris, 4, checks out books at the Ontario Public Library last month. The city of Ontario and the Ontario Public Library District are currently trying to work out an agreement regarding the future of the city-owned library building. |
Ontario—What’s next?
That is the key question now regarding the fate of the Ontario Library building after a public meeting Thursday night where a majority of residents in attendance indicated they felt the city should “gift” the structure to the newly-formed library district.
At issue is how much, if anything, the city of Ontario will charge the newly formed, voter-supported Ontario Library District for use of the existing library building.
Some city elected leaders maintain a fair, but substantial, fee should be levied on the library district for use of the building. Supporters of the library district, though, assert the city should simply “gift” the building to the district.
Ontario City Council member Norm Crume said the elected board plans to meet in executive session to discuss the future of the city-owned library building Thursday. Crume said he did not want to speak about what would happen after that executive session until after it was held.
“I won’t know what’s what until we go into the executive session,” he said in a phone interview Friday afternoon.
Executive sessions are held by elected bodies to discuss issues such as real property and can not be attended by the general public.
Members of the media are allowed to attend but are not allowed to report on what happens in these sessions. The elected board must come out of executive session to formalize any decisions.
Currently, the city’s proposed contract offered to the library board for use of the 22,000- square-foot building includes $5,000 a month in rent, and the newly-formed library district would also have to pay half of the maintenance costs on the structure. The Ontario Public Library District opted not to accept the city’s offer at its Feb. 4 meeting.
The board then sent a letter to the City Council indicating that they would like the city to “gift” the structure.
A majority of those in attendance at the public meeting also indicated the same idea, though not everyone in the audience was in agreement.
One resident voiced the opinion that the building was an asset and should not be given away since it was paid for with taxpayer dollars.
Another resident cited a promise made to voters of more hours and more services as his primary reason for supporting the gifting concept.
Ontario City Council member Ron Verini spoke highly of the public meeting in a phone interview Friday afternoon.
“The nice thing that happened is now we know what the public thinks,” he said.
He said, now that the public has spoken, he believed it is time for the City Council, staff and the library district to sit down and come to an amicable agreement. He said he did not feel that it would be very hard to do so.
“I don’t think that it’s going to be a problem,” he said.
Ontario Public Library District Chair Donnaclaire Blankinship also spoke highly of the public meeting.
“The meeting was very productive in that we got to hear the feelings of the people,” she said.
She also said she was pleased by the order of the meeting and said she felt moderator and TVCC Foundation Executive Director Cathy Yasuda did a good job keeping that order. However, as for what would happen next in regard to the negotiations, she said she did not know.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” she said.
Ontario resident and patron at the library Friday afternoon Jerry Mathinsen said he believed the city should listen to the voice of the people.
He said the library building should belong to the “people that run it and put it to good use.”
He said library staff have tried to keep the library as up-to-date as possible with as many people as they have and the money they work with.
“It’s a valuable commodity for the community,” he said.
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