It has been more than two years since Sonoma County libraries suffered an unprecedented 25% cutback in hours, locking their doors on most evenings, and on Mondays, for the first time in a century. Here in the 12th wealthiest county in California, we are now into the third year in which more than 100,000 of our fellow citizens, including young children like my own, seniors and the needy without Internet access at home, and readers countywide, are met with either overcrowded facilities, or locked doors.
Meanwhile, our local government seems unwilling to do anything about it. Last June, our Board of Supervisors refused to even discuss my request, backed by more than 1,800 Sonoma County citizens who signed our petition, that the County fund the restoration of hours. Now, just few weeks ago, at a sparsely attended City Council meeting, Mayor Michael Kyes joined City Council Members Robert Jacob and Patrick Slayter, in shocking local library advocates by opposing local augmentation to basic library hour—the most likely prospect citizens have to restoring normal library service in Sebastopol starting next July.
Their reasoning was that they are committed to “equitable” service countywide. The draft of a new Joint Powers Agreement (“JPA”) governing County libraries had calls for a base level of service for all libraries—the 40 hours we now have (reduced from 52 hours two years ago). But the draft JPA allows, for the first time, local funders or city taxes to augment funding and fully restore these hours. In Sebastopol, this would cost about $110,000 annually. On October 15, three of the four Council members demanded that this possibility (not obligation) be removed from the JPA.
Vice Mayor Robert Jacob was first to insist that, for our City to sign the JPA, the clause be removed. He said, “I have a significant problem with community based funding for us to create rich library districts versus poor library districts, for us to ensure that Roseland kids don’t have as many hours as Sebastopol kids. For us to engage a process that would engage our county in that way for me is going backwards. And it is not something I can support.”
I admire Robert, and actively supported his candidacy. And I strongly support our Council’s unanimous support for a long term countywide solution, likely a new parcel tax, to adequately fund the hours and services for all libraries in the County one (and if) it passed and is implemented YEARS FROM NOW. But I disagree with him, and the other Council Members, about giving up this short term local funding option. To me, it feels like a “spoiler” argument. This “everyone must suffer together” approach simply leaves everyone with 40 hours including the 18,000 taxpaying citizens in our widely supported Sebastopol, library branch.
If Sebastopol’s tax surplus (and we have an unheralded but significant tax surplus many times larger than $110,000) can restore those hours next July, why wait two or five years until there is Countywide solution? Why should thousands of us, our neighbors, our children, our seniors, and our poor, be deprived of this essential service any longer than absolutely necessary? Could the same argument not be made about funding to maintain our police force or public parks? Why should we be able to water our city's lawns if Santa Rosa cannot afford to? Why should we have adequate police protection if Cloverdale, a poorer city, cannot afford this?
I sense that I speak for a majority of my fellow citizens. But honestly, I don’t know. That’s one of the reasons I am writing this; and why I have asked Wacco to allow me to poll you, Wacco readers, on this issue.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Please vote in this poll on the top of this thread on the website. Respond here on Wacco with YOUR thoughts.
And, if this concerns you, let our City Council members know how you feel. You can email them directly:
Michael Kyes, [email protected]
Robert Jacob[email protected]
Patrick Slayter
, [email protected]
and John Eder, who was medically unable to attend this Council meeting and has yet to weigh on on the JPA clause, at [email protected]
with a copy to our City Clerk with a request that she enter it into the city record at
Mary Gourley [email protected]