Supervisors Adopt Budget in Record Time & Ignore Library Hours: "Let Them Eat Cops"

[Peacetown Jonathan]

UPDATED JUNE 11 10:30 PM

Okay; the quote on this revised post title is a joke. But the budget passed in record time; not a word helping libraries, not a dime for this, despite a petition from 1,750 people who wanted to see leadership and responsive government but instead saw...

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article...1350?p=1&tc=pg

And the Supes had their rubber stamps out for the County Sheriff's escalation of the war on our neighbors who grow and sell mairjuana, along with the millions in additional costs to probation, proesuction, and incarceration.

They might as well have said to the 12,000 children who no longer attended library programs these past two years, and the tens of thousands of seniors and economically-challenged members of our community and parents with young kids, all of whom rely on the library services but are shut out on Mondays, "let them eat cops." Because that's how it feels that our County's budget is being re-prioritized, by those we trust to manage our tax dollars. Probation got its $2.7 million increase, Sheriff got a $8.8 million increase, and additional funding for another narcotics officer as a bonus. As for that $1.3 million which could have restored funding for our library hours, the Supervisors said it was not their job.



JUNE 10 POST:
Despite more than 1,750 names on our petition to urge our supervisors to take responsibility and restore library hours by adding $1.3 million in funding this summer, the well-paid elected officials responsible for our County’s $1.3 BILLION in taxpayer funds now say they will not add ONE DIME to the library’s reduced budget.

They say it is not their responsibility because the libraries have a dedicated revenue stream from real estate taxes (as part of a 1975 Joint Powers agreement that the County supervises). They say that the shortfall is not their fault (true), and hence, not their problem (really?)

During the next two weeks, our Supervisors are going to approve a budget granting the County probation dept, which spends FOUR TIMES as much money as our libraries, an increase of $2.7 million. The Sheriff’s Dept, an increase of more than $8.8 million more, partly to help it finance the 250% increase since 2006 in marijuana arrests in the County. Then there is water fluoridation which so many of us object to; which will cost the Water Agency $973,000 every year and a capital cost of nearly $10 million to start.

Meanwhile, not a single one of our Supervisors is willing to stand up and ask to find funding to restore the Monday and evening hours that our local government managed to finance even during the Great Depression.

The only chance we have that they will change their tune is if hundreds of citizens call out Supervisors during budget hearings during the next two weeks. West County Supervisor Efren Carillo’s number is 565-2241. You can leave him, or any other supervisor, a message there.

Last year, continued complains by people living on country roads convinced the Supervisors to allocate $8 million extra to road repaving (on top of $80 million of dedicated gas revenues that paid for pothole and bridge fixes).

This year, if enough of us call, perhaps we could get them to take responsibility for resolving the 25% cutback in hours that has no negatively impacted tens of thousands of people in our community.

Libraries feel over-crowded during the reduced hours they are open. The number of children participating in library programs has fallen by more than 12,000 a year. Seniors, children, parents, and the needy are the hardest hit by this failure of government, for the first known time in our local library system’s 109-year history, to adequately fund this vital public resource.

Please call your supervisor today; and spread the word www.RestoreLibraryHours.org

[sebastacat]

Well stated, Peacetown J!

Thank you so much for your thoughtful investigative research which went into writing such a fine post.

I remember well my time spent in our county libraries. I remember well the time I spent in the downtown Santa Rosa library during my high-school years; but, upon even more reflection, I also remember attending summer reading series at --
you guessed it-- the OLD Sebastopol library! That building, too, was home to many happy childhood memories, and I always looked forward to attending those wonderful reading programs each summer in friendly Sebastopol.
That, of course, was in the late 1960's/early 1970's, well before I moved over here as a permanent resident.

The numbers that it will take to implement this misguided forced-fluoridation proposal are both shocking and frightening -- like something out of an Orwellian novel, only reality has been substituted in its place instead.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think that our county elected officials would have their priorities so out of whack, but they do, and now, even our once-thought-untouchable libraries are bearing the brunt of their fiscal irresponsibility.

I suggest that they do some major soul-searching and stop spending any more unnecessary money on consultants, studies and community meetings and drop the unpopular forced-fluoridation proposal and start fixing the roads -- and keeping the libraries open for all to use and enjoy

[dzerach]

Yes, and the board has in effect taken over the powers of the library director -- a horrible precedent for the library system for the future. As a library professional, I can tell you that this is a perfect example of why a library director is so important. The key job of the director -- and the so-called library commission -- is political : to successfully advocate for the library, which includes building positive, influencial relationships with legislators and those who hold the purse strings. That idiot Sandra Cooper (I hope she is reading this) who refuses to resign is an absolute disgrace to the profession. We can only pray that a state that truly deserves her gets her since even Louisiana had more sense...

[ See this PD article for some background on Sandra Cooper and the SC Library - Barry]

Despite more than 1,750 names on our petition to urge our supervisors to take responsibility and restore library hours by adding $1.3 million in funding this summer, the well-paid elected officials responsible for our County’s $1.3 BILLION in taxpayer funds now say they will not add ONE DIME to the library’s reduced budget....

[Peacetown Jonathan]

Okay; the last line was a joke. But the budget passed in record time; not a word helping libraries, not a dime for this, despite a petition from 1,750 people who wanted to see leadership and responsive government but instead saw...

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/articl...1350?p=1&tc=pg

And the Supes had their rubber stamps out for the County Sheriff's escalation of the war on our neighbors who grow and sell mairjuana, along with the millions in additional costs to probation, proesuction, and incarceration.

They might as well have said to the 12,000 children who no longer attended library programs these past two years, and the tens of thousands of seniors and economically-challenged members of our community and parents with young kids, all of whom rely on the library services but are shut out on Mondays, "let them eat cops." Because that's how it feels that our County's budget is being re-prioritized, by those we trust to manage our tax dollars. Probation got its $2.7 million increase, Sheriff got a $8.8 million increase, and additional funding for another narcotics officer as a bonus. As for that $1.3 million which could have restored funding for our library hours, the Supervisors said it was not their job.

[sebastacat]

Thanks for the update, Peacetown J.

Sebastacat is sad -- so sad -- to hear this.

You know we've reached a sad state of affairs when our "supes" think that adding toxic fluoride to our main drinking-water supply should be a higher priority than keeping our libraries open for all to use for the purpose for which they were intended -- as respositories of information and bastions of knowledge.

I would think that the county would have a compelling interest in keeping the libraries operating at full schedule throughout the summer so that young students who are out of school on summer vacation could have a better way to spend their time than on the streets getting into mischief or in their cars committing traffic infractions -- for which many will receive tickets and wind up paying hefty fines.

Your "let them eat cops" comment is a classic, to which I will add:

"Let the supes drink some fluoride"!

[Peacetown Jonathan]

Yes, Sebastacat, the fluoride prioritization is another example of an unpopular, brand new financial sinkhole that, in the view of many of us, harms the public interest, while our supervisors cannot find an extra dime to restore our library hours.

You know we've reached a sad state of affairs when our "supes" think that adding toxic fluoride to our main drinking-water supply should be a higher priority than keeping our libraries open for all to use for the purpose for which they were intended -- as respositories of information and bastions of knowledge.