Warren (Mich.) Mayor Mark Steenbergh called for the resignation of Public Library Director Wlodek Zaryczny July 9, alleging that he and the library commission had used some $4,900 inappropriately for business lunches and meetings, dues, and travel to conferences. Steenbergh also replaced Commission Director Richard Palmer, who was up for reappointment this week, with a new appointee.
Zaryczny, who reports directly to the commission and not to the city, has asked the mayor to reconsider. He told American Libraries that the activities were legitimate and approved by the library commission in public forums. In any case, he added that the money was reimbursed by the state-funded Suburban Library Cooperative—an agency that covers expenses for its 20 area members—and did not involve city funds.
In the meantime, the city controller has requested by letter that the SLC withhold further disbursements to the Warren Public Library, an action that the commission addressed at its July 11 meeting by requesting legal advice from the assistant city attorney. “They concurred that all of these expenditures indeed were approved,” Zaryczny said, “and did not involve a slush fund used for political fundraisers, as the press has been implying. Part of my job is to get out into the community, and that includes attending events where I can meet people and get the message out about the library and its needs.”
The mayor and the library have butted heads in the past over how to address a budget deficit of as much as $400,000. A millage increase that was to have been placed before the voters in August has not been placed on the ballot, Zaryczny said. “The commission is stuck in a situation with no money to operate,” he said, “and our fund balance is basically gone.”
Posted July 16, 2001.