Branch Director’s Husband Charges Friends Group of Violating Bylaws
In an escalating feud, the husband of the director of San Diego County (Calif.) Library’s Solana Beach branch has demanded an investigation of the board of the branch’s Friends group, whom he accuses of violating the organization’s bylaws and compromising its integrity.
In a complaint to the state attorney general’s Registry of Charitable Trusts, Robert Gregg, husband of Branch Librarian Judith Gregg, charged Friends Treasurer Jim Nelson and former board President Joel Hartley with changing the signature card for the organization’s bank account last spring without the board’s authorization, as Nelson prepared to take an extended vacation, the Escondido North County Times reported November 15. He also accused board members of holding “secret deliberations” that could lead to unfairness in the upcoming board election.
Nelson said that the failure to seek board authorization for the signature-card change was “an honest mistake.” Although Gregg said he knew of no improper transactions that occurred during Nelson’s absence, he maintained that the altered signature card was “a violation of the bylaws,” adding, “I think that’s sufficient.”
Although Gregg has called for an audit of the Friends, which is required under the group’s bylaws, the board has balked at the expense. Interim President Marion Dodson told the newspaper an audit could cost up to $20,000. However, she said the board has agreed to commission a $300 “professional management study” to assess its practices.
The newspaper said some board members have accused Gregg of wanting to overthrow the board and install his own slate of candidates in the December 16 election. “He and his wife want to be in total control of the group,” said Nelson. County policy prohibits Judith Gregg’s immediate family from holding elected positions on the board.
The county library is setting up third-party mediation involving board members, Gregg and his supporters, and library staff members, to be completed before the election.
Posted November 24, 2003.
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