Four years in the making, the restructuring ensures the library a revenue stream, but does not increase its $12.5-million budget. The system change will cost some $4 million, to be drawn from a general-fund account, for the city to initiate. The ordinance also establishes the city council as SPPL's board, but retains library workers' city-employee status and Mayor Randy Kelly's authority to appoint the director.
The ordinance's passage was a refutation of the mayor's strong opposition to the change, which he expressed in a written statement read to the council a week earlier. After the session, mayoral spokesperson Laura Mortenson told the Press that Kelly “has made his position clear in the past,” signaling the possibility of a veto by mid-April. Should that occur, observers believe that the unanimous council backing of the reorganization assures an override.
Posted April 7, 2003.