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Bedford Trustees Ousted over Opposing Outsourcing ProponentIn the latest development over a controversial proposal to privatize the Bedford (Tex.) Public Library, the city council voted out three members of the library board August 14 after Councilman Charles Orean charged them with “character assassination.” Orean serves as liaison between the council and the library board, and board members had accused him of a conflict of interest because he has been pushing for the outsourcing while serving as liaison. Several trustees had e-mailed the mayor and other council members to request a different liaison, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported August 16. By a 4–3 vote the council ousted library board Chairwoman Dona Weisman and members Karen Kersey and Bonnie Finn, a former director of the library whose July e-mail said, “Many of the library board have been displeased with Charles during his term because he seems to be working against the library by working with [Library Systems and Services] for the last two years,” adding, “How do we know that he is not still in contact with them?” At the council meeting, Orean said the library trustees are fighting the council’s decision to pursue outsourcing and plotting to discredit him, charging that they had “gone beyond common decency, good sense.” Councilman Jeff Cason concurred: “It’s about the integrity, honesty of every council member here,” he said. “This is a case of misconduct.” Weisman, a consultant for the North Texas Regional Library System, denied that board members were questioning Orean’s ethics by pointing out the conflict of interest. “We were simply saying, ‘Give us a different liaison,’” she said. The seven-member board adopted a resolution in December 2006 opposing outsourcing. Nevertheless, the city issued a Request for Proposals to run the library and received two responses, one from Maryland-based Library Systems and Services and one from the Bedford Public Library itself. In 2005 the library closed for a month after a $2.6-million cut from its $24.8-million budget. An anonymous donor gave the city $300,000 to reopen the library and other facilities that had closed in the wake of a property tax rollback. The city hired library Manager Maria Redburn last year with the expectation that she would restore hours and services to levels at or above those at the time of the closure, the Star-Telegram reported July 2. Weisman wrote in the June 11 Bedford Citizen that in November 2006 hours were increased to 52 per week. Other improvements included added reading and study areas, new furniture and shelving, and free wireless internet access. Posted August 17, 2007. |
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