Commissioners Lambast Library Board Of Trustees
“I’ll tell you why I’m disappointed,” Dunlap said. “For weeks on end I received e-mails and phone calls saying that the county commission closed libraries, and at no time did I hear the board of trustees publicly make a statement that that is not true. I think it’s so unfair that this community was led to believe that the county commission made those decisions.”
Library Trustee Darrell Williams, a former county commissioner, took exception with the insinuation that his fellow trustees played any role in crafting public perception.
“None of us led the public to believe that the county commission did that. We’ve gotten calls and e-mails, too,” Williams said. “I think the public is generally confused about who is responsible for what.”
It didn’t help, though, when the library system directed people to contact commissioners about budget cuts and financial strife, said Commissioners Vice Chairman Harold Cogdell. He quoted a press release from the library’s Webpage, which noted that decisions on how to allocate county tax dollars to libraries are made by the board of commissioners.
“Any citizens may contact their county commissioners by visiting www.charmeck.org,” Cogdell read from the presser. “It doesn’t say anything about contacting the library board of trustees.”
“If you’re going to do a press release that says contact us,” Cogdell said, “it would’ve been nice if you said contact y’all too.”
Branstrom, the library trustee chair, said contact information for her board members would be included in future press releases.
While the library trustees’ appearance before the board was supposed to focus on compensation for the library system’s executive administers, the subject was never broached. The eye-popping figures, though, were included as information provided to commissioners. The salaries listed below include annual base pay and total compensation for library executive staffers, but do not reflect pay cuts for the remainder of the current fiscal year implemented in response to budget cuts, as well as four unpaid furlough days required of all library staff:
Library Director Charles Brown receives an annual base salary of $170,974 and a total compensation package of $206,069. His base pay is being trimmed by 20 percent.
Director of Library Experiences David Singleton: base salary $119,025/total compensation $146,890; base pay reduced 20 percent.
Director of Community Engagement Karen Beach: base salary $82,296/total compensation $103,148; base pay reduced 10 percent.
Director of Research, Innovation & Strategy Frank Blair: base salary $95,370/total compensation $121,759; base pay reduced 10 percent.
Director of Organizational Research Brian Beavers: base pay $82,697/total compensation $102,025; base pay reduced 10 percent.
1 2
We need your help! If you like PunditHouse, please consider donating to us. Even $5 a month can make a difference!
Short URL: https://pundithouse.com/?p=1511
