Part 2 What Happened: The Library Takeover Resolution is Passed…

The link below will take you to transcriptions from the August 24, 2010 Santa Clarita City Council meeting. At this meeting the library takeover resolution was passed by City Council, with the one exception of Councilmember Bob Kellar, to hand management of our local libraries over to a private and for- profit corporation, LSSI. No opinions or comment have been inserted. They said what they said, and it is here for you to read.

Section One includes the arguments for the takeover presented by Darren Hernandez, Deputy City Manager,  presentations by LSSI representatives, and a few local proponents.  Section Two has only the remarks by Margaret Donnellan Todd, County Librarian for the County of Los Angeles.  Section Three includes Council discussion and voting on the resolution, and a brief final comment by Cam Notlemeyer. The remarks by the almost 50 opposing speakers were to lengthy to include.

Our purpose in publishing these transcripts is simply to reveal what was actually said by the proponents and our Council, City staff, and LSSI.

Part 1 – What Happened – Ender “Agendizes” the Library Issue – Enough Not Said… What Was the “Issue”?

On July 13, 2010,  Councilmember Laurie Ender during the City Council meeting, representing one-half of the “ad-hoc library committee” (the other half being council member Marsha McLean),  began with “Uh… I also have some information to share.  I’m really excited about this…,”  and ended with a request that staff agendize “this issue for consideration, during a public hearing, on August 24^th.”

Whom to Write to Ask City Council to Let You Vote…

People make mistakes, and so do small-town city councils. Clearly, a huge mistake was made regarding the removal of our local libraries from the Los Angeles County library system. That mistake was to fail to let the public know what was going on regarding a matter near and dear to most American’s hearts — the library. Local governments are expected to proceed in a transparent way, and above all, be responsive to the citizens of its local community.  Most of the public, when it comes to the library issue, does not think that happened.  Our City Council can correct that mistake, by reversing Library RESOLUTION NUMBER 10-71, and putting the matter to a public vote along the lines suggested by Don Ricketts below.  Phone numbers and email and street addresses for the City Council, along with the relevant City staff who worked on the issue, are listed below.