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Joyce Clark Unfiltered

For "the rest of the story"

Feb 15

14

Library War continues

Posted by Joyce Clark on February 14, 2015
Posted in City Council Actions • City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials • Glendale finances  | Tagged With: , , , | 16 Comments

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Glendale Adult Center meeting

On Thursday, February 12, 2015 the last of the city presentations to citizen boards and commissions was held regarding the proposal to sell and relocate Foothills Library. The presentation was before the citizen Arts Commission and was held at the Adult Center. Since it was not held in the heart of Foothills library territory one would think no one would show. That was not the case. There was a healthy citizen representation and it demonstrated that this is an issue that is city-wide and not confined to north Glendale. The presentation was like the two that had preceded it. There was ample time for citizen comment and the comments again, were similar to those offered the previous times:

  • Incompatibility of library and recreational activities
  • Concern about diminishment of the book collection and
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    We love our libraries!!

    inadequate space at FRAC

  • Questions about the adequacy of parking spaces, especially in the summer
  • Concern about the library as a babysitting location when children have finished recreating
  • Comments on the low ball appraisals of the library
  • Comments on the loss of special interest classes and activities offered by library and FRAC

Rodeane Widom is the former Director of Library Services for Glendale. She sent a letter voicing her concerns to senior management and the Library Advisory Commission:

“As a former Glendale Library Director and as a Glendale resident, I want to discuss concerns I have about the potential sale of Foothills Library.  I served the city for 27 years and oversaw the construction of both Main Library and Foothills Library. 

After listening to Mr. Strunk’s presentation at City Council Workshop regarding the library’s sale, I was startled by the appraised amount of the building, site, and art.   I decided to check the library’s expenditures on the city website’s “Follow Your Money” ( http://wwwglendaleaz.com/followyourmoney/) to find information about the appraisal.

I discovered that Mr. Strunk authorized the use of $4,999 for “Library Appraisal Report” from the Library Book Fund on 8/18/14.  The Library Book Fund includes all profits from the sale of books donated by library users.  I believe that Mr. Strunk broke an unwritten contract with the public by using this money to pay for an appraisal of the library building for possible sale.  Mr. Strunk chose to fund this appraisal with donation profits for a purpose so very opposite of what donors would have wished—the sale of the city’s newest library! I consider this shocking behavior on the part of the Library’s Executive Director.  He should be well aware of the source and intended purpose of the Library Book Fund money— enhancement of the library, not vastly diminished services.

Mr. Strunk gave a workshop presentation that I consider a blatant sales pitch stressing benefits of selling Foothills Library while omitting the many downsides to the library and FRAC.  His written City Council agenda sheet was entitled “Potential Relocation of the Foothills Branch Library and Expansion of Library Services.”   The “expansion” he discussed should more aptly be called “reduction of library services” which I believe will result from the sale.

I have lost any confidence in Mr. Strunk as the library’s highest executive.  To make my distrust even stronger, I noted that the appraisal report cost $4,999. The city web page dealing with purchasing states, “The City Council approved modifications, which make doing business with Glendale as simple and straightforward as possible. The formal limit for bids and proposals was raised to $50,000. The small purchase level was raised to $5,000.” Mr. Strunk’s appearance is of a city employee using a technicality in order to personally select the appraiser, which I feel questions the validity of the appraisal. 

This also puts in doubt other cost estimates provided by Mr. Strunk—such as the estimate for renovation of FRAC to accommodate library use. Thank you for your consideration of my concerns.  If you have any questions about this, please feel free to call me at home or on my cell phone.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Sincerely,                                                                                  Rodeane Widom                                                                           CC: Library Advisory Board

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Foothills Library Meeting

If you are a glutton for punishment and really, really have nothing better to do here are the links (courtesy of the Glendale Daily Planet) to the videos of the Wednesday, February 11, 2015 meeting at Foothills library (warning: it is 3 hours long), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXsazZSakZI&feature=youtu.be  and the Thursday, February 12, 2015 meeting at the Adult Center, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mopHcIxLkic&feature=youtu.be  .

What happens now? Each of the three citizen commissions typically meet once a month. Their February meetings consisted of the presentation on Foothills library. At their March meetings they will have an opportunity to discuss the library proposal and come up with their commission’s recommendation for city council.

You have an opportunity to express your opinion on the proposal to each commission member. I would advise you to keep the pressure up by expressing your opinion to every relevant commissioner. This can be accomplished by sending an email to Erik Strunk and copying all three commissions: strunk@glendaleaz.com  and at the end of your email please Cc: members of the Parks and Recreation Commission, members of the Library Advisory Board and members of the Arts Commission. It will be his responsibility to make sure each commissioner receives a copy of your email per your Cc.

After the three commissions have made their recommendations to the city council, I would expect the proposal to become a city council agenda item for a workshop or regular meeting. I will monitor city council agendas and publicly post when it is scheduled before the city council.

I want to congratulate every one who took the time to attend one of the three presentations or all three, for that matter; those who spoke publicly at a meeting; and those who sent emails to the mayor and council. It is so gratifying to see Glendale citizens participate in their local government. It’s not over yet…not until the city council rejects this proposal. Please stay informed and participate in the process.

Sadly, I wish that this same caliber of citizen activism occurred on many more Glendale issues. Many of the policy decisions made by your city council result in a profound effect on your lives, such as the temporary sales tax increase becoming permanent. All too often, our concern about a vital issue only becomes visible after the decision has been made. At that point it is often too late and the proverbial horse is already out of the barn.

Local government is the governmental entity that dictates your individual quality of life within Glendale. All too often, citizens fail to realize that even a little noise on an issue can direct its outcome. And so the Library War continues…

© Joyce Clark, 2015

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Feb 15

12

Library War…Round Three

Posted by Joyce Clark on February 12, 2015
Posted in City Council Actions • City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials • Glendale finances  | Tagged With: , , , | 6 Comments

Tonight, February 12, 2015 will be the last in a series of 3 city presentations to 3 of the citizen commissions (Parks n Rec; Library Advisory and Arts) on the proposed sale of the Foothills Library:

  • Tonight, Thursday, February 12, 2015 6 PM
  • Glendale Adult Center
  • Meeting of Arts Commission
  • Public comment will be permitted

The citizen interest in the proposed sale of the library rivals the citizen interest generated on the arena management agreement and the casino issue. As of today there have been over 6,000 reads of one or more of my blogs on the library issue.

The February 11, 2015, meeting was held at the Foothills Library before the Library Advisory Board. The meeting room was filled to bursting and in some places in the room; standing room was 2-3 persons deep. The line of people trying to get into the meeting room snaked out the front doors of the library. Cars drove determinedly around the parking lot desperately looking for a parking space. When none could be found they left. If there were about 200 people at Monday night’s meeting there were even more this time. The only media present were local. None of the major TV channels were in attendance.

Connie and Sue, readers of my blog, offered some excellent observations about this night’s meeting:

  • Just as with the Parks and Recreation Commission, the Library Advisory Board asked very good questions. The Library Advisory Board does not appear to be in favor of this and asked very pointed questions of both Erik Strunk and Michael Beck poking holes in their stats and figures contained in the presentation.One Board Member asked whether there is a conflict with former Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs being on the Board of Directors of MW and also as mayor involved in the purchase of the land and building of the library.
  • Many questions were raised about the gap in time from when MW made its offer and when it went public.   Erik Strunk said the original proposal was submitted to the City Manager and it didn’t go public because they needed time to do their due diligence.  That answer didn’t seem acceptable to either members of the Advisory Board or members who spoke.   Question was raised on why they didn’t get public input when this first came up and before they put together this extensive proposal paid for appraisals, etc..   In other words why was it allowed to get this far and so much money spent without first getting public input.  The $4,000+ for the second appraisal paid for by Glendale [guess that figure is on the website] came out of the library book fund.  Mr. Strunk tried to explain, to no avail, that it would be paid back to the library book fund through some staff reduction fund Glendale has so its supposed to be a “wash.”
  • Erik Strunk admitted they never did an analysis of how much it would cost to replace the library and didn’t know how much it would cost.  They also admitted to not doing an economic impact study – not part of the due diligence.
  • Comments were made about how Staff, Erik Strunk and Michael Beck, are supposed to be looking out for the good of the City of Glendale, but the Power Point presentation did not give any drawbacks or concerns.  Comment was that the presentation was nothing more than a sales/marketing tool.  It was not an objective presentation of pros and cons so an informed decision could be made.

I am providing a You Tube link for those you unable to attend either the Monday or Wednesday night meetings. It is provided courtesy of the Glendale Planet and is the video of the Monday night meeting. Be fairly warned. The video is 2 hours long. I suggest you pull out your tablet, pull up a soft seat into which you can hunker down and then plan to consume endless cups of coffee.

The first hour of the video is the staff’s presentation. The second hour is citizen comments on the proposed sale. Here is the link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoCamsYwWHI&sns=em .

Michele Tennyson, a Cholla district resident and library supporter, also made some very good observations about the proposed sale:

  • This is a bad move for both the library and FRAC as both will have to reduce services and programs. The space they are proposing to take over at FRAC will be a fraction of the current space, and the main room would have lower ceilings and poor lighting compared with the beautiful space at Foothills.
  • They also stated the inventory of stocked books for folks to peruse in the library will be reduced to approximately 35,000 volumes from 175,000, and the square footage would be reduced to 9,100 square feet from 33,500 square feet!
  • They are promoting this as a good move as they intend to increase the number of computers and enhance the technology services available to library users…all of which could be done at its current location.
  • There is the issue of bringing together two incompatible functions. Libraries are meant to be quiet spaces, and rec centers are meant to be fun and noisy.
  • It does not make financial sense as it cost approximately $7.8 million to build Foothills plus another nearly $500,000 for art that was purchased and installed on site, some of which MWU wants to have convey (sic) with the sale. Also, is it really ‘net’ if we not only paid $7.8 million to build the facility but invested additional costs in bond fees and interest and then get back only $4.1?
  • Why would anyone move to Glendale, when they could choose a neighboring city like Peoria, where these services seem to be valued?

Tomorrow I will offer comments about tonight’s meeting. The city council gave direction that after these 3 meetings they wanted to hear the recommendations of the commissioners before proceeding with consideration of a sale. The commission recommendations will determine if the idea moves forward and a series of public meetings throughout the city will be held.

Remember that your voice counts. Please keep up the pressure by letting the mayor and council know your opinion. After all, this proposal won’t be killed until the fat lady sings…and all is still silent.

© Joyce Clark, 2015

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Feb 15

6

Meeting dates on Foothills Library relocation

Posted by Joyce Clark on February 6, 2015
Posted in City Council Actions • City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials • Glendale finances  | Tagged With: , , | 23 Comments

Below are the first publicly available meetings regarding the proposal to sell Foothills Library to Midwestern University and to relocate the library within the Foothills Recreation and Aquatic Center. Each meeting agenda consists of a presentation on the proposal.Citizen comment is welcome. Simply fill out a Comment Card and you will be called upon to speak.

Monday, February 9 at 6 p.m.: Public Meeting – Parks & Recreation Advisory Commission Location: Foothills Recreation and Aquatics Center, 5600 W. Union Hills Dr., Coyote Room Click here to download the agenda.
 

Wednesday, February 11 at 6 p.m.: Regular Library Advisory Board Meeting Location: Foothills Branch Library, 19055 N. 57th Ave., Roadrunner Room Click here to download the agenda.
 

Thursday, February 12 at 6 p.m.: Public Meeting – Glendale Arts Commission Location: Glendale Adult Center, 5970 W. Brown St., Room 108 Click here to download the agenda.

Feb 15

6

A bit of this…a bit of that…

Posted by Joyce Clark on February 6, 2015
Posted in City Council Actions • City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials • Glendale finances  | Tagged With: , , , , , , | 3 Comments

First, some further clean up information on the Foothills Library. Questions have arisen as to which entity initiated the idea of sale of Foothills Library. Some contend senior staff offered it to Midwestern in an effort to produce more funds for the city. Others contend that Midwestern approached the city first. The jury is out on that question and only the two principals know the answer. What I find far more interesting is city council three years ago had requested a list of all city properties and their value. To date they have never received such a listing from senior management. To my knowledge, city council has never given specific direction to sell the Foothills Library.

Some have asked about the Capital Improvement Bonds issued to build the library. Voter approval was granted for bond capacity issuance in various categories, including that of parks and libraries. While the voter approval caps the dollar amount of bond value that may be issued, that capacity can be used for any project within its category and is not voter mandated as to which capital projects will be funded.

The current Foothills Library is 33,500 square feet. It would be reduced in size and scope to 9,100 square feet if relocated to the Foothills Recreation and Aquatic Center (FRAC). In reality the relocated library would be placed in the FRAC’s Coyote Room which is 3,000 square feet. The kitchen area in which the library would have access is 500 square feet. The FRAC Activity Room which is occupied by pool tables would be dedicated to the library and is 2,700 square feet. However, the room’s walls are rounded. Thus the useable space is less than 2,700 square feet. The total space is 6,200 square feet, not 9,100 square feet. The additional 3,000 square feet are second floor meeting rooms counted in the library’s new square footage of 9,100 square feet. Those meeting rooms currently are dedicated to Parks and Recreation programming. Special interest classes currently held in those meeting rooms would have to be relocated. The only other option is to share the 3,000 square feet of meeting space between Parks and Recreation and the relocated library.  Hmmm…a reduction in library size from 33,000 square feet to 9,100 square feet (an approximate space reduction of 60%) will certainly enhance library services…not.

As more and more Glendale residents become aware of this proposed sale of the Foothills Library, citizen displeasure and pressure is growing to reject it. You can help by contacting the mayor and council to voice your rejection of this idea at:

Other agenda items from the Tuesday, February 3, 2015 city council workshop was the Glendale Fire Department’s request for a Certificate of Necessity (CON) from the Arizona Department of Health Services to provide city owned and operated advanced life support transport services (ambulances) within Glendale and outside of Glendale (due to Automatic Aid). Council gave its support to proceeding to seek this CON. Once the Certificate is granted, Glendale does not have to implement this service. Make no mistake, the Fire Department will seek any and all opportunities to grow and will seek to implement the service.

I read the minutes of the Arizona Department of Health Services (AZDHS) on the CON application for American Medical Response (it was granted recently). Of interest to note are the rates the state has approved for various medical transport services:

  • Advanced Life Support (ALS) rate: $862.40
  • Basic Life Support (BLS) rate: $768.20
  • Mileage rate: $15.48
  • Standby/Waiting rate: $192.05
  • Subscription Service rate: $80.54
  • Disposable Medical Supply rate: Separate charges apply

We will wait to see what the Fire Department proposes after it receives approval for a Certificate of Necessity. Council should take note that the one time, upfront cost to implement Glendale’s Advanced Life (ALS) Support with 4 new ambulances is said to be $760,000. Fire claims that cost is recoverable. It is not. I also have difficulty in accepting that this is the total cost. An ALS equipped ambulance will be in the neighborhood of $200,000. Add to that the cost of personnel to staff each vehicle.  These are real costs and it doesn’t matter whether it’s contract labor or a full time Glendale employee.

The last agenda item was city council discussion of mayoral and council staff becoming “at-will” employees rather than as they are now, classified employees. It is my observation that council missed a golden opportunity to insure its independence and confidentiality. City Manager Brenda Fischer announced that insuring council’s confidentiality was an “administrative” prerogative. Brent Stoddard, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs and Supervisor of all council staff, assured council that he would maintain council staff’s “political sensitivity.” While council staff does not report directly to Fischer, it does directly report to Stoddard. And who does Stoddard report to? Why, City Manager Fischer. Duh… When Mayor Weiers asked if there would be retaliation if his staff refused to divulge confidential matters, he got a non-answer. Not exactly reassuring. Councilmembers Turner, Sherwood, Chavira and Aldama were in the majority and wished no change to the current employee status.

Of note: Did you know the Phoenix Business Journal is about to present City Manager Brenda Fischer with the “Outstanding Woman in Business Award?” I guess they didn’t get the memo on Fischer’s very public tantrum at the Yard House restaurant berating Don Heicht, the CEO of the Glendale Chamber of Commerce. A majority of Glendale’s residents are embarrassed by her non-professionalism and believe at the very least, she deserves a reprimand in her personnel file.

Lastly, Republican State Senator Sylvia Allen of Snowflake introduced a bill this week that is designed to gut the state’s Open Meeting Law. Currently the law forbids elected officials from discussing upcoming agenda issues in secret among themselves. Allen’s bill allows elected officials to discuss agenda items prior to their vote, secretly. Please take the time to email Glendale’s state representatives with your expression of non support for this legislation:

Emails are a fast, efficient and very effective way to let your elected officials know your position on proposed legislation whether it is to the Glendale mayor and council to express your disapproval of the proposed sale of Foothills Library; or to your state representatives on legislation to destroy the state’s Open Meeting Law. Your voice does count…make it heard today!

© Joyce Clark, 2015

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

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