The Commissioners Are Playing Hardball With The Library
=======================================================
by Curtis Hayden
They vote 3-0 to terminate the lease agreement ... but why?
> Chapter IV: Finance: Section 14.5 Library Support: The Board shall
> provide for the support and maintenance of the main library and
> library branches. [Amended November, 1992].
> --Josephine County Charter
It's definitely been a rocky road for the Josephine Community library
system over the years. Back in the halcyon days of the O&C timber
money, the County actually razed the old Carnegie Library at 5th and
B Streets, which was built in 1921, and built a brand-spanking new
building behind the Courthouse at 5th and C in 1959. Branch
libraries were also financed in Wolf Creek, Williams, and Cave
Junction.
Sometime in the mid 1980s, things started going south with the O&C
money. In fact, that term is now outdated. Congress' financial
support, which has been dwindling for years, is now called the Secure
Rural Schools Act, which "provides funding for public schools and
roads in counties with national forests."
In July 1992, things got really ugly, and after the voters rejected a
proposed library district, all four libraries closed their doors. As
a result of the public outcry, the commissioners agreed to put a
partial-year levy on the ballot. It passed, but amazingly the
commissioners under-estimated the amount of O&C money available, and
the levy money was never collected. Library service reopened that
fall.
Within two years, things started to fall apart again, and the
library's funding was reduced drastically. That called for /another/
levy in 1995, this time asking for 33 cents per $1,000 assessed value
on homes and property. It passed, and it was supposed to be three
years of stable funding.
Then came Measure 50, which allowed counties and municipalities to
take existing levies and "turn them into permanent tax rates."
Seizing on the opportunity, the commissioners in 1997 robbed the
library of its 33-cent levy and added it to the General Fund. The
voters might have approved a 3-year library levy, but it suddenly
became permanent and jacked up the county's tax rate to 58 cents per
$1,000 assessed value, still the second lowest in the state [after
lowly Curry County].
For a few years, the County honored the voters' original intention
and gave the full amount of the money to the library. They tried to
convince the voters to pass supplemental levies, but they all failed,
and in 2007 the commissioners dropped the bomb: no more money would
be going to the library, and it closed the doors.
To the rescue came a group of local activists who put together a
nonprofit group, Josephine Community Libraries, to get the libraries
open again. It was a tremendous community effort supported by
donations, subscriptions, and grants, and it worked on a shoestring
budget for ten years. Even with a $790,000 budget, however, the
library did not meet public library standards, which hampered
operations, fundraising, and grant writing.
The Board of Directors decided to go to the voters to form a Library
District, asking only those living in districts within driving range
of a library to vote. The strategy worked, and the Library District
was approved by the voters in May 2017, enacting a tax rate of
39 cents, which was completely separate from the County budget.
The commissioners at the time were elated that the library had its
own stable funding, and they continued with the lease agreement on
the building, charging them a mere one dollar per year, which is
standard practice and makes it a binding contract. Thus, it came as
a complete shock to everyone in December 2024 when the county
commissioners brought up a proposal to terminate their lease
agreement with the library.
Some Background Information
===========================
For a little background, I sat down with Library Director Kate Lasky
last month for an interview.
"When I started here in 2009, I got a call from the State Library of
Oregon, who told me that to be considered a public library, they
needed to confirm that we had the support of the local governmental
agency," Lasky said. "Being associated with the State Library is a
value of $100,000 per year, and we couldn't lost that. So we allowed
them the lease agreement with the County, and everything was fine."
Lasky felt completely blindsided by the Board of County Commissioners
in December. "Someone called me on December 19 and said the library
was on the agenda for their meeting that day," she said. "All the
agenda listed was the address for the library. I watched the meeting
on YouTube, and Commissioner John West announced that he wanted to
terminate our lease. It was the first I had heard of it, as there
was no discussion or negotiation. West wanted to vote right then,
but Commissioner Baertschiger wanted to table it, which they did. It
was probably the worst day of my career in terms of how I felt."
At the meeting, West mentioned that the going rate for rent was
50 cents a square foot, which he later adjusted to a dollar. Since
the library building is 15,474 feet, that translates into a monthly
rent of $15,474.
"It would totally devastate our budget," Lasky said. "The
commissioners wanted me to show up at their December 23 meeting, but
I was on vacation so they changed it to January 6. Unfortunately,
our attorney wasn't available that day, so instead of postponing the
vote and getting our input, they met on January 6 and voted 3-0 to
terminate the lease agreement with 30-days notice."
The three votes included John West, who had only two days left as
commissioner after being recalled by the voters, and newly elected
commissioners Chris Barnett and Ron Smith, who were thrown into the
maelstrom after only two days on the job.
Lasky is at loss for words on the motivation behind the move. "I
have no idea why they're doing this," she said. "I don't understand
why the library is being targeted. We are providing a valuable
service to the community and, in fact, it's written into the County
Charter that the commissioners shall support a county library. The
lease agreement is there to make it a binding contract. Getting rent
money would be a drop in the bucket for them, but it would be
catastrophic for us."
The public outcry was immediate, and some of the comments on social
media were calling for a recall (sound familiar?) of the
commissioners. A protest rally held in front of the Courthouse
attracted 150 people.
When I called Commissioner Chris Barnett, he denied that they were
trying to kill the library.
"Someone put that on social media, and it is absolutely not true,"
Barnett said. "I am a big supporter of the library and even have a
library card. No one is going to be evicting the library. When we
met on January 6, it was dealing with a matter that the former Board
had presented. It came down to a question of repairs; that is the
only issue, and I welcome a conversation about it with the library."
Kate Lasky breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that.
"We really want to work with the County toward a collaborative
partnership and find a resolution," she said. "They brought up a
roof repair at the December 19 meeting, and that's the first we heard
of that. The roof has leaked the entire time I've worked in the
building, with some of the same spots every fall during rainy season.
I'm not sure why the county is interested in repairing at this time
and without notice or request from us. The library has paid for
upkeep inside the building since the nonprofit took over operating
the library in 2009. Since the district took over in 2018, we've
invested nearly $100,000. I'm not sure of the County's costs for
facilities upkeep. I imagine it varies from year to year. The
library budget does not include more than standard repairs and
maintenance, such as paying for a cleaning service and fixing broken
windows, etc."
From: <
https://sneakpre.com/Archives/GrantsPass/February2025/>
