Board Opposes Bill on Library Secession
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted this week to oppose a state bill that would make it easier for county libraries to secede from the county library system.
Recently, library support groups and city councils in cities ranging from Agoura Hills and Santa Clarita to Claremont and Hermosa Beach have expressed frustration at the lack of local control over the administration of county-run libraries in their cities.
Under the current law, if a city wants to pull its library out of the county system, it also forfeits the property taxes used to fund the library. Such a system makes it difficult to secede because few cities have the finances to fund a library on their own.
But the bill, proposed by state Sen. Dick Mountjoy (R-Arcadia), would allow cities to keep local property tax revenue to run libraries if they opt out of the county system, which has 88 libraries.
Some cities have complained that the size of the county library department makes it unresponsive to local needs--such as the desire for longer hours.
On Tuesday, Supervisors Zev Yaroslavsky, Yvonne Brathwaite Burke and Gloria Molina voted to oppose the bill, and Supervisors Mike Antonovich and Deane Dana supported the measure.
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