Groups can’t turn the page on library funding

Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH--Library Foundation members said their issues with trustees

are just a difference over managing finances, but the trustees said it’s

more than just money.

But no one has been willing to explain the specifics. All trustees

contacted Friday, except Chairman Jim Wood who is out of town, said there

were other issues with the foundation but declined to elaborate.

“It’s been going on for a number of years,” said Julie Ryan, vice chair

of the Newport Beach Library Board of Trustees. “We really want them to

sit down and want to clarify where the problems are and want to solve

them.” Ryan said that nothing illegal had been done by the foundation.

The problems between the two entities came to a boiling point when

trustees sent the foundation a forcefully worded letter this month

stating that unless it resolved certain demands, the relationship between

the two would be dissolved. In addition, the letter calls for a meeting

with a professional facilitator by the end of next month.

The demands include reducing the ratio between expenses to run the

foundation and funds donated to the library, creating a plan for regular

financial reporting and giving greater control of foundation operations

to the city and library board.

Foundation representatives said the main point of contention is a

difference in philosophies regarding how donated money should be handled.

“An endowment plan and endowment campaign was started some time ago with

help from the then-board of trustees,” said David Carmichael, foundation

president.

The foundation was created in 1993 as a private tax-exempt body to raise

money for the library, which technically could not raise money for

itself. Before the existing foundation, there was another that was

instrumental in raising $2 million toward the library’s construction,

said foundation board member and former Mayor Clarence Turner.

The endowment campaign, which is a typical long-term financial strategy

for foundations, sought to raise a $2.5-million nest egg in order to have

a consistent cash flow for the library. This way the library would not be

completely dependent on the city budget, Turner said.

“Having been through the dire years from 1991 to 1994 and having watched

the coffers slowly and quickly drained, I am very in tune to what can

happen at City Hall,” he said. “I think we should raise those funds and

gradually build them up for nice operating funds.”

The foundation has already raised about $1.3 million--money the trustees

said would be useful for more immediate needs at the library.

“There are large problems with the endowment fund. Also it’s

counterproductive,” Ryan said.

Both parties say they hope to resolve the issues as quickly as possible.

“I think that many of the points in the letter have already been tended

to or we’re underway in achieving what the trustees desire,” Carmichael

said.

But Ryan believes the road ahead may be longer.

“We want to make sure that when people donate money to the library that

it goes to the library and that it’s handled in a responsible manner,”

she said. “We want to make sure all the proper policies and procedures

are in place.”