Library groups far from detente

Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH -- The feud dividing the Newport Beach Public Library is

clearly not resolved despite promises from foundation members and

trustees that an agreement would be hammered out this week.

“On Tuesday night, we granted them (the library foundation) an extension

of 30 days,” said an exasperated Jim Wood, chairman of the board of

trustees.

Neither Wood nor foundation chair Dave Carmichael would divulge the

details of the proposed agreement.

After an October letter from trustees threatening to dissolve their

relationship with the foundation, the two sides decided to meet with City

Manager Homer Bludau, who acted as mediator.

Since then, they have been holding marathon meetings in an attempt to

iron out who should control the library’s finances. The relationship is

supposed to be symbiotic -- while the foundation raises money, the

trustees decide how it’s spent on the library.

While these meetings were initially difficult, all parties involved were

optimistic and hopeful that the issues would be resolved by the end of

the year.

Both Carmichael and Wood said the dispute was mainly a

miscommunication problem. Eventually, the two groups -- including four

foundation members and five trustees -- were confident enough to meet

without a moderator.

“Collectively, the trustees have had 40 hours of meetings,” Wood said.

The two drafted a cooperating agreement, outlining what kind of changes

they would make to their relationship. But it now appears that resolving

the problems will take much more.

With Bludau no longer moderating, negotiations appear to have lost

momentum. While the trustees approved of the agreement, there were

problems when it was presented to the rest of the 21-member foundation

board.

“Our [foundation] has concerns about the fact that they didn’t have

enough time to think through all the ramifications,” Carmichael said.

He added that the trustees are insisting to have greater control over the

foundation’s finances in the agreement. This is an issue that directly

contradicts the private foundation’s independence, Carmichael said. As a

result, the trustees agreed to give the foundation another month to

consider the agreement.

The trustees first approached the foundation about the perceived problems

a year ago without any change, Wood said. The more the trustees pressed

the foundation, the less willing the foundation was to talk, he said.

However, the public wasn’t aware of how strained relations had become

until October, when the trustees wrote a letter threatening to dissolve

ties with the foundation. The letter demanded that the foundation reduce

its operating costs, regularly give clear financial reports to the

trustees and give greater control of the foundation’s operations to the

city and library board.

The struggle over financial control began in part because the foundation

is attempting to build a $2.5-million endowment fund for the library to

rely on during financially tight years. As such, the foundation proposed

giving trustees 42% less money than normal next year.

And this was unacceptable to the trustees, who already feel that the

foundation is spending more than necessary on operating costs. Trustees

accused the foundation of spending anywhere from 50% to 70% on operating

costs, but foundation members insist that the organization runs on less

than 15% of total donations, which is typical of libraries.

Portions of the bitter dispute have also bled into other local issues.

Elizabeth Stahr, who began the first foundation that raised millions to

build the library, recently accused Wood of violating city policy by

chairing two different committees. Wood also chairs a group proposing to

build a $12-million Arts and Education Center behind thelibrary.

Though Wood insists he has not started raising funds for the project,

Stahr believes he has and said his efforts directly compete with the

library foundation’s campaign.

Despite this, both Wood and Carmichael feel that given a little more

time, the two groups will be able to sort everything out. The extra month

will allow the foundation and trustees to forge a stronger relationship

to begin the new year, Carmichael said.