Library, foundation spar over Brokaw’s fee

Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH -- Another spat bubbled to the surface last week between

members of the library foundation and trustees -- and once again at the

center of the whirlpool was trustee chair Jim Wood.

The incident involved Distinguished Speaker Series Underwriter Jene

Whitte, as well as members of the series’ committee. This latest struggle

as well as others have stemmed from Wood’s management style. As the

months go by and the incidents continue, the circle of people fretting

over the library powerhouse being reappointed grows.

Wood, however, insists that this group is a few disgruntled people

jealous of his ability to get things done at the library.

“It’s such a minority of people,” said Wood, adding that he won’t let

that group discourage him from being reappointed by the City Council.

Ever the ideas man, Wood is credited by many for some of the

high-profile people the library series has hosted, the most current

example being his longtime friend and national NBC-TV news anchor Tom

Brokaw, who appeared Friday night.

However, committee members and others argue that it’s not the ideas

they are opposed to, but the way Wood executes them.

This recent disagreement is over the fact that Wood did not get a

written contract from Brokaw. As a result, some committee members say

that they did not budget for the money to hire him and may not have any

seed money to secure next year’s speakers. The committee usually counts

on having at least $15,000 in hard cash to secure the following year’s

speakers. Still, trustee and committee chair Bob Knox pointed out that if

the money pledged to the event rolls in then the committee will have

funds for next year.

The annual series, which costs about $88,000 to put on, is one of the

library’s star attractions. It is organized by a mix of community members

including library trustees and foundation members. This year, the event

featured activist Susan Faludi, scientist Jay Gould and China specialist

Orville Schell. While the foundation receives donations for the library,

the trustees decide how the money will be spent.

While Wood admits that he did not get a formal contract because his

30-year friendship with Brokaw would be honored, he denies that he never

told committee members that it would cost $20,000 to retain the speaker.

The costs of this year’s speakers range from $12,000 for Schell to

$30,000 for Gould. Wood said he told the committee just after the first

of the year that Brokaw was asking for a $20,000 speaking fee. However,

both co-chairs admitted that they did not hear about it until a few weeks

ago.

“My best recollection is that we were always led to believe that this

was going to be free,” said committee member and library foundation board

member Lizanne Whitte.

A Feb. 4 budget for the series, which outlines the costs for all the

speakers, has nothing next to Brokaw’s name.

For donors and outstanding pledges, the bigger issue may be precisely

how the $20,000 will be used. According to Wood, Brokaw told him he would

like to donate half of his fee to his favorite charities and return the

other half to the library.

However, instead of giving the $10,000 back to the lecture series,

Wood announced at a Newport Beach City Council meeting Tuesday that the

money would be used to buy 500 electronic books.

And this struck a nerve with one of the underwriters of the series,

Jene Whitte, who made a sharp public comment.

“Who’s going to tell this to the Creans and [other major donors]?” she

said following Wood’s announcement. “They didn’t give this to another

charity they gave it to the speakers. It’s not exactly what they would

want.”

Whitte said that her biggest concern is that money given to the

library go where donors, like herself, intend for it to go.

This incident hints at the current of acrimony that lies just below

the surface of polite banter between foundation and trustee members.

Despite a recent peace agreement signed by the two bodies after six

months of bickering, there are clearly still kinks in the relationship.

The larger dispute surfaced last fall when library trustees made

accusations of financial mismanagement and in a sharply worded letter

threatened to sever the relationship between the two bodies. Neither an

audit nor any of the financial documents reflected anything amiss with

the foundation’s money.

Thrown into the mix was Elizabeth Stahr, a library heavyweight who

headed the first foundation that raised millions to build the Central

Library. She accused Wood of having conflicting interests in heading the

trustees as well as spearheading an effort to build a $12-million Arts

and Education Center behind the library.

The two groups eventually agreed to meet, with the full intention of

solving the dispute. The mix of strong personalities and complex

accusations, however, led to the talks continually falling apart. The

fight eventually culminated in a standoff in front of City Council

members, who reluctantly stepped in.

Early this month the cloud finally appeared to be lifting when the two

groups signed a “peace agreement” outlining their respective roles.