Buy a Little Something Nice for Yourself, ClarkOne of my favorite scenes in Chevy Chase’s Christmas Vacation is between Clark W. Griswold (Chevy Chase) and Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) in the grocery store aisle. Clark offers to pick up the tab when Eddie admits he has no money to buy Christmas presents for his kids. Eddie, for a split second, refuses Clark’s offer, then promptly whips out his Christmas list, hands it to Clark saying with a wink: “And I really want you to get a little something nice for yourself from me, too, Clark.”
Clark was to buy himself a Christmas gift from Eddie using his own money. Has something similar happened in IRB?
It was recently announced that the Friends of the Library are springing for new computers for the IRB Library. How nice…except...what if the money this group is so magnanimously pledging belongs to us, the taxpayers of IRB? The question has never been answered (or even addressed publicly!) whether any portion of the funds the Friends of the Library, Inc. amassed while under contract to operate the IRB Library belongs to the City.
Earlier this year, the commission abruptly voted for the City to assume total control of the operation of the IRB Library and, as a result, the “library lease agreement” between the City and the Friends was voided. There was no workshop, no public discussion or even low rumblings about this change—until it actually happened. Many citizens wondered why the procedure whereby a commissioner suggests workshopping significant items before voting yea or nay fell by the wayside.
This begs the question: If the impending change to the library operation was never mentioned publicly, how did it even get put on an agenda for a vote? Is the same "conduit" that has produced "other suprises" responsbile? Were the five commissioners polled, behind the scenes, for a consensus to ram this change through? Was Sunshine Law violated here?
The lease agreement that had been in effect for nearly a decade states that “all revenues” from the operation of the library be deposited into the City of IRB treasury. But, the commission, in essence, authorized the Friends to “waltz out the door” with somewhere in the neighborhood of $80,000, no questions asked. The City got squat.
Why hasn’t our commission publicly asked for proof that the funds, now in possession of the Friends of the IRB Library, are truly theirs? Never bite the hand that elects you, right? Is it the same reason why the commission wrangled for the better part of a half hour over cutting three cell phones from the final budget, with not even a whisper about cutting the library or the librarian? (How many cell phones must be cut to make up for a $900,000+ mistake?)
IRB will chase former City Manager Al Grieshaber, spending more money than can ever be recovered, yet no questions were asked of the Friends about an amount of money that makes the alleged Grieshaber grab pale by comparison?
Being fair...maybe the monies DO belong to the Friends. Who knows! The fact that no commissioner has publicly offered any support for that notion makes me wonder. When I requested public records regarding the operation of library well over a year ago, I was, after a huge tussle, handed about two dozen worthless sheets of paper. Those “records” were provided only after the State Attorney’s Office informed the City that the library, because of being operated in the public interest, was indeed subject to Florida Public Records Law. The fact that it was operated by an outside source didn't matter. I was initially denied these documents on the basis that public records law didn’t apply. The reason for my request was to try to get a handle on how much revenue the library was generating in membership fees, fines and other charges. I was never able to do that with the records provided. If the commission was provided the same records that I was, they wouldn't have been able to suss it out either. So, how are they so sure the money isn't ours?
Once again, none of our five commissioners has publicly asked the Friends for proof that the funds they “left with” are theirs. Was this the commission’s way of “protecting” these monies in a lockbox so they weren’t reflected in the next year’s budget? This way, there was no risk that public pressure could force reallocation of these monies elsewhere...say to police protection. Some astute citizen may have even dared to point out that if building reserves is so important, why not put these funds back to the bottom line and not spend them for anything. Either by coincidence or design, the impromptu change to the library operation happened just as IRB’s financial problems began to emerge.
Who do the Friends' funds belong to? If the monies they are so graciously pledging actually belong to us, we are buying computers for ourselves--Cousin Eddie-style. Merry Christmas, Clark. Ho! Ho! Ho!
Nancy Obarski
Beach Trail/IRB
2 comments:
Some institutions as well as some individuals are untouchables here in town. They can do no wrong. Here in IRB, people tend to have selective memories regarding past events, where by all accounts, based on how events resulted, these very same individuals who were completely and utterly wrong, are not only not held accountable, as if they were correct all along. Plenty of these people are here in town. Remember then look around. Many of the same individuals speaking out against the commission today are the very same individuals who openly supported them during the last and previous election. I find this very dishonorable. I am saddened the integrity of so many has sunk so low. Worse yet, they are allowed a pass by many who know the truth. Truth and honor has left IRB. Today we live in the age of deception.
Cousin Eddie,
will you buy me a new library? Ok Clark its your money.........ah haaa I get it, I get it.
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