+17 votes
by (620 points)
Niles Library – Board of Trustees Recently the Board of Trustees voted “Yes” to authorize Administration (@mazy1695 Lempke) to pay bills without the Boards approval. Trustees… We elected you to represent us (the tax payer) and you voted away your responsibility. What next? Send this Board a message and call 847-663-6650…. Your comments will be automatically sent to each Board member.  
Niles Library – Board of Trustees Recently the Board of Trustees voted “Yes” to authorize Admi

8 Answers

0 votes
by (530 points)
Explain to your constituents why!  
by (2.7k points)
For all to see just in case you didn’t know. Here is the tax dollars hard at work. None of the people have been furloughed or laid off while the library is closed. How much I’m salary is getting paid to sit home? Justification on this executive director?  
by (570 points)
@kaylor WAIT What?! 134K DOING What?! 107k what!?  
by (2.7k points)
@joo863 $236k in salaries for just those employees over the last 2 months the building is closed. That’s 23. 6% of what the library “saved” us for taxes already spent. The village and parks have both cut staff, aren’t paying part time employees yet the library spends spends spends.  
by (800 points)
@mazy1695, just wanted to share a word of encouragement to you and the rest of the library staff. My husband and I decided to move to Niles 3 years ago to start our family. In those 3 years I have been beyond impressed with the services the library offers both before I had kids and even more after. Part of this pandemic being hard is not being able to take my son to the library to read books and play. However, I was very pleasantly surprised by the effort I've seen put in even while the building was closed to create and share online resources including the virtual storytimes. The staff at the library are certainly not just sitting at home, but trying to find new and innovative ways to serve the community during this difficult time. I am also very glad that you and the rest of the leadership have taken this approach rather than laying people off. Keep up the good work.  
by (620 points)
@feathery3 Megan, thanks for your Comment.  
+3 votes
by (2.9k points)
Yup! Out of 12 million dollars to work with to abate to help Niles tax payers they approved ONLY 1 million! Real help. It is so important to remember on the Nov ballot there is a referendum question about TER@retirement limits for Niles Lib Trustees. Please check YES to support term limits! This is the first step get new people that actual care about tax payers of Niles. The director and most of the board spend spend spend-always!  
by (1.9k points)
@offload0 my friend who is very knowledgeable was running. He was blocked by one of the current trustees who fought every step on the way in the cook county court system to keep him off the ballot.  
by (5.8k points)
@ivonneivor265 , My husband and neighbor were on the board for several years. They had everything under control during that time but of course were voted out because they were the only intelligent ones on the board who know how to curb the spending and spend the correct way.  
by (620 points)
@derward Thank you for you service Connie. It reassuring to know that a change of Trustees can make a difference. Please vote next November for term limits.  
by (5.8k points)
@slayton6964 , I will! And will make sure others do as well!  
+7 votes
by (1.5k points)
@ivonneivor265 kwas k - I remember that over a very petty reason clearly they were worried about getting someone in who actually cared
by (1.9k points)
@steffy267 you are correct!  
+1 vote
by (6.3k points)
Maybe tax payers money shouldn’t go to library and they can fund themselves.  
by (820 points)
@polycrates this would not work.  
+9 votes
by (2.7k points)
I just hope some real candidates step up and try to bring this back to reality.  
by (1.3k points)
@kaylor time for you to run!  
by (2.7k points)
@klipspringer definitely something to think about!  
+2 votes
by (2.5k points)
Funny I was at the board meeting and I don’t remember that you only have the power if the board was unable to approve the bills themselves. Can’t believe I missed that?  
by (620 points)
@defalcate It was item (D) on the April 15th meeting.  
+5 votes
by (2.2k points)
Allowing the Library Director to pay bills under emergency circumstances in which thr Board cannot meat sounds like governing responsibly to me.  
by (2.7k points)
@tape797 $226, 500 in salaries the last 2 months with a building closed. Does that sound like a responsibility to you also
by (2.2k points)
@kaylor That's shifting the topic. My comment was about emergency spending authority.  
by (2.7k points)
@tape797 emergency spending if the couldn’t get a meeting. They have had meetings and the board still isn’t approving it. Sure if there was an emergency that’s one thing. There hasn’t been. So justification of the Director paying bills without permission is a joke and shame on the board.  
by (2.2k points)
@kaylor So we are agreed that authorizing the Director to pay bills in the event of an emergency is a responsible decision.  
by (2.7k points)
@tape797 sure. However, in Susans own words she has said in another post that it was in case they couldn’t get a quorum. Have they had this problem? No. So they should still be approving spending and paying bills.  
by (2.2k points)
We are in agreement on that point. The Library Director should not be authorized to approve the payment of bills unless there are truly extrordinary circumstances.  
by (2.7k points)
@tape797 great. Now how about $226, 500 in salaries for a building that should have maybe 2 people employed right now?  
by (110 points)
Hi! I'm sorry you're feeling frustrated, I know this is a really stressful time for everyone, but I'm a ft librarian at Niles-Maine District Library and I'd love to promote some of the great work we've been doing outside the building during the stay-at-home order. I'd hate for anyone to feel confused about what it is we offer Niles. Even though the physical building is closed, the "library" isn't. We've all been hard at work creating and hosting live virtual programming for all ages, creating and posting static programs that are available at any time, adjusting our summer reading programming so patrons can still engage in it online, rewriting our summer newsletter (which is something we usually do months in advance, but we needed to act quickly to respond to our current situation), ordering and processing materials for our patrons so new items are available once curbside is safe, taking shifts answering live chat questions through our website, researching and responding to patron questions over email, buying new digital materials and expanding the number of digital materials patrons can download at the a time, attending training webinars to keep up with our professional development, and more. That's just a little bit of what I'm doing, but I know my incredible coworkers in other departments are doing even more. As a librarian I love nothing more than serving our community and providing patrons with resources they need and I'm personally very impressed with our staff's ability to adjust our service during such a scary time.  
by (2.2k points)
@kaylor No, we're not in agreement on that point. Laying off the library staff would be penny-wise but pound-foolish. They are skilled professional workers supervising long-term projects. It would cost more money in the long run to try to replace them once the library is re-opened later this year. (plus, recall that nobody knew how long we would be quarantined for). Now, on a different note, I find that FB is great for snark and sloganeering, but it is difficult to have a thoughtful exchange of ideas among gentlemen. Therefore, I'd like to invite you out to meet in person. I'd be happy to join you for a cup of coffee and a chat at a local park or (once we get into Phase 3), I'd like to invite you to my home for discussion. Please let me know if this sounds good to you. I'm not interested in social media keyboard wars.  
by (2.7k points)
@tape797 thanks but I’ll pass at this time. There is a time and place for everything. Covid is not the time or place.  
by (2.2k points)
@kaylor I'll do a rain check. Until then, be well.  
by (2.7k points)
@tape797 you as well.  
by (2.7k points)
@gantlet402 thanks for that information. And while that all sounds great, you would usually do all this plus have the library open working with people in the community as they come in, etc. you want to say you need 20 hours a week, fine. But to pay full time employees a full 40 hours is crazy. The village, the parks, businesses all over have adapted and made layoffs, furloughs and major tough decisions. The library just spends. Taking a million dollars off is a joke when they are paying just about a quarter million in salaries through this covid situation. I appreciate all the work the staff does but right now there should be adjustments.  
by (110 points)
It breaks my heart to hear anyone advocate for cutting people’s livelihood in a state of emergency.  
by (2.7k points)
@gantlet402 what about the people who have lost their livelihood and have to pay the taxes for the library to keep spending money? What about the fact that millions are in reserve and the library could have cut all the taxes period or the $2 Million option? That breaks my heart for the whole community of Niles.  
by (820 points)
@@tape797 thank you and I agree that this shouldn't be a forum for badmouthing to this extent. I do value a heads up about bad experiences but this is not appropriate. @@gantlet402 and Susan, thank you for your input.  
by (2.7k points)
@baleful4779 not sure it’s inappropriate talking about salaries being spent and how much it costs niles tax payers.  
by (620 points)
@tape797 That was my point Mathew
0 votes
by (5.8k points)
For all you people who have never been to a library board meeting, you should go. Several people , myself included left in disgust. Could not believe what transpired at this meeting!  
by (530 points)
Examples please.  
by (820 points)
@derward which meeting? I will watch it.  
by (2.7k points)
@baleful4779 @derward I know if you want to see disgust for our country one minute into the April meeting the library board president says that saying the pledge on a virtual meeting is irrelevant! And watch January and February’s when Carolyn asks questions about $3, 500 to a guy that’s out of business and the number doesn’t work. The staff and other board members are so disrespectful. It’s time this board changes.  
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