Community Corner

New City Watch Member Criticizes Canceled Meeting

Cites improperly canceled meeting and precarious status of library

 

Dear Editor:

The New City Library Board scheduled for April 18 was unilaterally canceled by Board President Thomas Ninan on April 17.  The cancellation was announced on the Library website with no reason given. 

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The library bylaws require that a monthly board meeting be held on the third Thursday of each month.  Cancellation of the meeting is permitted only in the event of severe weather or other emergencies.  There is no provision in the bylaws for the president to cancel a meeting because not enough of his supporters will be present to control the outcome of a vote.  (Mr. Ninan and his supporters hold a very slim majority:  5 out of 9 trustee seats.) 

Trustee Feliciano had announced earlier that he would be absent from the April meeting. Yesterday, Trustee Mulrooney notified the Board that he could not attend either.  Immediately thereafter, Mr. Ninan unilaterally canceled the meeting and had a meeting cancellation notice posted on the library’s website.  Presumably Mr. Ninan, Trustee Reiter, and Trustee Poulose suddenly became infirm, unavailable, or otherwise unable to attend.   If any one of these five trustees attended, there would have been a quorum and the library’s business could have been conducted.  Proper procedure according to the bylaws requires the board to meet as scheduled and, if a quorum of trustees is not present, the meeting is then canceled and rescheduled.  The meeting is not allowed to be canceled because of an anticipated lack of a quorum. 

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This is not the first time this violation has occurred.  Four months ago, the Annual Membership Meeting and the January Board Meeting were also canceled improperly by President Ninan.  Coincidentally, the trustees who planned to be absent at those meetings were:  Ninan, Reiter, Poulose, Mulrooney, and Feliciano.

There is a history of certain board members not attending a meeting to prevent having a quorum so the meeting would not take place.  It was attempted unsuccessfully at the December 2011 meeting.  It was successful at the November 2012 meeting and again at the January 2013 meeting.

An informal meeting was held Thursday evening, April 18, in spite of the improper cancellation.

Trustees Jeff Greenberg, Ed Kallen, George Jacobson, and Victor Berger were present and prepared to conduct the library’s business.  Many members of the public and staff were also in attendance.  Some had seen the cancellation notice on the website which appeared, then disappeared, and then appeared again.  There was general confusion as to whether a meeting would take place.  Those trustees who were present addressed the public, informed them of what they knew the circumstances to be and listen to the public’s comments. In addition, the Trustees and public listened to a presentation by a young man, a Boy Scout, who was invited by the absent Board President to speak at this meeting. Sadly, he was not informed about the cancellation. 

Mr. Greenberg stated that urgent library business is being delayed.  The search for a new Library Director must wait again.  There has been no paid director since our interim director resigned Dec. 21, 2012.  The officials in the NY State Education Department are aware of the situation and if it is not rectified, the board is aware that there could be serious consequences. The library is at risk of losing its charter. If the charter is revoked, it will no longer be entitled to receive public funds.

Mr. Greenberg stated the obvious, that the people of this community are being underserved by this board.

During the past month, a contract was apparently signed with an architect by the board president for an audio-visual department renovation project, but full board approval and the required authorization had not been obtained for this action. 

Critical information concerning the entire board is consistently not shared with Trustees Greenberg, Kallen, Jacobson, and Berger.  These trustees have never been informed by Mr. Ninan that the final director-candidate had withdrawn her application for consideration; they did however read it in The Journal-News.

Eagle Scout Project to Benefit the Library

Anthony Topino, a candidate for Eagle Scout, presented a preliminary proposal for his service project which involves landscaping and improving the area around the library’s flagpole.  The work would be done at no charge to the library, with Anthony raising funds for the construction materials.  The trustees and the public expressed their appreciation to Anthony who will follow up with a written proposal.

Public Comments

David Zuckerberg and Rosalind Hurwitz, trustees of the Ramapo Catskill Library System (RCLS) and residents of New City attended this meeting.  Mr. Zuckerberg spoke about the recent Library Advocacy Day in Albany and the need to pressure our representatives to adequately fund public libraries. State spending on libraries is down 15% since 2007 although there was a small increase this year. He acknowledged Trustee Jacobson’s valuable participation in this event.  

A member of the public stated that the absent trustees have abandoned their function as trustees.  Others agreed with this sentiment and expressed further dismay about the egregious and defiant actions of some of the trustees. 

Sincerely,
Harry Bloomfeld
On behalf of the New City Library Watch

(Mr. Bloomfeld is a former New City Library trustee.)


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