Referendum death sentence to library

Franta J. Broulik of Lambertville
The City of Lambertville’s proposed referendum to “de-municipalize” the Lambertville Free Public Library is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
From news accounts and statements by public officials, the referendum would appear to offer the following advantages:
   • It would supposedly save money for Lambertville taxpayers.
   • It would supposedly maintain local control of the library and its programs and continue its independence from the Hunterdon County library system.
   • It would supposedly provide all or most of the benefits of membership in the county library system at a discounted cost.
   • It would supposedly guarantee the continued operation of a library within the city limits.
   • It would supposedly rescue the city from a financial crisis.
   In fact, none of these supposed advantages is correct. Here is what would really happen.
   If the referendum were to pass, city taxpayers would pay both the city and the county to fund the library. Instead of the current total of $118.59 per household, taxpayers would pay $88.82 per household to the county plus an estimated $58.47 per household to the city, based on Mayor Del Vecchio’s stated intentions to fund the library at about half its current level.
   If the referendum were to pass, the library would transmogrify into a hybrid with two bureaucratic bosses, both with higher priorities: the City Council and mayor and the county library administration and county freeholders.
   The longstanding Lambertville library board of trustees would be disbanded.
   Every year, instead of the guaranteed state-mandated funding, the library would have to compete for funding with all the other city entities — police, public works, all City Hall operations. Further, the library would have to negotiate with the county from a weakened position for whatever services it could get on a non-member basis. The county would get a great deal — partial control of the library without having to pay for staffing, basic operating costs or building maintenance.
   If the referendum were to pass, the county library would give Lambertville residents access to its collections, but the tradeoff would be onerous. The level of services, such as technical support, the county library would provide, under a contract that would expire, would not begin to offset the loss of the extensive programs the Lambertville library now offers the entire community, particularly the popular and plentiful children’s programs.
   Indeed, the funding for children’s programs might not be sufficient to hold on to the library’s award-winning children’s librarian, Jennifer Sirak.
   If the referendum were to pass, the actual existence of the library would be in the hands of the mayor and City Council. While the current mayor has said he would not close the library, there would be no legal protection as there is now, and in politics, everything is subject to change as circumstances and elected officials change.
   If the city decided not to fund the library, the county would gladly step in and absorb the library into the county wide system with the likely result the Lambertville site would be closed as soon as a long-desired new south county branch could be built elsewhere.
   If the referendum were to pass, it would be an extreme action based on a spurious emergency.
   Mayor Del Vecchio asserts this action is the only answer to the city’s 2008 budget squeeze, and it must happen immediately or city operations could be in jeopardy.
   As president of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, Mayor Del Vecchio acknowledges legislative remedies at the state level are still possible.
   There are 245 other municipalities facing the same situation, and the governor and members of the Legislature have promised to work on a solution.
   After a meeting with the governor and Legislature members, the Jamesburg City Council recently dropped the idea of a similar referendum, deciding such a move was too hasty.
   So beware. The proposed referendum is not what it seems.
   Instead of a winning solution, it is a precipitous and irreversible step that could lead to a death sentence for a vibrant community asset.
   Please do not let that happen.
Franta J. Broulik
Lambertville