Eight former Timberland Regional Library (TRL) Board of Trustees members are supporting the call for an independent investigation into TRL’s operations amid sweeping layoffs and an ongoing budget crisis.
Retired TRL trustees Bob Hall, Corby Varness, Brian Zylstra, Edna Fund, Brenda Hirschi, Gene Weaver, Judy Weaver and Nicolette Oliver, submitted a letter to the editor to The Chronicle on Friday, March 20, addressing the current TRL Board of Trustees.
The letter is below:
We are deeply concerned about Timberland Regional Library. This organization is largely funded by taxes paid by the citizens of Grays Harbor, Pacific, Mason, Lewis and Thurston counties. As such, TRL is answerable to the public for the way this tax revenue is spent.
In January, the library administration was shocked by a $3.8 million shortfall. How did this happen? Staff reorganizations that were supposed to save money, instead cost more than expected. Multiple cars were purchased. Is an administration that did not see this severe shortfall coming, qualified to manage a $30 million budget?
TRL administration could have taken serious cost-cutting measures over the past several years. Instead, they pushed to continue with elaborate and expensive library ‘refreshes’, and pay raises were repeatedly given to top level staff. As recently as the beginning of January, new employees were hired, only to be let go two weeks later. This underscores the fact that this administration did not anticipate this large shortfall.
The administration’s answer to this crisis is to issue layoff notices to many front-line staff who are the heart and soul of this district. This severe reduction in staff may eventually result in closed branches.
The TRL Board of Trustees should serve the public, not the administration. It is the job of the trustees to question financial decisions, support ALL library staff, approve the budget, and make policy. The Board should not exist to rubber stamp whatever is put in front of them.
Installing extended access systems, then reducing or eliminating staff and possibly closing branch libraries seems to be the plan for TRL, while other library systems in Washington are operating within similar budget constraints without resorting to these measures.
Therefore, we are calling for an administrative performance audit to identify misfeasance. We call for an independent investigation into how TRL makes financial decisions and expenditures. In the interim, and most urgently, we call for a hold on any layoffs. The administrators who have ineptly spent their way into this dire situation must be held accountable by the TRL Board of Trustees.
The TRL Board of Trustees is currently made up of five members: Brian Mittge and Hal Blanton representing Lewis County; Dustin Loup representing Grays Harbor County; Toni Gwin representing Pacific County; and Mary Beth Harrington representing Thurston County. Two positions, one representing Thurston County and one representing Mason County, are currently vacant.
The board is facing major public backlash after it granted TRL Executive Director Cheryl Heywood blanket authority on Feb. 25 to lay off staff in response to a $3.8 million deficit.
The move was opposed by hundreds of public commenters, including library workers union representatives and local government officials, ahead of the meeting.
After a couple weeks of negotiations with the TRL workers union, TRL sent layoff notices to 44 employees on Sunday, March 15, after accepting 17 voluntary layoffs.
The layoffs go into effect May 15.
The union representing TRL staff, AFSCME Local 3758-B, has since confirmed that all layoffs were frontline staff in the positions of library assistant, librarian or public service specialist.
All laid off employees were members of the union, a spokesperson confirmed Friday.
TRL management has said one non-represented employee was laid off in February, according to the union.
Some of the laid-off union members are eligible for small severance stipends, and the union is working with partners like the Washington State Labor Council to help those who will lose their jobs.
“The union members are profoundly distressed,” union representative Beth Gawne said in response to a reporter’s question about how members are responding to the layoff announcements. “These individuals are public service employees who demonstrate a deep commitment to the library patrons and the services they offer daily. The repercussions of losing colleagues and friends will resonate for an extended period within this tightly connected group of staff members. They are concerned that these substantial budget cuts will affect the public patrons of the Timberland Regional Library System, who have come to depend on its services.”
The union led the call for an independent audit into TRL’s finances when TRL announced budget cuts in January, weeks after approving a collective bargaining agreement with the union.
TRL had assured the union during negotiations in the fall that the budget was stable and no layoffs were planned.
While Heywood previously said TRL was “working closely” with the union to administer the layoffs, Gawne said that "’working closely’ is not how our team would describe” the meetings with TRL administration.
“Technically speaking, TRL has been willing to meet with the union. However, we still have fundamental disagreements that have not been addressed,” Gawne said in an email to the Thurston Chronicle on Friday in response to a reporter’s questions about the negotiations.
“Our position is that the situation is unfavorable, as fundamental disagreements exist over the interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement regarding these layoffs,” Gawne stated. “We have conducted multiple meetings with the employer's representatives to articulate our opposition to their proposed application of the layoff procedure, which was mutually agreed upon in the contract. However, the employer has persisted in maintaining their stance.”
The union and community partners are continuing to call for accountability from TRL management and the TRL Board of Trustees.
“We are currently exploring all options available to our union under our state's collective bargaining laws and legal remedies,” Gawne stated Friday.
An online petition with demands to TRL that include requiring budget transparency, amending the requirements to serve on the board of trustees to widen eligibility and replacing directors and administrative staff had approximately 1,731 signatures as of Friday afternoon.
