The City Council was primed Wednesday night to give up trying
for the third round of state library construction money, having
been unsuccessful twice, but changed its mind when Councilman Steve
Tate threw a bombshell into its midst.
The City Council was primed Wednesday night to give up trying for the third round of state library construction money, having been unsuccessful twice, but changed its mind when Councilman Steve Tate threw a bombshell into its midst.
Tate told his colleagues that not to submit a grant request would eliminate the city from consideration for a share in $2.05 billion in two future library construction and renovation bond issues being prepared by state Sen. Dede Alpert, D-San Diego and Assemblywoman Ellen Corbett, D-Hayward. The two bond issues, if they make it out of committee, would not appear on a ballot before November 2004.
The city Library Commission had recommended the council forego preparing a third grant proposal because the revisions required to resubmit are labor-and-time intensive, not a good thing during the busy holiday season.
“Half the money would be awarded to people who participate in the third phase of Prop. 14,” Tate said. “If we put our heads down and go forward, I think we can do this.”
A state library review board told the commission, some council members and county librarians that the city needed a new needs assessment – the document that lists in great detail how many people will use which room or library service how many times in a given period. Morgan Hill’s needs assessment will be 5 years old before the Jan. 16 grant request due date; the state board will not accept needs assessments older than five years.
The grant preparers also must beef up the technology section and rework the city/library/school district’s joint use agreement.
Tate said the county library people – former Morgan Hill Librarian Sarah Flowers is now county deputy librarian – offered to help run the needs assessment.
“We can use Critical Solutions,” Tate said to tune up the technology section for $7,000.” Critical Solutions was a consultant on the second grant application.
“There isn’t time to change the joint use agreement with school district,” Tate said. Many other applicants are in same situation, he said.
“It is the recommendation of the county librarians,” Tate said, “that we go for round three.”
Library Commissioner Chuck Dillmann threw a splash of cold water at the dais.
“We need to face reality here,” Dillmann told the council. “The only chance we had to get it (the bond money) was in the first round and we blew that.”
Dillmann said the city probably shouldn’t even have bothered with the second round.
“It’s tough to award a grant to a city that has a beautiful new community and cultural center, is building an aquatic center and an indoor recreation center,” Dillmann said. He suspected the Alpert/Corbett bond issue won’t get out of committee, given the state’s tight financial situation, and there won’t be any money for Morgan Hill anyway.
“We need to find other resources besides state grants,” Dillmann said. “The committee needs to figure out how to get a library some other way.”
Library Commission Chairwoman Jeanne Gregg told the council that she and Dillmann are on the same page.
“I totally agree with what Chuck said,” Gregg said. “It’s a false hope that we’ll get a library from any other source than our own. Besides, continuing to compete for this state money takes attention away from doing it ourselves.”
Gregg also punctured the idea that the city could submit a proposal and change it later when there is more time.
“If you apply for bond money, you aren’t applying for money,” she said. “You are applying to build a library that way. (By pursuing these grants,) we are putting off further and further the reality of accomplishing a library.”
Gregg said the fact Morgan Hill has no new library, despite being promised one when voters approved the Redevelopment Agency amendment in 1999, is causing other problems.
She has been organizing a workforce to educate voters about a parcel tax increase appearing on the March 2004 ballot and has run into unexpected resistance from former library supporters.
The parcel tax would increase the countywide assessment that operates the Morgan Hill and eight other county libraries, buying books, paying staff, keeping the doors open six days a week. The current assessment of $33.66 per parcel, sunsets in 2005.
“You need a flack suit now to even talk about a library,” Gregg said. “People who voted for the RDA think it’s a done deal. If we don’t have some kind of commitment for voters of Morgan Hill, they’ll defeat it (the parcel tax) because they don’t have a new library. And if they defeat it by enough they’ll defeat it for the other eight cities in the district.”
“Voters will be asked to approve $42 per parcel for only seven years without any escalator,” Tate said earlier.
Gregg said that the $33.66 assessment paid 40 percent of library operating costs when it was approved in 1995.
“That amount now covers only 24 percent of costs,” she said.
“The Joint Powers Authority (that operates the Santa Clara County Library System) will lose $1 million if that happens,” Gregg said. She predicted that the libraries will have to cut their hours if that happens.
Despite objections from Library Commissioners, the council agreed to have the library subcommittee review the issue and report back at the Dec. 3 meeting.
Councilman Gregg Sellers asked that people get right down to work, before the meeting, if it decides to go ahead, given the already too-short time available.
