Richmond Hill council boots out 5 library board members, seeks 2 more
“I, in my good conscience, cannot support any of the stuff, based on the understanding of the situation as it is,” Coun. David West
Yorkregion.com
August 19, 2019
Shelia Wang
The Richmond Hill Public Library Board is facing a reshuffle, following a special council meeting held in the middle of the summer break.
Richmond Hill council decided to remove five citizen members from the current 12-member public library board, and expects to receive recommendations from York Region District School Board and York Catholic District School Board for two new citizen members to start on the board in late September.
It was a result of a 5-to-3 vote at the meeting Aug. 12 where councillors came to the conclusion after a one-hour discussion in a closed session.
The resolution essentially overturned a council decision on July 9 that would have expanded the library board from 12 to 17 members by adding five citizen members.
The public library board is likely to return to its traditional size of nine people; four councillors and five citizen members.
Coun. Greg Beros who moved the motion and the seconder Coun. Tom Muench didn't make any comment at the meeting. They both currently serve on the library board.
“We acknowledged the fact we cannot appoint any more people,” said Mayor Dave Barrow who voted in favour of the motion. “And when we did do the appointments, we were not doing them properly based on the library act because of the timing. We went too far along.”
Council called the meeting after receiving a letter from Louise Procter Maio, chief executive officer of the library board, who raised grave concerns about the legitimacy of appointments of board members made by council, Barrow said.
It is stipulated in the Public Libraries Act that the first appointments of members of a new board shall be made at the first meeting of council in each term, or within 60 days if council fails to do so at the first meeting.
In May, council appointed three councillors to the library board, and decided to appoint five more citizen members two months later.
“It was in the opinion of the CEO that we can do neither. What we did find out was the fact that she was right,” Barrow said, noting councillors had a closed session to receive legal advice at the meeting.
In the session, council also found out that the city's Library Board Composition bylaw requires the appointments of some citizen members of the library board be based on recommendations by York Region District School Board and York Catholic District School Board.
However, Barrow said council did not seek recommendations from the schools boards when appointing the citizen members which consequently invalidated some of the appointments as well.
In an attempt to rectify the contraventions of the library act and the city's bylaw, the motion was introduced to council to remove five out of the eight citizen members from the board.
Four councillors -- Beros, Muench, Perrelli and Joe DiPaola -- remain on the library board.
At least two new citizen members will be appointed to the board as the libraries act requires the number of council members on the board not to exceed the majority of the library board.
“I, in my good conscience, cannot support any of the stuff, based on the understanding of the situation as it is,” said Coun. David West, who voiced his opposition before voting against the motion along with councillors Karen Cilevitz and Godwin Chan.
Councillor Castro Liu was absent from the meeting. He was the only councillor initially appointed to the board at the beginning of this term before being replaced by Regional Coun. Carmine Perrelli in May following his resignation from the board.
Bound by confidentiality obligations, several councillors told The Liberal they cannot discuss the matter because it was deliberated in a closed-session.
“The only comment I can make is that I remain extremely concerned about the situation at hand,” Cilevitz said.
In addition to a flurry of changes to its composition, the library board has had a bumpy ride since the very beginning of this term.
Here is a timeline of what happened with the Richmond Hill Library Board for the past six months:
Feb. 19 Richmond Hill library service may suffer as council considers 2019 budget
CEO Louise Procter Maio made a presentation at a budget meeting recommending a 5.9 per cent hike in the budget increase for the library services after council adopted a 2.4 per cent increase at a previous meeting.
March 28 Richmond Hill library board addresses impact of budget constraints
The newly-appointed library board addressed the impact of the funding constraints at their first board meeting. Board chair David Bishop said Sunday services would be one of the options for the board to consider as well.
April 22 Richmond Hill library makes ‘difficult' decision to cut Sunday service, reduce staff
The library board confirmed their decision to close he central branch -- the only library that offers Sunday service during the summer months in the Richmond Hill and Aurora area -- from June 9 to Sept. 1 this year. The library board is also cutting three positions from staff and another three new staff requests.
May 7 Richmond Hill council appoints 3 councillors to library board
Council voted 8 to 1 to approve a motion adding Deputy Mayor Joe DiPaola, Ward 1 Coun. Greg Beros and Ward 2 Coun. Tom Muench to the library board for the term of December 2018 to November 2020.
May 16 Richmond Hill library approves Sunday service, 4 councillors start on board
The Richmond Hill Public Library board voted unanimously to approve a motion keeping the central branch open for this summer at a meeting on May 16. It was the first meeting since four councillors were appointed.
July 9 Richmond Hill council to expand library board despite concerns
A majority of councillors voted to expand the 12-member library board to 17 at a council meeting on July 9, four months after the new term of the board was officially formed.
