Mayor Ron Harding
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AT 9:51PM ON APRIL 20, 2011:
Yelm Mayor Ron Harding wrote a letter posted on Timberland Regional Library (TRL) Board member Emmett O’Connell’s Twitter site 9 hours ago [titled “Mayor Ron Harding’s response to TRL re: Yelm Library”] that clearly draws a line in the sand and gives TRL only one option:
– to back the Mayor’s plan to buy the current facility in a condo-type arrangement or
“that if they walk away from this offer, as their Director has indicated they will, it could go down in Timberland Regional Library history as being the most incompetent decision they have or ever will make.”
Harding has yet to place all of the alternatives for a city-owned facility against each other in a prospectus for the public, library patrons, TRL Board, Mayor-appointed Yelm Library Board and taxpayers in the public’s interest in this endeavor, only touting his one option, which the public has yet to see in writing:
– buying the 2nd floor of Prairie Park as a condo agreement, with TRL kicking in more than $600,000 in outright costs. The Mayor said in his State of the City Address last February to the Yelm Chamber of Commerce financing would be required, meaning the taxpayers would be responsible for that, as well.
WOULD YOU BUY A CAR WITHOUT COMPARISON SHOPPING & SEEING THE INVOICE?
THEN WHY SHOULD ANYONE SUPPORT A PLAN THE PUBLIC HAS NOT SEEN AND HAS NOT BEEN PRESENTED AGAINST OTHER ALTERNATIVES?
As Readerlady so simply and eloquently stated on the Nisqually Valley News Web site Apr 20, 2011 7:39 AM:
“I love the library and I want it to stay just where it is but I am going to side with TRL on this one. They have rules they need to follow to protect themselves and all their patrons. Yelm has known for many years that they needed to step up to the plate and find a permanent solution to the building issue. We got lucky with the lease at Prairie Park and should have been making plans and taking action years ago to fix this upcoming problem. Its been in the media for a very long time so for our Mayor to say the 10 year mark was just a time-line to reevaluate rental property cost is ridiculous. WE in Yelm are responsible for the building, TRL for the staffing. That is just the way it is.”
Read more from TRL Board member Emmett O’Connell’s Blog titled
“Historic material for the Yelm discussion” from April 19.
Read more from O’Connell’s blog posted today “Misunderstanding of levy capacity of libraries behind Yelm situation.”
Ed. Note: As I stated last week, the “full-court-press” is on and pressuring TRL ahead of Mayor Harding’s April 27 presentation to the TRL Board to buy into only one option – that of splitting the costs of purchasing the 2nd floor of Prairie Park.
If this city put the same passion into obtaining a public library building for the last 10 years as they did to obtain/spend over a 3-year period almost $1 million for 8 flushing-ballpark toilets, Mayor Harding would be officiating proudly for the ribbon-cutting on a library jewel this fall!
Yet, the library building issue sat on the “back-burner” until the 11th hour and now the Mayor and his minions conveniently place the blame at TRL’s doorstep.
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One comment
Hi Kelsie,
No one has seen the Mayor’s Plan in writing, period!
What we do know is what the Mayor has said now for two months –
he wants Timberland to pony-up 50% of the costs of buying a facility, which he states equates to $600,000,
plus required financing.
I do not speak for Timberland, yet can easily assess what they have been saying as follows:
1. The City of Yelm has responsibility based on a contractual agreement to provide a public library building.
2. The City of Yelm has known about the fact they needed to provide a public library building for over 10 years.
3. TRL and taxpayers outside the city have put in way more money than the City of Yelm these last 10 years and is not going
participate in buying a condo or building.
Here is the document: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B8ELIKNlwWvNMGExYTlkOWUtMWYyMS00YzEyLTg5M2ItYjE0ODAwYTZkNDNl&hl=en
I am a frequent visitor to the library and know first-hand what a fine facility this locale is.
I would like to see what I stated 4 years ago when I became Yelm Library Board Chair:
– The City of Yelm provide options with a cost-benefit analysis for each library location considered and present to the public, patrons, Yelm TRL citizens Board, TRL and taxpayers.
– The City of Yelm engage a representative of the public from the Mayor-appointed Yelm citizen Library Board to present issues on the library to the public.
A representative from the fund-raising group Friends-of-the-Library is not the appropriate person to speak for Mayor Harding nor to represent the public in meetings with Mayor Harding, TRL & the newspaper.
– I have several additional ideas that were presented to the TRL Foundation 5 years ago when they approached my wife and me, which I would be happy to present in-person.
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