By Rich Bockmann
Pressure mounted on the head of the Queens Library this week as one state lawmaker called for the nonprofit executive’s resignation days after he was questioned by a special City Council oversight committee at a hearing on the library’s finances.
Citing library President and CEO Thomas Galante’s $392,000 salary and a new report revealing a lucrative side job, state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) Monday called on the non-profit executive to step down.
“You have always advocated for more funding for the Queens Library and I applaud your efforts in that regard,” Avella wrote in a letter to Galante, calling his library salary “out of line for your position” and his side-job consulting with a Long Island school district “simply unacceptable.”
The senator and former councilman said the issues surrounding Galante not only jeopardize his ability to lead the library but also to advocate for funding.
“I urge you to consider the interests of the library and its patrons and resign,” the letter concluded.
When asked for comment, the library forwarded a statement from its board of trustees, which said Galante, like all other employees, is permitted to have an outside job.
“Under the circumstances, there is no legal or common-sense basis for him to step aside, and we look forward to the organization moving forward under his leadership to ensure the library meets the critical informational needs of the people of Queens,” Chairman Gabriel Taussig and Jacqueline Arrington, chairwoman of the administrative committee, wrote in a joint statement.
Galante was grilled for nearly three hours at a hearing last week when Council members questioned him about contracting out union jobs, renovations to the central library in downtown Jamaica and his salary. The library is an independent nonprofit that receives the bulk of its funding from the city.
Galante was elusive when asked if he earned any income outside of his day job.
“Today’s about the operations of the library but we do not preclude any employee from the library from having a second job, outside income or whatever they decide to do on their own time,” he told the committee.
Over the weekend a report surfaced saying Galante earned $287,100 during a 22-month period from 2008-10 as a consultant to the Elmont Union Free School District in Nassau County.
In his letter to Galante, Avella said the second job raised the question about a possible conflict of interest and asked about funding used to renovate an area of the Jamaica library.
During his testimony, Galante said no city funding was used to renovate an outdoor deck that a news article called his private smoking area.
“You indicated during your recent testimony before the City Council hearing on these matters that money for this project did not come from municipal funds,” Avella wrote. “Did it come from donations to the Queens Library Foundation? If it did, which seems likely, were donors to the foundation made aware that their contributions were not going directly to services, books or operations?”
Reach reporter Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
