Pols Turn Up Heat Over Scandal
Despite mounting pressure from elected officials and several ongoing investigations, the Queens Borough Public Library’s board of trustees opted last Thursday, Apr. 3, not to remove its president and CEO from office-a vote that could literally prove costly to the nonprofit.
The board was split 9-9 on a motion to force Thomas Galante into a leave of absence while investigations into the library’s finances continue. The library boss came under fire for having a nearly $400,000 annual salary and authorizing a six-figure renovation of his Jamaica office, even as the library cut staff and reduced services.
Reportedly, Galante also faced criticism for accepting a second sixfigure salary for providing consulting services to the Elmont Union School District in Nassau County while still leading Queens Library.
Through its deadlocked vote, the board rebuffed calls made last week by Queens Borough President Melinda Katz for Galante to step aside. Katz and other lawmakers held a press conference earlier last Thursday announcing legislation to institute greater oversight at Queens Library-but the nonprofit entity insisted it was carrying out reforms on its own.
According to published reports, Queens Library’s Board of Trustees voted on Galante’s fate at the end of a five-hour meeting last Thursday night. Reportedly, the body waited for a member to arrive from Florida before calling the question.
In a Mar. 31 letter to Gabriel Taussig, chair of the Board of Trustees, Katz indicated Galante’s continued leadership of the library puts the entire system in a precarious financial spot. Queens Library requested nearly $300 million in capital funding from the city for the 2015 fiscal year; it received more than $144 million in capital discretionary funds since the 2012 fiscal year.
Katz told Taussig that “as an elected official charged with allocating taxpayer dollars, I must ensure they are appropriated wisely-and I cannot do that while the library’s sitting president faces a federal investigation.”
Since the Galante scandal broke, it was reported, the FBI, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Loretta E. Lynch, the city Department of Investigation and City Comptroller Scott Stringer each launched investigations into Queens Library’s operations.
“I am very aware that many of the members of the Board of Trustees have strong feelings towards Tom,” she continued. “However, this isn’t about one person; this is about getting the Queens Public Library through the next budget cycle and making sure the funders of the institution have faith that the Board of Trustees is monitoring the tax dollars it receives and is acting in the best interests of the institution.”
In a second letter to Galante, Katz personally appealed for him to take a leave of absence “in order for the library to operate effectively and, more importantly, to continue to receive taxpayer money.”
“Elected officials must have faith in the integrity of the institution and its leadership in order for the library to continue to receive city money,” Katz told Galante. “Given the current state of uncertainty and turmoil, I don’t believe you will be able to successfully lead the institution through this budget cycle, and the library will suffer, which is an outcome nobody wants.”
In a statement issued last Friday, Apr. 4, Katz expressed disappointment with the board’s vote, charging that the body collectively “missed an opportunity to restore faith in the institution.”
“As I have said repeatedly, the Queens Library is one of the greatest institutions in this City and is one of the best libraries in the country,” she added. “As such, it deserves uncompromised leadership and the best set of corporate governance practices.
Legislating library reform
Speaking on the steps of Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens last Thursday morning, Katz joined Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry and State Sen. Michael Gianaris in announcing legislation to reform Queens Library’s board of trustees and the organization’s overall operations.
The legislation calls for the creation of an Audit Committee to examine the library’s accounting and financial reporting practices and a Labor Relations Committee to address various matters between management and workers, including the contracting of services to outside firms.
Also included in the bill are measures requiring that Queens Library executives file various financial disclosure forms; that the board impose various compensation limits for outside employment; and that the board be mandated to approve all hiring of executive library staff.
“The Queens Library is a treasured institution that has long served as a beacon of knowledge, education and entertainment for the people of Queens,” Katz said. “Passage of this bill into law would be an important step toward making the Queens Library an institution that all Queens residents can be proud of once again.”
“The Queens Library system is a jewel in the borough of Queens,” Aubry added, but noted that the scandal surrounding Galante has dulled it.
“This legislation focuses on the governance of the library so that the services it provides can again be an inspiration to the entire borough,” he stated.
“This bill would immediately rein in the excesses of the Queens Library and provide a long-term blueprint for efficiency, transparency and accountability,” Gianaris said.
Many members of the Queens state legislative delegation have sponsored the legislation, including State Senators Joseph Addabbo, Jose Peralta, James Sanders, Malcolm Smith and Toby Ann Stavisky; Assemblymen Ed Braunstein, Michael DenDekker, Phil Goldfeder, Andrew Hevesi, William Scarborough and Michael Simanowitz; and Assemblywomen Barbara Clark, Vivian Cook, Margaret Markey and Michele Titus.
Board: We’re taking action
But Queens Library claimed it already had such reforms in place in statements from Taussig and a library spokesperson issued after the borough hall press conference.
“The proposed state legislation includes specific measures that are already in place,” a Queens Library spokesperson said. “Measures already in place at the Queens Library include an audit committee and a labor relations committee of the board of trustees, as well as a conflict of interest policy for senior officers.”
“We look forward to working with all our stakeholders to continue to enhance and strengthen the library,” the spokesperson added, noting that “several other measures are currently under consideration.”
“Every organization needs to continually monitor and, when needed, to adjust its governing structure, policies and procedures to stay current and to adopt industry best practices,” said Taussig. “Thanks to the leadership of the Board of Trustees, its management and its entire dedicated staff, Queens Library is a model that other library systems from across the globe seek to emulate. These changes will help ensure that the library remains transparent, accountable and effective.”
According to Queens Library, it has established an Audit Committee, which is now actively reviewing the organization’s finances. The board of trustees also established a Special Committee on Governance to review various “serious matters,” including the committee structure of the board itself.
Queens Library also launched a review of Galante’s contract and revised its conflicts of interest policy to require that future executives limit outside employment and disclose any secondary jobs they may have when applying for an executive position.
Katz reacted to the library’s reform measures in last Friday’s statement, noting that “while the Board of Trustees is slowly beginning to implement one or two of the reforms in the bill, there is still much work to be done and I remain committed to ensuring that transparency and meaningful internal controls are put in place at the Queens Library so that the public’s trust in it can be restored.”
