Pols Want State Bill To Change Qns. Library
Elected officials across Queens called on the state’s legislative leaders last week to pass a bill aimed at instituting further oversight and accountability over the Queens Borough Public Library.
Queens Borough President Melinda Katz and the borough’s 14 City Council members signed a letter to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and State Senate Coalition Leaders Dean Skelos and Jeff Klein requesting passage of A.9217/S.6893, which would “institute the enhanced oversight and transparency necessary to restore the faith that has been lost in” Queens Library, which is mired in an ongoing scandal surrounding its president and CEO, Thomas W. Galante.
The Times Newsweekly received a copy of the letter last Tuesday, May 20.
Questions about Queens Library’s use of city funds rose after it was reported in January that Galante receives a nearly $400,000 annual salary and authorized a six-figure renovation of his Jamaica office, even as the library cut services and staff over what it claimed were financial woes. Galante came under further scrutiny after it was revealed he worked simultaneously as a consultant for the Elmont Union School District in Nassau County, earning another six-figure salary.
Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry and State Sen. Michael Gianaris introduced the legislation in April which “reforms the appointment and removal structure of the [Queens Library] board of trustees so that trustees can be removed by the appointing authority,” the letter indicated. The bill would also reduce “the terms by which the trustees serve from five years to three and requires that trustees either be residents of the borough of Queens or own and operate a business” in Queens.
The legislation reportedly also includes “several other significant best practices reforms” to boost accountability and oversight, including an audit committee and a labor committee to hammer out labor issues. After the legislation was introduced in April, Queens Library indicated it already had such reform models in place.
The Queens Library Board of Trustees aggravated lawmakers in April when it voted down a resolution ordering Galante to take a leave of absence, a move Katz and other local legislators had sought. Earlier this month, the board also agreed to provide financial information to City Comptroller Scott Stringer in his ongoing audit of Queens Library, but rebuffed calls for full disclosure.
Queens Library claimed it released documents in accordance with a 1997 agreement with then-City Comptroller Alan Hevesi, which purportedly remains valid with all comptrollers following Hevesi. Stringer is seeking court intervention to invalidate the agreement and compel Queens Library to release all of its financial information.
Stringer’s audit is just one ongoing probe of Queens Library’s finances; the letter pointed out there are also two “active criminal investigations” focused on Galante and the library’s capital program.
As a result of these probes, Katz and the City Council lawmakers noted in their letter, the city’s Department of Design and Construction froze $20 million in funds for Queens Library capital improvement projects, which include renovations to the Richmond Hill branch.
Claiming that “the trust and confidence in the library has been undermined” and “the board of trustees has shown little leadership thus far in dealing effectively with all of these issues,” Katz and the Queens City Council delegation called for Albany intervention.
The Queens delegation is composed of Costa Constantinides (22nd District, based in Astoria), Elizabeth Crowley (30th District, Glendale), Daniel Dromm (25th District, Jackson Heights), Julissa Ferreras (21st District, East Elmhurst), Peter Koo (20th District, Flushing), Karen Koslowitz (29th District, Forest Hills), Rory Lancman (24th District, Fresh Meadows), I. Daneek Miller (27th District, St. Albans), Antonio Reynoso (34th District, based in Brooklyn but includes part of Ridgewood), Donovan Richards (31st District, Rockaway), Eric Ulrich (32nd District, Ozone Park), Paul Vallone (19th District, Bayside), RubenWills (28th District, Jamaica) and City Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer (26th District, Sunnyside).
“Good governance and a well administered board of trustees is crucial to an efficient and transparent library system,” the letter stated. “The Queens Library doesn’t belong to any one trustee, to any one executive director or to any one elected official. It has been entrusted to all of these individuals as caretakers for the generations of library users to come-and that’s why we need to make the library more accountable to the needs and demands of everyday New Yorkers.”
