The October 28th board meeting reflected the power of community engagement to cause change.  After more than a year, Public Expression was finally restored at the library, and I took advantage of the long-overdue opportunity to ask some pointed questions, including: Where’s the rest of the Treasurer’s Report (see attached).  Several staff members and other members of the public also spoke to the board.  Here’s the video of the meeting:

The meeting lasted over two hours, so here’s a recap of key points of interest:

1. The library’s attorney Peter Brill served as Parliamentarian for the meeting.  President Harper claimed he was there because she requested his presence and claimed the bylaws allowed her to do so.  When asked if Brill was getting paid for serving as Parliamentarian, Harper said that it was included as part of his regular fees.  I note that Resolution #105-22 to hire Mr. Brill to represent Hope Marable and Judy Williams-Davis in their removal proceedings was first introduced in October 2022, but I can find no publicly available evidence in the record that the resolution was passed by the board.  I also cannot find any contract, past or present, between Brill and the library in BoardDocs.  The library paid Mr. Brill $36,000 last year for unspecified services; Trustees Davis and Thomas are trying to find out what the attorney was paid to do.
2. President Harper made a last-minute attempt to move public expression from the beginning to the end of the meeting, but Trustee Davis successfully objected to the change, which was proposed after the agenda had already been accepted.
3. Jonathan Davis successfully introduced three resolutions for review and discussion at the December 9th meeting:  1) Financial procedures and internal controls; 2) Public expression and board meeting conduct; and 3) Return to regular meeting schedule (3rd Wednesday of the month) 
4.  The library will hold a Micro Con (mini Comic Expo) this month, but there was confusion about dates.  The dates 11/14, 11/26 and 11/28 were each referenced for the event, but no notice of the event is currently posted on the website.  ArtsWestchester approved a $3,000 grant to cover the cost of the event, and the Director stated that the total cost would stay within $3,000.
5. The Treasurer’s Report was inadequate.  Ms. Bowden’s written report listed a check request for $294,041.02 and stated that the September 2026 bank reconciliation had been completed.  Ms. Bowden stated in her oral report that she had also prepared financial statements for July, August and September, however, the public is unable to view these in BoardDocs.  There was considerable discussion about the funds transfer resolution (#094-26) for $600,041.02, which was comprised of the check request ($294,041.02) plus three payrolls totalling $306,000.  When asked by Trustee Thomas which specific payrolls were included, Bowden said October 30th, November 13th and 27th.  Thomas then asked what happened to the October 2nd and 16th payrolls, because Bowden’s September 9th report paid September 4th and 18th payrolls.  The funds transfer was approved for the full amount with the understanding that the three payrolls covered were the October 2nd, 16th and 30th payrolls, and the board would hold a special meeting prior to November 13th to approve payment for the November 13th and 27th payrolls.  As of November 5th, no special meeting has been noticed on the library’s website.
6. PKF O’Connor Davies is preparing the library’s 2025 990 tax forms for $5,250, which must be completed and filed by November 15th.
7. Trustee Thomas asked Director Davis if he had retrieved the laptop and cell phone that had been issued to Hope Marable, and President Harper and the Director both said that the director would take care of that.  Thomas was not satisfied with their answer, and then Trustee Davis suggested asking Hope Marable if she had returned the equipment since she was present at the meeting.  Marable claimed that she hadn’t been asked for it, and a member of the public inquired why Marable should have to be asked to return property that doesn’t belong to her.  Marable did not answer his question.
8. The board approved the hiring of Ave Maria Cross as a grant writer consultant for $1,000.  From November 1st through December 31st, Ms. Cross will identify grant opportunities and help apply for grants on the library’s behalf.  Grants of particular interest will help support capital improvements, including HVAC replacement, Children’s Library renovations, and law library enhancements.

On a separate but related note, the NYS Board of Regents will hold their next meeting on November 9th and 10th; here’s the agenda:

https://www.regents.nysed.gov/meetings

Note that the Cultural Education Committee meets from 11:15 a.m.- 11:40 am followed by an Executive Session on Monday, November 9th.  It was the Cultural Education Committee that was responsible for initiating the removal of library trustees in 2022.  The webcast of committee meetings will be available for the public to view; based on the instructions, you can go to the meeting agenda page at 10:45 am on Monday to watch the Cultural Education Committee meeting.

Thank you for continuing to support of MVPL, and let’s see what the Board of Regents decides to do about our library when they meet on Monday.

Sincerely, Tamara Stewart, Library Advocate

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AJ Woodson

AJ Woodson is the Editor-In-Chief and co-owner of Black Westchester, Host & Producer of the People Before Politics Radio Show, An Author, Journalism Fellow (Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism), Rap Artist – one third of the legendary underground rap group JVC FORCE known for the single Strong Island, Radio Personality, Hip-Hop Historian, Documentarian, Activist, Criminal Justice Advocate and Freelance Journalist
whose byline has appeared in several print publications and online sites including The Source, Vibe, the Village Voice, Upscale, Sonicnet.com, Launch.com, Rolling Out Newspaper, Daily Challenge Newspaper, Spiritual Minded Magazine, Word Up! Magazine, On The Go Magazine and several others.

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