Thread by @shayshinecastle

Next item: Appointment of a resident group to work on library district things. Presentation: documents.bouldercolorado.gov/WebLink/DocVie…

I also have Notes.

May 2021 - council directed staff to begin exploring library district / working on IGA
boulderbeat.news/2021/05/20/bou…

That included putting together a community group to draft the IGA that the district and city will eventually agree to. (IGA = Intergovernmental Agreement)

37 applications received
12 members recommended for appointment

Alicia Seidle
Annette Dula
Cara Schenkel
Chip [no surname]
Deborah Read Fowler
Jane Sykes Wilson
Joanna Rosenblum
Joni Teter
Kevin Miller
Michelle Denae Garcia-Morrissey
Miho Shida
Peter Pollock

The group will make recommendations to city manager/ city council on:
- District boundaries
- Funding (where to set mill levy tax, possible relief for low-income households)
- Community engagement (methods and key info)
- Disposition of assets and terms

- Approach for the district to contract services from the City, such as, IT, grounds and facilities maintenance, Human Resources, payroll, etc. including terms

- Approach for transition of staff that are in alignment with City of Boulder Human Resources policies.

- Process to appoint the Library District Board of Trustees including number of members

- Terms of the City financing the district during the transition

So how were these 12 ppl picked?
Criteria for selection
- At least 17% representation from unincorporated Boulder County (based on 2019 library active user data)
- Up to 2 Boulder Library Foundation members
- Up to 2 present Boulder Library Commissioners

- Up to 2 Library Champions board members
- Business owner representation
- Renter representation
- Residential property owner representation
- Representation from non-white races/ethnicities
- Representation from most age ranges
- Representation from most HH income ranges

- No Conflict of Interest
- Availability
- A mix of interests in support/neutral/not in support of a library district
- Experience with evaluating equity impacts
- Other skills or experience that might enhance group recommendations

So what are the demographics of the group?
42% 35-54 yo
25% 65+
17% 25-34
17% 55-64

58% white
17% Hispanic or Latino/a
8% Black
8% Asian
8% Other

75% homeowner
25% renter

33% $150K+ income
25% did not say
25% $50K-$99K
8% $25K-$50K
8% $100K-$150K

Also, and maybe this is just my thing, but I feel like if you won't even disclose your income, you shouldn't have gotten selected. Ppl are too funny about money, and it only services the wealthy — never the poor.

For example: I made about $25K last year, after taxes. See? Not that hard.

Anyway, back to the library working group. Or, to use its official name: Library District Advisory Committee

The Committee will meet 2X a month thru Jan 2022

Library Fund is paying $23,711 for facilitator Jody Erikson of JDE Mediation

Staff team working on options for general fund savings if library district is approved - refund or reallocation. That amount is about $7M (final amount depends on the IGA and what services the city keeps providing)

An April 2022 hearing is planned (with resolution, and IGA consideration, plus joint meeting of commissioners, council to appoint trustees)

The recommendations of this group will be presented for all the above things.

Council needs to approve the Committee members tonight, and the scope of their work.

Yates: Do we plan to do another survey/poll of the community for a library district tax increase? There was one (it was controversial) but it's a bit old by now. boulderbeat.news/2019/05/04/pol…

Library director David Farnan: There have been 2. The results were almost identical, although the interpretations were different. But it's possible we could do another one.

Swetlik: The group is on the high-income side. There's not a lot of low-income representation, either low wage-earners or fixed-income. How do we plan to address that?

Farnan: That's a great q. Many of the applicants talked about / were concerned for the impact of taxes on low-income folks.

"We see the same thing year after year. The applicants skew heavily toward homeowners, ppl over 55 years of age."

This group was impressive in that there were "quite a few renters, which is not common for us," Farnan said. And a bit younger than is typical.

Swetlik: "I'm certainly not disparaging the board for the selection. I understand what it is to recruit a board in this county. It's a difficult task to get ppl who don't have the time and resources to participate."

"I just want to make sure the board is having them in mind along the way," Swetlik says. Not only on the taxation aspect, but also the library-as-a-resource side, particularly for low-income folks.

Young: Usually committees have an odd number of members, to avoid "deadlocks." Why is it 12 and not 11 or 13?

Farnan: "All the applicants were extraordinary qualified and would have been acceptable on this committee. The draft charter says we would work toward consensus on recommendations to council."

Seems like universal council support for the members.

Weaver: The two key questions to me are, Will voters support the revenue stream needed for a district? And how will our assets be managed?

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