Library board backs away from Biondo

Saturday meeting decision prompts more acrimony, By Anya Tikka MILFORD — The Biondo building purchase for the Pike County Library System has been canceled amidst controversy and bitter accusations by two opposing factions in the library board. In an emergency meeting on Saturday, the board took the unusual step of rescinding their previous decision to go ahead with the purchase. The nine-member board voted with five present, as several members could not attend due to previous commitments. “The first I heard about the vote to rescind was from a member of public who was present at the meeting,” said Rob Rohner, one of the “minority” board members named in the press release board chair Maleyne Syracuse read in the meeting. “I was surprised and the others were surprised at the way we were talked about in the press release. During the meeting she (Syracuse) said our actions were criminal,” he continued a phone interview. The press release accused the three - Rohner, Gayle Schuster, and Gordon Olsommer - of “acrimonious and uncooperative behavior” and of being “the most overtly hostile and publicly antagonistic towards the PCPL Board and its members.” Not mentioned was Centa Quinn, Community House appointee, although she also voted against the original Biondo purchase. Via phone, Syracuse said the three new Pike County Commissioners’ appointees Rohner, Schuster, and Olsommer purposely obstructed and sabotaged the new building site project, and she also claimed the commissioners themselves went out of their way to appoint members who would be least suitable. Rohner said once the vote was in, they were prepared to follow the majority rule on the Biondo purchase. “But when they wanted us to sign a form, saying we now agree to the purchase, we decided not to do so, since we had already voted ‘no’. It is our right.” He continued, “How can I support something that I don’t know the price of?” He said the price of the building was blotted out in the document he saw. Although the price of the now-dead Biondo project has not been disclosed, both Syracuse and Rohner confirmed the property at East Harford Street site was part of the contract. Syracuse claimed Rohner saw the price in an executive session. Minority report Rohner, Schuster, Olsommer, and Quinn released their own statement on Sept. 27, saying “…the building is ill-suited to serve as a public library. Moreover, the facts clearly show that there are insufficient dollars for the already underfunded library system to cover the annual operating costs of a much larger and inefficient 30-year-old building.” It went on to state, “The plain truth is that the Pike County Public Library is beholden to taxpayers for nearly 100% of annual operating funds. Yet, the Board majority continues to make important decisions behind closed doors, remaining unaccountable to the taxpayers, township governments, public school system and individual contributors who fund the Library.“ Syracuse admitted she and the board Secretary Rebecca Lindsey had withdrawn their own donations, since they were designated for the Schwarz building. She added she had recently suggested the board set a minimum contribution for the members, and she would then contribute that amount, but the board did not agree. “I’ve donated a thousand here and there,” she said in response to a question of whether she had withdrawn all her monetary support for the library system. What now Both Syracuse and Rohner said they didn’t know what was going to happen next. According to Syracuse, there is $2.5 million left for a possible new purchase, and $250,000 in the operating account. About $200,000 to $300,000 was refunded after the library tax to finance the proposed Schwarz design was voted down by the taxpayers. Ellen Schaffner, Library Director commented that her concern continues over the projected shortfall of some $70 - $80,000 in operating costs in the coming year. She hoped the library would be able to continue to serve the county. Following the Saturday vote, Milford Borough Mayor Bo Fean, who has been critical of the Biondo purchase, wrote “I thought they said the Biondo Building was the best bang for the buck. I can only imagine what went into this decision, after another year wasted. This gets worse and worse with every turn. It seems to me that the people at the top haven’t a clue. Let’s see how they spin this one and who they’re going to blame - surely not themselves.”

The three new Pike County Commissioners’ appointees Rohner, Schuster, and Olsommer purposely obstructed and sabotaged the new building site project, and the commissioners themselves went out of their way to appoint members who would be least suitable. Maleyne Syracuse, library board chair