Much community concern and criticism has been laid out of late over the proposed closure or “reorganization” of the Sun City libraries. I similarly submitted an open letter with questions to both the RCSC nonprofit corporate board of directors and its professional unelected RCSC management. (I will here also collectively refer to both entities as the “government”). I submit this second message to the same parties.
Recently, a thoughtful member of the Sun City community put his ideas regarding the RCSC into a well written statement, “The basic idea is to create an atmosphere where people feel comfortable expressing their views in a productive conversational manner where ideas are shared and discussed.” If this were the policy of the Sun City government it would be laudable. And I would then have little to add to the library issue. Past government decisions on the library crisis, however, tell us this method of decision-making is not preferred by those in Sun City government.
I submitted an open letter with questions to the government on April 2. Although my open letter was personally directed to both the chair of the board and to the general manager, no one has replied to my questions. Further, the government has just decided that, rather than the customary lease extensions between Sun City and the library district regarding the Sun City libraries, the RCSC will implement a one year extension on library leases. The government just released a statement: “We’d like to clarify that Management never had any intent to close the Bell Library without providing alternative space. It is true that Management intended to sever the lease with MCLD for the Fairway branch. . . We wish to be clear that the lease extension request is not a mechanism to allow us to shut down libraries, but rather a mechanism to allow us to do due diligence and involve Membership input.”
Due diligence is good, yet the community must consider whether “due diligence” is really an excuse because of heretofore arbitrary action by the government in its leadership on the library issue.
The government needs to be mindful, and reminded, of the history of the Sun City libraries. I observed no recognition of this history by the powers-that-be during the current board/management created library crisis. Let the parties be advised, here is the history:
The first library and RCSC agreement was in 2009. The Bell library opened as an MCLD library in 2009 with the understanding that the library district would also open the Fairway location once the building was complete.
The first agreement ran from 2009 to 2014. The second agreement between the library district and RCSC on behalf of Sun City was from 2014 to 2019. The third agreement was to run from 2019 to June 2024. This history amounts to three five-year library leases. With this message, I invite the board and the RCSC management to let the public know what changed in the historically successful relationship such that a short-term lease with the libraries was “approved” only in the last few days. The government’s short-term decision foreshadows trouble for the community. Are we observing the future corpse of the community’s libraries?
An explanation now justifying the short-term lease is but one of the requests I put to the government. As a claimed advocate of due diligence, the government will please describe the due diligence it used in reducing the length of time of the library lease term by 75 percent. Was the decision to short-term the library lease subject to public input? What dialogue did the government have with the library district on this issue? Was the decision to short-term the library lease subject to a public hearing? If not, why not? I also ask the government to show the due diligence evidence supporting this “interim planning decision.”
The government’s press release talked about its “intent.” Additionally, if the government “never had the intent” to close the library then show evidence supporting this innocent behavior. I expect both the general manager and the chair of the board to provide written responses under the declared principle of transparency and accountability. I respectfully request no wait and see obfuscation.
Sun City should not wait because those in authority want the community to be patient and study the matter. Let us bury this issue in “due diligence” is oftentimes a motive behind the principle of a politician/manager kicking the can down the road. In this instance, the “can” is the library system in Sun City. The kickers are the board members and management of the RCSC. When I was a kid, from time to time, we found an empty tin can when we were out on our wanderings. We would kick it for fun. It was an easy victim. The can ended a bent-up mess.
