Having attended the recent RCSC exchange meeting held at Sundial Recreation Center on April 8, I was surprised by a couple things. First was the very large number of RCSC members who showed up for the meeting. It was literally standing room only. We were told that they had put out twice the usual number of chairs, but even that was not enough. Perhaps they should have put out triple the number of chairs.
The staggering number of attendees should have given Mr. D’Luzansky an idea of the magnitude of his error in unilaterally deciding to close the Fairway library, but I’m afraid that his hubris will prevent him from realizing that.
The second thing that surprised me was the fact that if Maricopa had not alerted the Friends of the Library about his decision to not renew the five-year leases for the libraries that this would have happened without the knowledge of the RCSC board or RCSC members. I appreciated Vice President McAdam opening the meeting the way she did by offering an apology and giving an update on the latest happenings regarding this matter. However, by contrast, there was never one word of apology from GM D’Luzansky for his arrogance and lack of good judgment in trying to push his own agenda through without input or approval from either the board or RCSC members. Like I said, if not for a “heads up” from Maricopa County, we would be none the wiser about his intentions until it was too late.
McAdam said that the board did not know about any of this until they were informed of it about a week ago. She said that once they became aware of it, they agreed that D’Luzansky’s decision was a bad one and took action. She added that they are still working out the parameters of Mr. D’Luzansky’s decision-making authority.
The cynical side of me would say that this is, at worst, a lie and the board knew about Mr. D’Luzansky’s plan to close the libraries and repurpose the space. But, I want to take VP McAdam at her word, in which case this would be, at best, ineptitude on the part of the board for not clearly laying out these parameters beforehand. Mr. D’Luzansky’s duties, responsibilities, and authority should have already been clearly laid out in his job description. In this day and age when everything is ruled by HR, I find it a little hard to believe that “he didn’t know any better” is a valid excuse.
And speaking of “he didn’t know any better,” the fact that D’Luzansky would think it okay to take such action without really researching the issue or proper consultation with RCSC stakeholders makes me highly doubt his suitability for this job. As someone commented at the meeting, his failure to “know his audience” or “read the room” shows that he lacks the judgment needed to be in this position.
One of his reasons given for closing Fairway branch was the problem of homeless people entering the rec center. The answer is to address the homeless issue, not close the library. And, by the way, this problem is easily solved by simply having a separate public entrance for the library and keep access to the rec center itself to cardholders. Similarly, his approach to “solving” other problems (such as the fans at the rec center) shows a severe lack of problem-solving skills.
I am trying not to think that GM D’Luzansky (with the board’s knowledge) was secretly working to close the libraries and replace them with an indoor dog park and an indoor pickleball court and that the RCSC board is now just trying to do damage control after this secret plan came to light. I am trying hard to believe VP McAdam that this was just an innocent over-stepping by Mr. D’Luzansky of his authority and that they knew nothing of all this beforehand.
In my opinion, the board should fire Mr. D’Luzansky and find a suitable replacement. His actions and attitude over the last few weeks have proven that he is not the right person for the job. I’m sure that at the time of his hiring, he seemed like the right person for the job – that he looked good “on paper.” But, his actions have proven otherwise. I hope that the board does not just try to cover their tracks and, for the sake of their pride, refuse to admit that his hiring was a mistake.
