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VINELAND – The director of the Vineland Public Library will be laid off along with four other employees under a plan its board of trustees approved at a meeting late Thursday.

Trustees approved the plan on a 4-1 vote. The “no” vote came from Sally Goode, who asked that the plan be tabled to allow longer consideration.

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Voting in favor of the plan were Maritza Gonzalez, Karen Kreck, Sheena Santiago, MacLeod Carre and President Luis Amberths. Gonzalez, a former city councilwoman, and Kreck are part of a committee formed to look at restructuring the library to address its finances.

Gonzalez identified five positions: Director, principal library assistant, supervising library assistant, and two librarian positions.

Board legal counsel Jeff Medio said the plan now must be submitted to the New Jersey Civil Service Commission for review and approval, and employees will have input.

The timetable of required employee notices Medio noted point to May as the earliest time layoffs could take effect.

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Management company appears at Vineland Public Library board meeting to discuss parameters of potential operations takeover. Joseph P. Smith

The board vote comes as the library prepares a 2019 budget. State law requires that the library, like all government entities, adopt a budget in which anticipated revenues match anticipated spending.

Trustees and staff, including Director Brandi Grosso, stated that the budget being discussed has a large deficit. The deficit is at least $222,327 but more likely $336,999.

Kreck said the layoffs, over 12 months, would cut spending by about $426,000.

Whether the layoffs are enough to eliminate the 2019 estimated deficit depends on when they start. Medio said it is possible the board would need to take further action.

Municipal government is unwilling to subsidize any deficit, a position that led library staff and supporters to sponsor a referendum on the 2018 ballot.

Residents were asked voters whether they would support increasing a special local property tax whose revenues are dedicated to the library. The question was defeated.

Thursday’s board meeting was an emotional and contentious one. Staff, volunteers and others were in the audience. One man was asked to leave after an exchange with Amberths.

Speakers during a public comment session attacked board members on multiple issues, from “micro-management” of staff to how meetings actually are conducted.

Board members, including Amberths, professed devotion to the library but a belief that they had been appointed to make hard budget decisions.

The board has added new members since December 2018. Tension between new members, who reflect the assessment at City Hall of the library’s operation, and staff was evident in the language of the layoff resolution.

Medio, who read a draft resolution written earlier this week, noted that the library is able to anticipate revenue this year of not more than $1,359,545.83.

He then added: “The library director proposed to the city of Vineland without input or authorization from the board of trustees a budget with projected spending of $1,581,873.76 in the fiscal year of 2019.”

In late 2017, a board with a different membership rejected a privatization idea. A company, Library Systems & Services, came to the city with a plan.

Kreck, prior to Thursday’s vote, said that rejection was the start of the board’s restructuring.

“We tried to come at decision-making from every possible angle,” Kreck said. “And even with some personnel changes on the committee, that process never stopped. We’ve been asking a lot of the same questions. But the bottom line is our expenses are not in balance.”

The layoff resolution notes that the board approved a hiring freeze last year and did not fill one position vacant due to retirement.

Amberths promised a better library at the end of the budget process.

“For those of you that don’t know, I am a school principal of a middle school,” Amberths said. “And every year, we are tasked with making very hard choices come budget time. And we have to be accountable for everything that comes in and everything that goes out.

“And all that we are trying to do here is have accountability,” he said. “Because there are questions that we as board members have that when asked, they are not necessarily answered. And sometimes when they’re answered, they are not answered appropriately.”

In another matter, the board approved coordinating with the city to solicit bids for accounting firms that could perform a forensic audit of the library going back five years.

Annual audits are typical for government entities, but they lack the depth and breadth of a “forensic” audit. What the board is considering is an "in-depth" examination. There was no comment as to why that kind of audit would be needed.

City Councilwoman Elizabeth Arthur attended the meeting as an audience member. She did not speak.

Joseph P. Smith; jpsmith_dj; (856) 563-5252; jsmith@gannettnj.com

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