Gary library to cut positions

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Updated: January 30, 2012 10:31PM

GARY — The Gary Public Library Board of Trustees announced position cuts and some new jobs as part of its reorganization, sparking emotional responses.

The board voted 4-2 to accept Library Director Otis Alexander’s third option of cutting 15 full-time positions and nine part-time positions. The plan includes five new part-time positions and five full-time positions that will be “repurposed,” or their job responsibilities changed.

The changes will go into effect March 1.

Several audience members claimed the board did not properly post notices of Monday’s meetings, but one library employee said she posted notices on each branch library last Thursday, well before the two business day requirement. The board did not post notice of the meeting in any newspapers or other media.

Board members Tony Walker, Jonathan Boose, Cynthia Watts and Rayfield Fisher approved Alexander’s plan, while Sadie Sheffield and Nancy Valentine voted against it. Paula Nalls again was absent.

The resulting savings in salaries will be about $614,000, while the total reorganization — along with cuts in overhead costs throughout the system — will be more than $3 million, Walker said. He said it was a major feat for an organization facing massive budgetary constraints.

The board has been making drastic cuts since learning its budget would be slashed from about $5.7 million two years ago to $2.6 million in 2012.

The reorganization cuts should have been made sooner, admitted board president Tony Walker, but the system’s previous director never made recommendations to the board.

“We did raise these questions,” about the cuts, Walker said. “Since March 2011, we’ve wanted to afford employes six to nine months to adjust to the reorganization, but it takes five votes to discipline a director.”

Per a collective bargaining agreement with AFSCME Local 2760, Alexander and his staff will have to work out the details of who gets what job.

While the reorganization is critical to the board’s plans to turn the closed Main Branch into the South Shore Museum and Cultural Center, the layoffs exposed raw emotions and frustration among workers.

“We’ve done everything as a union we can possibly do, but we haven’t gotten anywhere,” said one employee. “We’re not getting anything, and all we want is some communication.”

“I more than understand your frustration; I’ve shared it for nine months” with the previous director, Walker responded.

In other news, the board announced the four remaining branch libraries will expand their hours, open now Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Also, the board accepted a $100 check from Miller resident Jim Nowacki to go towards the costs of the new museum.