Library Board Plans to Send 7,000 Signatures to State House


(posted Feb 9)

An estimated 1,300 signatures have been collected so far in Speedway denouncing the consolidation plan that would unify Speedway Public Library with Indianapolis Marion County Public Library as proposed in the Kernan-Shepherd Plan. The library's inception began with a door to door petition signature and now the board decided at its Feb 6 meeting to use the tool to stop consolidation. The board also agreed to allow staff to collect signatures at public events. The goal is to send 7,000 signatures to the state house to let legislators know that Speedway wants to remain independent.

Library Director Darsi Bohr raised an another legislative issue that would end the town council's power to approve the library board's budget by giving that approval process to the City County Council. She also passed along a message that State Senator Mike Young requested to meet with the board to address any of their legislative concerns.

Board member Lynda Miller indicated that she did not want to see the approval process be pulled away from the town council, but she questioned if it was more of a town council issue than their issue.

Board member Jamie Dillard thought it would be a good idea to stay in touch with the Young about the issue.

The board agreed to see if Senator Young, State Representative Phil Hinkle, City County Councilor Marilyn Pfisterer and their legal counsel Bob Lutz could come to the March 5 meeting to discuss pending legislation.

Bohr also had to trim the budget since tax distributions are running late. The board does not expect to receive its 2007 December tax distribution until June with the 2008 tax distributions following later. She advised the board they would have to rely on using investments to cover the late incoming distributions. She expected it would cut into about $20,000 of investment income.

Board member Phil Baker projected investment income to drop due to the Federal Reserve slashing interest rates several times in an attempt to stop the economy from sliding into a recession.

Bohr suggested looking into interim borrowing from the Indiana Bond Bank instead of dipping into the investment funds to support the library operations.

The board forwarded Azure Smiley's name as its recommendation to fill Kevin Bourke's vacant seat on the library board. The school board will make the final selection. The town council, school board, City County Council and the Mayor of Indianapolis all make appointments to the Speedway Library Board. Bohr explained that Smiley might not be selected even with their recommendation because other residents may have submitted their names to the school board for the potential appointment.