by David Meyer
Guelph – A reluctant Rod Finnie has questioned if Wellington County’s library committee is operating legally.
Finnie said on Sept. 27 he has taken a look at the Ontario Libraries Act and it does not appear the county is following all the rules in that law.
“I’m not really happy I’m here today, saying what I’m saying,” Finnie told council.
For one thing, current library committee chairman Brad Whitcombe was elected to the position of chairman of the information, heritage, and seniors committee by the council.
While the county treats those as one committee, with the library section a part of it, they each have separate meetings, all on the same day, in the same place. Three citizen members join the library committee when it is in session.
Finnie said one section of the Library Act says that the chairman of the board is to be appointed by the board, and not county council. And, Finnie added, “In the past, public members of the board have not had an opportunity to be chairman.”
But Warden John Green disagreed with that, and noted that Rob Gilbert held the chairman’s job for several years.
Finnie said that is good, and that the chairman should be chosen by the board. That occurs with the Police Services Board, where county council appoints a liaison who reports on behalf of a citizen chairman.
But Finnie had some other surprises from his reading of the act. He said that all employees working for libraries are employees of that board, and not of the county. He added that the act states the board chooses the chief executive officer and the board secretary.
Finnie said he’s not sure what happened to cause the county to not following those laws, but he asked the county clerk or chief administrative officer to “review all bylaws and make sure we are in compliance with the act.”
He added, “Maybe we are,” but said he believes he has seen “a number of areas we are deficient in.”
Whitcombe said the issue was brought up for discussion at the last meeting of the library board, and the board has asked Chief Administrative Officer Scott Wilson for a report for the next committee meeting.
Whitcombe said he will be “happy to step aside” if the board gets to appoint a chairman. He added that he has asked that any other concerns about the committee’s methods of operation be considered, too.
“We will be dealing with it – head on – on Oct. 11,” Whitcombe said.
The library committee minutes also carried an apology from Whitcombe to its three public board members. That was due to the committee holding a brief meeting prior to a council meeting in July, and not inviting the public members because that meeting had been so brief.
Councillor Lou Maieron said he had challenged Whitcombe on that, and now Finnie is bringing up serious charges where “we are not in compliance with the act.”
Whitcombe asked for a point of order, and told council, “We don’t know that,” until Wilson’s report arrives.
Maieron said if the board has been acting illegally, it brings into question a number of its actions. It was on the board’s recommendation that new libraries are planned for Arthur and Drayton.
Green asked Maieron, “What do you want?
Maieron replied, “I’m not sure. How did this happen?”
He said the library board has been operating this way “at least four years. “I’m trying to ensure that the decisions made by the council are in good standing,” Maieron said.
He noted that the county’s plans for building libraries last fall had gone from none to having two new ones in January.
Green said when the county restructured its committee system, it created a merged committee to look after libraries, seniors, and heritage issues.
“The library [committee] probably should have been a board,” Green said. “We should have a seniors and heritage chairman elected here.”
Councillor Gord Tosh said that when he was chairman of the library board seven years ago, he was elected by the board.
Whitcombe said he would refer to himself for now as “acting chairman” and noted that under old board regulations, the board decided on service levels it would provide, but county council held the purse strings and decided how much money to a lot the board.
Maieron suggested that all councillors be given a copy of the Library Act, so they can read it for themselves.
“The points made by councillor Finnie are valid,” he said.
He added, “I’m not a lawyer. I’m not sure if this opens us up to problems.”
He said he does not want to see committee and county decisions challenged because of the apparent problems with the board’s method of operation.
Green said staff will trace back the procedures the county used to determine why changes were made, and there will be a report at the next meeting.
He also noted that there might be a Public Libraries Act and a County Libraries Act.
