Dacula Mayor Jimmy Wilbanks has been front and center on the battle to keep the Dacula library open as a full-service library. His blog and the `They Took My Books` blog provide some interesting, “behind the scenes” reading on the topic.

Mayor Wilbanks’ 9/23 open letter to Library Executive Director Nancy Stanbery-Kellam is particularly revealing in that it tends to confirm what I have suspected—with the proposed closing of the Dacula branch and subsequent plan to convert it, the Snellville and the Lilburn branches to computer labs, Chairman Charles Bannister, D-1 Commissioner Shirley Lasseter and their appointed flunkies on the Library Board conspired to exact political payback on D-3 Commissioner Mike Beaudreau and, by extension, the residents of District 3.

In an email to Parks & Rec Director Phil Hoskins, former Library Deputy Director Rhonda Boyd wrote, in part:

“We have some ideas about how we could accomplish that [the opening of the Hamilton Mill branch] (and why we think it would be a good solution), and we want to make sure there are no objections before we speak with Commissioner Beaudreau and his Library Board member, Phillip Saxton.”

Apparently, a face-to-face meeting occurred a few days later with Bannister, Hoskins and others. It appears that Stanbery-Kellam and Boyd sought the approval of Bannister and county staff prior to discussing their proposal with the Commissioner in whose district the Dacula library is located and his Library Board appointee! It can safely be assumed that the library administrators had already received the tacit approval of other Library Board members before floating the idea with county staff… after all, it’s the Library Board that can hire and fire them.

Political Payback

Bannister’s animosity toward Beaudreau is well known and, probably in Bannister’s mind, justified. Early in the year, Beaudreau opposed Bannister’s bloated budget… the one that would have required a three-mill tax increase. Beaudreau proposed several cuts that reportedly would have eliminated the need for a tax hike. Bannister and a majority of the board rejected Beaudreau’s proposal, then voted on a motion by Bannister to make several token cuts to essential services in Beaudreau’s district.

Beaudreau also opposed Bannister on most of the land deals that are now subject of a special Grand Jury investigation, even though some of the land was in Beaudreau’s own district.

Other Options

Public outrage saved the Dacula branch from closure, but the fallback solution was equally as asinine. At its 9/22 meeting, the Library Board considered five staff recommendations for responding to a tightening budget and the uproar over the vote to close the Dacula branch. D-3 Board member Philip Saxton favored a plan that spread the service reductions across the entire system, but left all branches operating as full-service facilities. His preference was rejected by the other Commissioners’ appointees. From the minutes:

Motion by Saxton to approve New Service Model Proposal #3 where all 15 branches would remain open 35 hours per week for one year, and then to revisit the New Service Model Proposal #3.  No second, motion failed.  Motion by Saxton that the staff recommend New Service Model Proposal #5 be tabled until the Board can get adequate comment from leaders of the community.  No second, motion failed.  Motion by Todd to approve New Service Model #5 calling for the creation of Regional and Community Branches along with neighborhood Computer Labs, seconded by Tiller, Wagoner approved, Saxton opposed.  Motion Passed 3-1.

Call to Action

Commissioners Beaudreau, Bert Nasuti (D-2) and Kevin Kenerly (D-4) have written the Library Board to ask them to reconsider their current course of action. Nasuti and Kenerly have reportedly expressed their displeasure directly to their own appointees. But letters of disapproval are not enough.

If we want the Library Board to reverse its decision and take a more even-handed approach to service reductions, we must insist that the Commissioners replace their appointee if he/she voted for the closing of the Dacula branch and the repurposing of the Dacula, Snellville and Lilburn branches.

I plan to send the following to the County Commission via the contact form here. You are welcome to use my words to express your own displeasure:

Commissioners Bannister, Lasseter, Nasuti and Kenerly—I strongly disapprove of the Library Board’s plan to convert to a regional library plan and repurpose three branches as computer labs. I understand that there is an option that allows all branches to remain open as full-service facilities, but that your appointee rejected that plan.

It has become obvious to me that your appointee to the Library Board does not represent the desires of those who patronize Gwinnett’s libraries. In insist that you remove her from the Board and replace her with someone who will rise above petty politics and serve the people of Gwinnett.

The Commissioners and their appointees:

• Phyllis Oxendine, appointed by Charles Bannister
• Babs Wagoner, appointed by Shirley Lasseter
• Dale Todd, appointed by Bert Nasuti
• Margaret Tiller, appointed by Kevin Kenerly
• Phillip Saxton, appointed by Mike Beaudreau

Dacula: On Track: An Open Letter to Ms. Nancy Stanbery-Kellam

Update 8:15 pm: There may be no need for an email blitz of the Commission. The AJC is reporting that Commissioners Beaudreau, Nasuti and Kenerly have sent a “reconsider or else” letter to Library Board members. Their options include withdrawing funding or disbanding the board and reorganizing the library system.

More on This Topic:

• Bannister Land Deals Claim First Victim
• Hocus Pocus, Shirley Needs to Focus
• Rick Badie: Sun’s Setting on Gwinnett Commission
• Outrageous Land Deal Again On Commission Agenda
• Out of Control: Bannister Proposes Another Outrageous Land Deal