Re: San Francisco Public Library Problems (Long)

[Alice Yucht <AliceInfo@AOL.COM>]

Several people have asked me (from NJ) for info about SFPL problems after
my comments re:  [Spin it. Controversy can benefit public libraries]
any comments from some of our SF members??

here are 2 of the latest newspaper articles:

1.  S.F. Library Workers' Unheard-of Tactic
They're holding no-confidence vote on their chief

Edward Epstein, Chronicle Staff Writer

        In an unprecedented move, workers at San Francisco's Public
Library are holding a vote of no- confidence in their boss, City Librarian
Kenneth Dowlin.
        With the system mired in a budget crisis that arose on top of
one controversy after another at the new Main Library, Dowlin has become a
lightning rod for criticism from many of those who work for him. Relations
between
Dowlin and the union that represents most of the library staff are so bad
that they are barely on speaking terms.
        In addition, Dowlin's proposal to cut some workers' hours and to
lay off others to erase a $1.2 million budget deficit has stirred union ire
and
run into opposition from Mayor Willie Brown, whose patience with the
library's
budget troubles is apparently wearing thin.
        The union, Service Employees International Union Local 790, has
organized the secret ballot, being conducted all this week at the Main
Library
and the 26 branches. But not only union members can vote. Every member of
management, including Dowlin, has received a ballot.
        City Hall veterans could not remember a similar instance in
which city employees had staged such a vote about their department head.
        The ballot contains a single statement: ``As an employee of the
San Francisco Public Library I have no confidence in the leadership of City
Librarian Kenneth Dowlin nor in his ability to resolve the library's current
management or fiscal crisis.'' Voters can indicate whether they agree or
disagree
with that assertion.
        Union leaders won't openly say that their intention is to get
rid of Dowlin, but they make no secret of their dissatisfaction with him.
        ``We've been fighting with this man since he came to San
Francisco nine years ago,'' said librarian Cathy Bremer, chief steward of the
Librarians Guild, the unit of Local 790 that represents professional staff.
``He has no
respect for the union or its members.''
        ``We want to make it clear that the staff is not hiding,'' she
added.
        ``This is not a demand for his dismissal,'' said branch
librarian Melissa Riley, a union activist. She said much of the staff has a
different
vision of the library's future from Dowlin, a leading advocate of bringing
electronic
technology into libraries.
        ``It's clear starting from the bottom that his vision will not
maintain and create a great library,'' Riley said.
        Library management spokesman Marcia Schneider had no comment on
the balloting, although she said she had already voted.
       In addition to the voting, many library employees are also
considering another idea this week, this one from Dowlin. Starting with
senior
management, the chief librarian has been asking if people would be willing to
give up
some of their salary through the end of the fiscal year on June 30 to help
cut
the deficit.
        ``The suggestion came from senior staff,'' Schneider said.
``Rather than cutting services to the public they suggested that Mr. Dowlin
canvas
staff about donating hours.''
        Dowlin himself has volunteered to give up five percent of his
$105,000 annual salary, through June 30, she said.
        The results of the staff no-confidence vote will be tabulated
next Thursday. The results of Dowlin's poll about hours may be released when
the
Library Commission holds a special meeting Tuesday.

and:
FRONT PAGE OF THURSDAY'S PAPER:
Mayor: Library chief's days are numbered
by Gregory Lewis OF THE EXAMINER STAFF

Mayor Brown, blaming the library's financial problems
on persistent overspending, says he expects chief
librarian Kenneth Dowlin to resign.
Brown said Wednesday night that he had met with
several library commissioners - among them Steven
Coulter, Fran Streets and Carol Steiman - and "if I had
my guess, I'd say he (Dowlin) will submit his
resignation soon."
Dowlin, contacted at his home late Wednesday, said
"Hmmph" when asked whether he planned to quit.
"I don't know about that," he said. "I'll have to read
about it in the paper."
The pressure on Dowling is coming from his own staff
as well as the Mayor.
All 800 library workers are participating this week in a
vote of no-confidence on their boss. The secret-ballot
election was organized by Service Employees
International Union, Local 790.
"We made a serious effort to give everyone access to
the ballot, management or otherwise," said Local 790
business agent David Gabler. "The staff has long been
concerned that Mr. Dowlin hasn't listened, and it is
dispirited" about his disinclination to accept its input.
The votes will be tabulated on Jan. 23. "We haven't
decided yet what to do with the results," Gabler said.
Dowlin submitted a proposal last week to save nearly
$1.2 million from the library budget by cutting the
equivalent of 93 jobs. Brown rejected the plan because
it would cut service and workers and vowed to take
over the beleaguered libraries himself if necessary.
Dowlin, who became head librarian during the
Feinstein administration, then offered a plan in which
employees would donate part of their salaries.
Dowlin finds himself under fire at a particularly
unfortunate time for him professionally; he's one of two
candidates for the presidency of the American Library
Association, and San Francisco is scheduled to host
the ALA's annual convention June 27-July 2.
Asked Wednesday at a gala celebrating his first year in
office how to balance the library budget, Brown said:
"You don't. You take it out of our surplus, but he's
(Dowlin) not going to get the responsibility to do it."
Brown also said the library had overspent its budget by
14 percent for each of the past three years.
Dowlin "decided to overperform, which was really
stupid," Brown said. "He did that without any way to
pay the money. Ultimately, you have to pay the money.
So it shows up on my watch with me having to say,
"Halt, in the name of love.""
The library has been piling up payroll costs as it hired
more people and spent more on overtime to keep pace
with increased demand on the new Main Library and
the branches.
The library's budget has nearly doubled in two years,
to $35 million. Voters approved the funding boost in
1994, and mandated that all branches remain open and
that hours throughout the system be expanded.
Supervisors recently stripped Dowlin of direct control
over the budget and handed the responsibility to City
Controller Ed Harrington and Brown's finance director,
Steve Agostini.
Coulter, the Library Commission president, said he had
talked about Dowlin's fate with Brown but wouldn't be
specific.
"We talked about a variety of issues - this and issues
around the library," Coulter said. "With Dowlin, we're
looking at a lot of options. But we've got to get through
the budget crisis, get this period of bad publicity behind
us and get the library back on track to becoming a
world-class library."
The Library Commission's Finance Committee is to
meet Jan. 21 to discuss how to balance the budget.
It has asked Dowlin to come up with some answers,
particularly about how cutting staff would affect
services.
Coulter said he had talked with the library chief earlier
in the day and said, "I think he wants to come up with
answers. We expect him to come up with some
answers."