Opinion: Westhampton Free Library Appointed Board of Trustees is Still a Private Club

The Westhampton Free Library has one trustee vacancy and at least three submitted trustee applications.

This is great! There is obviously community interest in serving on the library board. Since 10/30/15, seven trustees have been appointed, and we have three applications pending—10 people in 13 months.

However, without a public ballot referendum, without a public town hall input meeting, seven appointed trustees decided in April to remain an appointed body. Not following in the democratic footsteps of the Port Jefferson Library that went to an elected board in 1990, or Rogers Memorial in 1996, or John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor in 2004, or Shelter Island in 2011 (to name just a few other Suffolk County association libraries), the Westhampton appointed board chose to cling to the 1897 Charter establishing our library as a “private corporation” with only the appointed trustees as “voting members” of the association.

In 1897 women and blacks weren’t allowed to vote. It’s 2016 and the Westhampton Free Library taxpayers are still not allowed to vote. It’s taxation without representation. We vote for school board members, fire commissioners, and for Village trustees and mayor. We should vote for Library trustees.

Other association libraries, either by public insistence or by board choice, moved to a democratically elected board model. The now six appointed trustees should not be the only “members” of the “association” with voting rights. Why should they alone decide which of the three eligible individuals should be granted permission to serve on the appointed board? It’s arbitrary, subjective, and still seems like a private club.

Each taxpayer should have a vote, a say, in how they wish the library to be governed. The public funding the library should meet the candidates, hear their ideas and platforms, and the public should decide together. The current appointed trustees are free to run for election as well, and the elections can be phased in (as other libraries have done) so that there is some continuity of governance.

Is an elected board necessarily “better”? No. Nevertheless, it’s the right, fair, democratic thing to do. 71% of association libraries on Long Island have moved to an elected board; 13 of 19 Suffolk County association libraries have elected boards. Westhampton has a $2+ million operating budget with over $4 million cash (mostly accumulated tax dollars, and a $1.3 million donation) sitting in the bank. It’s not 1897 anymore when wealthy benefactors solely supported library operation. Appointed isn’t American.

Visit www.wflelectedboard.org and the Residents for a Free Westhampton Free Library Facebook page for more information.

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