Politics & Government

Library Task Force: Why I Am Quitting Before Serving

Jean Mordo, the Los Altos Hills Town Council member who spearheaded an earlier exploration of severing Los Altos Library from the county district, explains why he's not interested in a new effort.

 

Editor's Note: On Nov. 13, the Los Altos City Council voted 3-2 to form a task force to explore service alternatives to the Santa Clara County Library District. Los Altos Hills Town Councilmember Jean Mordo was asked during that meeting to serve on the task force because of his long tenure on the board known as the Joint Powers Authority, and for his work assessing Los Altos and Los Altos Hills' outsize annual contribution to the district. This opinion piece originally ran in the Town Crier and Councilmember Mordo has given permission for Patch to carry it. 

 

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Our Los Altos Library is a gem, beloved throughout our community. For the last eight years, I have attempted to strengthen it while serving on the Santa Clara County Library District Joint Powers Authority (JPA) board. I have tried to rectify the financial unfairness of the formula which subsidizes heavily other cities at the expense of our residents, diverting scarce money that could be used for other pressing needs: a Civic Center, an expanded library, a swimming pool…

I stand by the analysis that shows that the current formula by which resources are allocated to each library is eminently unfair to Los Altos. We should be getting at a minimum $600,000 more a year. Because of the skewed formula, we had to vote ourselves (Los Altos and the Hills) a $76 parcel tax, raising $1 million a year, to supplement opening hours and books at our library. I embarked on an effort to get the formula revised to be less unfavorable. My goal was never to leave the system but to negotiate a fairer deal. A committee was formed composed of the city managers of the nine cities involved. The committee recommended no change. At the last minute, an amendment was proposed to limit the discrepancy in funding to 5 percent, giving us $67,000 more. Even that minimal change was voted down. Understandably, we felt slapped in the face. Spite should not, however, drive our decisions.

Find out what's happening in Los Altoswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Los Altos Council decided Nov. 13 to form . The vote was 3-2, with two of the "yeas" stepping down in three weeks. This is hardly a consensus. I have suggested to the Mayor to defer the item to a later date to be heard by the new Council. I thought that pushing it through at this time was going to be perceived as over-reach, and be reversed by the new Council. It likely will be.

There is no groundswell of discontent with paying $76 a year more than we should, but there is widespread support for the library. It is indisputably a wonderful system. It could be duplicated, maybe. It could cost us less, maybe. However, separating from the county system would be complex and difficult. Even setting up a task force to study this option is difficult and generates anxiety in the community. We should be concerned about the long-term cost increases and, if the financial situation of the library district deteriorates, we may, at a future date, have to investigate all options. We should do so only with a strong consensus on the councils, involving the Library Commission and the community at large.

I do not want to be part of this task force. Our community does not need another divisive issue right now, when there are other important issues to address.

—Jean Mordo, Councilmember, Los Altos Hills 


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