{"id":89,"date":"2017-10-20T16:18:00","date_gmt":"2017-10-20T16:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esconeighbors.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=89"},"modified":"2017-10-20T16:18:00","modified_gmt":"2017-10-20T16:18:00","slug":"council-outsources-library-end-123-year-tradition-to-make-the-escondido-corporate-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/?p=89","title":{"rendered":"Council Outsources Library: End 123 year tradition to make the Escondido Corporate Library"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nA very sad day for our city. <\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\n <\/b> <\/span><\/o:p><\/b><\/div>\n
\nEscondido City Council Breaks 123 Year Tradition of
\nPublic Operation of Escondido Library, votes to Outsource Remaining Library
\n<\/span><\/b>Council Votes to Export Tax Payer
\nFunds out of state to LS&S corporation, hedge-fund<\/span><\/i><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n
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\nEscondido City Hall: <\/span><\/b>For the
\nsecond time, Mayor Sam Abed and the councilmen on the city council ignored the<\/span> <\/span><\/i>unanimous recommendation of Library Trustees and a petition
\nfrom over 4,000 residents by voting to outsource the Escondido Public Library. <\/span> Over 125 people
\ndemonstrated outside of City Hall and attended the City Council meeting yesterday
\nafternoon in opposition to a proposed contract to outsource the city\u2019s sole
\nremaining library to for-profit, venture-capital-owned library outsourcing
\ncompany, LS&S.  Dozens of citizens
\nspoke during the public comment period, citing concerns ranging from the length
\nof the contract to the lack of specific accountability measures. Nevertheless,
\nthe City Council voted 4 to 1 in favor of signing the contract, with
\nCouncilmember Olga Diaz being the sole dissenting vote.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\nDiaz
\nstated, \u201cWe will mourn the loss of what we had forever\u201d.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\nCouncilman
\nMorasco abandoned his earlier opposition position and rejoined the rest of the
\nCouncilmen, locking the city into a 10-year contract with LS&S. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\nThis is
\nthe first library in San Diego County to fall to the LS&S corporation. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\nThis
\nvote and the way it was promoted should be of concern to all residents of
\nEscondido.  Relevant documents were
\nhidden from the decision-makers, overwhelming evidence produced of problems at
\nother LS&S libraries was discounted, and the Council ignored their own
\nadvisors, the Escondido Library Board of Trustees, in pursuing this path. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\nConcerns
\ncitizens voiced about the contract at the meeting included:<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u00b7        
\n<\/span><\/span>That allowing
\nLS&S to manage the library with public funds without transparency is not
\nsupported by state law which states the Library Board of Trustees should manage
\nthe library. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u00b7        
\n<\/span><\/span>The 10-year
\nlength of the contract. Originally the public was told this would be a 5-year
\ncontract. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u00b7        
\n<\/span><\/span>LS&S staffing
\npolicies. One speaker read from comments of LS&S employees, who have
\ncomplained about low and stagnant wages, poor benefits, and low morale. Another
\nquestioned how LS&S can make our library better using fewer, less qualified
\nstaff than we have now.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u00b7        
\n<\/span><\/span>Questions about
\nthe accuracy of the calculation of the supposed financial savings.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u00b7        
\n<\/span><\/span>Serious concerns
\nabout problems with staff and finances that emerged in Jackson County, OR, once
\nLS&S (formerly LSSI) was bought out by a private equity firm.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u00b7        
\n<\/span><\/span>Lack of
\nspecificity in the contract. One speaker, who said he worked as a specialist in
\ncontracting for 30 years, said he was alarmed by the lack of specific goals,
\nobjectives, roles, responsibilities, and tasks in the contract, and ways to
\nmeasure if goals were met and tasks completed.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u00b7        
\n<\/span><\/span>The failure of
\nthe contract to include the usual indemnification of the city against legal
\naction and termination clauses that are clear and protective of the city\u2019s
\ninterest.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u201cEven if some City Councilmembers are not
\nopposed to the idea of outsourcing in general, this contract has so many
\nproblems and questions, it is their duty to think carefully and make sure our
\ncity isn\u2019t being taken advantage of,\u201d said Escondido resident Shelley Spisak. \u201cIt
\ndoesn\u2019t seem like they have done their due diligence as our elected
\nrepresentatives.\u201d<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\nThe flaws in the contract are significant. City
\nAttorney McGuinness struggled to answer the most basic operational questions
\nfrom Ms. Diaz such as how a complaint from a patron will be handled. The
\ncontract also uses tax dollars to pay a purchasing fee to LS&S and caps
\ntheir expenses for energy to run the buildings. LS&S is also guaranteed a
\n3% increase each year of the contract, not to mention the considerable
\ncorporate profits which have been 30% of tax payer funds paid elsewhere. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\nA letter from Ms. Cathy Shaw<\/span><\/a>, a current Board member in Jackson County
\nOregon, was rife with challenges her district was facing under LS&S, and warned
\n\u201cThink long and hard about this decision. Once made, the lack of transparency
\nof the private equity firm will make a return to a community-held asset
\ndifficult to recreate. And if a decision of this magnitude is forced upon an
\nunwilling and unreceptive community, the backlash may be swift and decisive.\u201d<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\nAs one speaker testified in speaking against
\nthe contract, \u201cIf you do support this, remember we all sit at the table of
\nconsequences.\u201d  <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u201cHaving lived through this experience, this is
\nnow about more than just saving the library, it is about saving Escondido from
\nthis failed leadership,\u201d stated Laura Hunter, an organizer with Escondido
\nIndivisible. \u201cOur members will now look to the elections in 2018.\u201d   <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\nLitigation is also under consideration.  Any readers interested in donating to the
\nLibrary Defense Fund should email <\/span>saveescondidolibrary@gmail.com<\/span><\/span><\/a>. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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<\/v:shape>About Save Our Escondido Library
\nCoalition:<\/span><\/i><\/b> The coalition was
\nformed by local Escondido community groups and residents in response to the
\nCity of Escondido\u2019s move to consider privatization of the Escondido Public
\nLibrary. The coalition seeks to educate themselves and the public and to
\nprovide a conduit for Escondido residents to voice their concerns.<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/b><\/o:p><\/div>\n
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\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A very sad day for our city.     Escondido City Council Breaks 123 Year Tradition of Public Operation of Escondido Library, votes to Outsource Remaining Library Council Votes to Export Tax Payer Funds out of state to LS&S corporation, hedge-fund … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Escondido Neighbors United","author_link":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/?author=1"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=89"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=89"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=89"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=89"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}