Riverhead Free Library has some new officers and two new members on its board of trustees.
The library board met Monday night and appointed Susan Bergmann of Riverhead and Michael D’Arcangelo of Calverton to the board.
Louise Wilkinson is the new board president. John Munzel was elected vice president and Eileen Mackey was elected secretary in unanimous board votes.
The appointments of Bergmann and D’Arcangelo filled two of the three vacancies on the board created by the abrupt resignations this month of trustees Kathleen Berezny, who was board president, treasurer Milagros Rios on and member Karen Fedun-White. The terms of all three resigning directors expire June 30. Rios had served the maximum two full terms allowed by the bylaws. Berezny and Fedun-White were eligible to run for new terms.
Bergmann and D’Arcangelo will serve out two of the unexpired terms. The third vacant seat will be left open, Wilkinson said.
They and two other candidates — so far — will be on the ballot for a vote at the library’s annual meeting May 9. Also in the running are John Rienzo and Joe Berezny, both of Riverhead. Berezny is the husband of former board president Kathleen Berezny.
The trustee term is three years. It is an unpaid position. People interested becoming a library trustee have until May 4 to submit their names to the library as independent candidates, pursuant to the library’s bylaws. To be eligible to serve as trustee, a candidate must be at least 18 years old and a resident in the Riverhead school district. The May 9 vote is open to all voters of the Riverhead Central School District.
Library trustees are responsible for “the property and business” of the library, a nonprofit corporation granted a charter by the state board of regents in 1912. It is funded by property taxes pursuant to a contract with the Riverhead Central School District. Riverhead Free Library has adopted a $3.75 million operating budget for the coming fiscal year (July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018).
New board president Louise Wilkinson said she is looking forward to “things calming down” at the library, after a long period of upheaval.
Secretary Eileen Mackey said she is happy that has “a full table” and feels “positive about the future.”
The library board has been through a period of turmoil since early 2016, which has included the resignation of seven trustees, the ouster of the library director, the resignation of an interim director and a failed attempt by a trustee to remove the board president, who was accused in a written complaint with acting outside the scope of her authority as board president.
The board remained split and tensions high, with then-vice president Wilkinson, Mackey and trustee John Munzel (who brought the complaint seeking Berezny’s removal) often voting together as a minority faction.
The library’s attorney Thomas Volz was on hand for the meeting at Wilkinson’s invitation. They put him to work when Joe Berezny, seated in the audience, objected to the meeting as “illegal.” Berezny said the notice of meeting did not include a statement of the meeting’s purpose, which he said was required by the organization’s bylaws. The board went into executive session to confer with its attorney about the objection. After reconvening in open session, Wilkinson announced the attorney had advised them the meeting was legally convened and should go forward.
In a 4-3 vote on April 13, the board terminated Volz as of June 30, the end of the library’s fiscal year. Wilkinson, Mackey and Munzel opposed Volz’s termination, a move that they said took them by surprise. The three trustees said they did not even know that a trustees’ committee was interviewing replacements. They also voted against the appointment of his replacement, the law firm of Guercio and Guercio.
Wilkinson said Tuesday the board will reconsider Volz’s termination. There will be a full board interview with Guercio and Guercio and with Volz, Wilkinson said.
Suffolk Cooperative Library System director Kevin Verbesey attended night’s meeting.
“My primary purpose for being here is to wish the board well and let them know there is support for their work and how important their work is,” Verbesey said.
“The Suffolk Cooperative Library System, myself and our resources are here for you,” Verbesey told the board.
Verbesey urged the board to make bylaws revision its first order of business.
“Look at every element of the way your board is selected, trained, educated and organized so that you work well together,” Verbesey said. “It’s important for the whole library to function properly. If you’re working well at the top, you’re bound to succeed.”
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