To the editor:

Last May, voters in the Fayetteville-Manlius School District overwhelmingly rejected a 4 percent increase in the budget proposed by the Fayetteville Free Library. The rejection — by 509 votes — was due to concerns raised by Citizens for a Transparent Fayetteville Free Library about FFL’s finances, governance and lack of transparency and accountability to F-M taxpayers.

Since then, there have been significant changes that the FFL Board of Trustees should be commended for. For the first time since 2011, FFL is proposing a budget under the cap, requesting a 1.89 percent increase. The Trustees worked in earnest on this budget.

In June 2017, the FFL board elected a treasurer and detailed financial reports are now being provided to trustees.

The trustees have participated in board training programs.

There are now three board subcommittees: finance, building and public relations.

The FFL board has initiated policies to promote transparency including releasing its most recent audit and posting minutes on a regular basis.

The board amended the FFL bylaws to remove the executive director as an ex-officio trustee and allow for trustees to come from anywhere in the F-M school district not just the library’s charter service area (i.e. Fayetteville).

While questions remain in our Citizens Group about FFL’s use of funds, including cash holdings and expenditures, and its recent, possibly illegal, creation of a political action committee, we are encouraged by the progress that has been made by this board. With some reservations, we plan to vote for the current budget proposal on May 15.

Citizens for a Transparent Fayetteville Free Library

Ray Letterman

MaryEllen Letterman

Mary Karpinski

David Marnell

Linda Marnell