Investigation into creation of FFL Community Alliance states no library resources were involved
By Jason Emerson
Editor
The Fayetteville Free Library Board of Directors has announced it had nothing to do with the recent creation of the FFL Community Alliance group (FFLCA) — labeled by the library director as a Political Action Committee to support the library — and launched an investigation to ensure no library resources were used in the group’s formation.
The reason for the board’s actions, which were announced during a special meeting held April 30, were because of board members’ and residents’ concerns over the legality of the library supporting a political action committee.
FFL attorney Robert Schofield said during the special meeting that an article about the formation of the FFLCA, which ran in the April 18 issue of the Eagle Bulletin, “appeared to state facts that raised concerns” about the library forming a political advocacy group when state rules forbid public libraries from using their resources to engage in such activity.
“I recommend you look into the facts and the circumstances of this and make sure there was no improper use of library resources,” Schofield said. “It cannot be a library operation.”
The FFLCA was created earlier this year to be a group of volunteers with a mission to support the FFL through grassroots advocacy, promotions and public information sharing within their communities. The alliance held its first meeting on March 6 with a meet and greet, followed by a training session on how to better connect with the public.
FFL Executive Director Sue Considine told the Eagle Bulletin in a previous interview that she had the idea in 2016 to create “a vehicle for the community to find a place to directly communicate with the rest of the community about their ideas and their impressions, and their love of the Fayetteville Free Library.” After discussions with various people, including, she said, the library board and the library attorney, it was decided that a political action committee was the best way to create such a group, and the FFLCA was born.
The group offers volunteers three main areas to work in: promotions, advocacy, and program and service support. One of the FFLCA’s primary missions is its “Vote Yes!” campaign to share the library’s budget information with the community to increase voting participation at the polls on May 15, Considine said.
It was after the publication of that article that library board leadership became concerned about the legality of the FFLCA and any library role in its creation and consulted its attorney, said board Co-President Randi Ludwig.
During the April 30 special meeting, Schofield said the library and its board must stand “separate and apart” from any political action committee. He said that while a library is “always entitled to educate its constituency,” such as how a proposed budget will or will not affect library operations, aspects of the FFLCA, particularly the “Vote Yes!” campaign, were problematic.
“You as a library board cannot say, ‘You should do this’ [i.e. vote yes to the budget]; a PAC can say that,” Schofield said.
Schofield suggested the board issue a statement saying that the library board was not involved in the PAC and that it understands the rules prohibiting its involvement in such a group and has no intention to violate those rules.
The board then unanimously approved a resolution to that effect, stating, “The board disavows the library’s involvement and operation of the FFLCA and will investigate to ensure FFL resources were not used to support that organization.”
Representatives from the Citizens for a Transparent Fayetteville Free Library — a group committed to ensuring transparency in library administration and operations — also attended the meeting and stated their concerns about the “legality of FFL’s actions to form a political action committee.”
CTFFL member Mary Karpinski told the board that public libraries and their employees in New York state cannot be directly involved in political action committees, according to the state attorney general’s office, and her group had verified that the treasurer of the FFLCA, which is registered with the state board of elections as a PAC, is the executive assistant to the library executive director, and her home address is the mailing address for the PAC.
The Citizens group also posed eight questions to the board, including whether any FFL resources were used to create the FFLCA, whether the library board authorized any expeditures to form a PAC, and whether the FFLCA is a not-for-profit organization.
Ludwig told the Eagle Bulletin that the board was not aware of some of the items broached by the Citizens group and immediately would be looking into each of their questions. “Some things we weren’t aware of, so that’s why this investigation,” Ludwig said.
Within four days, the library board’s attorney had completed the “first stage” of his investigation into the issue — done by speaking with staff and reviewing documentation — and had released his preliminary findings.
Schofield’s report stated that he found “no evidence” of a relationship between the library and the FFLCA, other than the fact that several staff members “are apparently actively involved in the organization on their personal, non-work time.” He also found that no evidence of substantial use of library resources existed, and where any such use was identified, steps were taken to end it. He also declared that library staff, administration and board members expressed that they were aware of, “and diligently adhering to,” the rules to prevent the use of library resources to advocate for a “yes” vote on the library budget.
The next meeting of the FFL Board of Directors is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, May 22.
