[Mpls] From Candidates Library Board Forum

[Anderson & Turpin]

Laura Waterman Wittstock wrote:
 On Monday, August 22, 2005, at 06:54  PM, Mark V Anderson wrote:
>  The rest of the candidates pretty
> much ducked my question, but Eric came out with a viable idea.  I have 
> at
> least one of my votes on September 13 figured out.

(.... what expenses the Board could cut to bring back Saturday
hours to all the Minneapolis branches.)

I hope you don't think I was ducking when I said I would not cut any 
existing operating funds to put more money into restored library hours.

I said increased revenue sources are needed to do this and this is the 
basis of Sheldon''s and my campaign. Taking from existing operating 
dollars is not feasible, not good policy, and it pits interests against 
each other.

We need a bigger pie, not a pie sliced differently.. That takes hard 
work. It is not the easy answer but it is the best answer for the long 
run.

Mark Anderson replies:
Yes I did think, and still do think, that you are ducking the issue.  I
think there's a pretty good chance that no new funding sources will
materialize in the next few years, so Board members need to decide the best
way to spend our money.  I believe that closing libraries on Saturday is one
of the last cuts that most voters want to make to the library budget.  

Saying that no cuts need be made is indeed the easy answer.

Pitting interests against each other is exactly what the Board is supposed
to do.  Another way of saying the same thing is that the Board must
prioritize the spending choices, and then spend the money available for the
highest priorities first.  I went to the candidate forum to discover what
the priorities were for each candidate, but you didn't answer that.

You can search for new funding sources, but that function is secondary to
your responsibility to spend the money responsibly.

Mark V Anderson
Bancroft