The organization Friends of the Oakley Library approached the City Council last October asking the city to support its effort to move the library, currently located at Freedom High School, to the former CentroMart building on Main Street. The Oakley Library occupies a 3,000-square-foot space, too small to house an adequate collection of books and resources to serve a community of more than 30,000. The CentroMart building spans 15,000 square feet, offering plenty of room for an expanded collection of books, more computers and meeting rooms for activities and community events.
City staff worked with the Friends and recommended last Tuesday that the council support a special election in May that would ask voters to support an annual $52 tax to support the library’s relocation. The tax would be implemented for a 30-year period.
The mail-in-ballot special election would cost the city an estimated $92,000. The parcel tax requires a two-thirds favorable vote for the tax to pass. To make the deadline for the May 7 election, the council would need to make a decision by Feb. 8, but the council showed hesitation regarding the weighty expenses to host an election and no guarantee that the parcel tax would garner enough support.
“I’ve done my homework,” said councilmember Diane Burgis. “Last year, six out of six library parcel taxes failed. … You’ve (The Friends of Oakley Library) asked the city to invest in an idea (for a downtown library). I want to see a plan on how they’re going to do it. I need to feel confident that there are people who will try with all their might to make it happen.”
Councilmember Randy Pope expressed similar qualms. While he knew he was outnumbered by a crowd of more than 70 who came out to support the parcel tax, his thoughts were focused on the big picture. Pope anticipated a more structured proposal from the Friends, including diagrams and mock-ups of what the new library would look like and a list of improvements and amenities.
“This isn’t what I had expected when I voted to move this forward (in October),” Pope said. “I want to work with Friends of the Oakley Library, have a plan, have an idea – this is what we’re going to build, take it to the taxpayers and have a vote. I don’t see that here. It’s premature. If we want to be successful and have the wonderful library we all want to have, we need to have the parcel tax survive. We need a two-thirds vote in favor of this project. That’s 66 percent of voters and we’re living in an environment right now where parcel taxes are voted down left and right.”
The Friends of the Oakley Library conducted a survey in December to measure the community’s response to a parcel tax. Five hundred Oakley voters were randomly selected to participate in the survey, and of the 160 responses, 73 percent supported a monthly parcel tax of $3 to $5.
Those numbers didn’t convince Councilmember Doug Hardcastle. “It’s one thing to load up and show up,” said Hardcastle, referring to the standing-room-only crowd. “But there are thousands of other people you have to convince to make this election successful. Everyone supports the good stuff, but are they willing to pay for the good stuff? That (the survey results) is not overwhelming support.”
Facing looming questions about how the Friends of the Oakley Library plan to promote the parcel tax and garner enough support to make the city’s financial investment in a special election worth it, the council asked that the discussion be continued to its Feb. 12 meeting, at which time the Friends could present a strategy for public outreach.
Since the discussion has been continued, the council will miss the Feb. 8 deadline for the May 7 election. The next possible election opportunity would be for the general election on June 4.
The Friends of the Oakley Library met this week to discuss a campaign strategy to gather support for the parcel tax.
I write this letter with much respect for all the time and effort you make for our Oakley community.
My husband and I have lived here for 25 years. We have raised our 2 daughters here, who are now away at college. 25 years ago our population was around 7,000 people and we were not a city. As we have watched Oakley grow, we are very proud of the good and wise decisions our city council has made. Our City Hall is beautiful to behold AND environmentally sound. We have many parks in Oakley now and more on the way. Our town has stayed financially solvent and our city council members get along.
We are concerned, however, that the energy, enthusiasm and importance of a library for a town of over 35,000 people has waned within the council. We know that a suitable library was of top importance to previous councils, but understandably other things were of a higher importance, like our City Hall. Now the time has come to attend to a proper library for Oakley. I have been in many libraries in Contra Costa County, from Clayton to Concord, Pittsburg, Antioch and Brentwood. Our library is starting to be an embarrassment to me. It is staffed by knowledgeable, caring people, and is by far one of the most organized libraries in the county; however its size and location are lacking.
The size of the book and magazine collection is quite reduced due to the lack of room. Many people in Oakley have need of free computers and WiFi and there is not enough room for this equipment to meet the demand. There is not a place of “quiet” for study in this library – once again – no room. There are no meeting rooms. There is not enough parking. I have seen women with babies and toddlers coming to attend story time and not been able to find a place to park. Or have you tried coming to the library when the high school gets out at 3:00?
Perhaps our council members have not personally needed these types of amenities? My husband and I are hugely thankful for our library. Our youngest daughter has read 5 or 6 books a week since about 4th grade. Even in college, she still reads a few extra books a week. We would never have been able to afford the cost of books to provide her with enough reading.
Please consider the citizens of Oakley who have a need for a library large enough to care for all 35,000 of its residents.
Thank you very much,
Julie and Ron Perry
It's a commitment to take more than $1,500 out of each household's budget over the next 30 years. Instead of spending $1,500-plus for your family's food, mortgage, health care, etc., that money would instead go to a Centromart library.
That in itself is a tough sell, especially because few residents use the library on a regular basis. And the library at Freedom is not spacious, but it's quite functional (that is, when it's open).
But the real deal killer is that most of the dollars being siphoned from taxpayers' pockets would not go for a library at all. 54 percent of the tax revenue - $10 million - would be used solely to pay the interest on the bond debt. $10 million taken from taxpayers' wallets - and taken out of the local economy - with nothing at all to show for it.
The reality is that brick-and-mortar libraries - like bookstores - are being replaced by the Internet, which is the world's library. You can now instantly download books, including the latest best sellers, from the county library system to your e-reader without having to set foot in a real library.
Yes, there will always be print books and people who prefer them. But I'm not sure that more than 2/3 of Oakley taxpayers would be willing to spend more than $1,500 just so they can check out books from Centromart instead of Freedom.
The library folks and council should go back to the drawing board to figure a much more cost-effective solution. Asking over-taxed taxpayers to pay even more taxes in this over-taxed state is the wrong course of action.
Oakleyites rejected the fire tax last year, despite warnings that their houses would burn down if they didn't support it. And they'll reject the library tax, despite warnings that they won't have as much elbow room when they check out a book at Freedom compared to Centromart.