Great Barrington — It’s not often that controversy hits a public library board of trustees, but officials at the Great Barrington Libraries are in the thick of it after a letter of condemnation by the trustees’ chairman to the selectboard backfired.
At issue is a letter, approved unanimously by the trustees at their Dec. 13 meeting, calling on Community Preservation Committee member Karen Smith to recuse herself from library matters because of inappropriate comments and questions on the subject of the libraries. Click here to see the letter, along with the minutes of that Dec. 13 meeting in the Mason Library.
The letter, signed by library trustees’ Chairman G. Patrick Hollenbeck, said that, at the CPC’s meeting in the firehouse the night before, Smith had made comments about the application for funds for the Ramsdell Library that were “not fair and impartial.”
“At the last CPA meeting, she had stated ‘the Ramdell’s attendance numbers were fake,'” Hollenbeck wrote. “Further stating that she had been on the Library Trustees and the staff has been fabricating numbers for years.”
Hollenbeck also wrote that Smith had said that, if the town was going to give money, as the CPC can do through grants, the request should go through town meeting because “we already have a main library.”
Lastly, Hollenbeck insisted that, in her closing comment, Smith pointed her finger at him and said, “I’m not through with you yet.”
The problem is that Smith did not say any of the quotes directly attributed to her—at least not in the recording provided to The Edge. In response to a public document request, town planner Chris Rembold forwarded a recording of the meeting to The Edge but he declined to comment. Rembold is the town staff liaison to the CPC. Click here to listen to the recording. The discussion on the Ramsdell starts at 29:00.
The meeting was held to discuss several projects eligible for recommendation for funding. The library trustees’ request was for $30,000 to study compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act as part of a planned renovation that could cost as a much as $5 million, much of which could be defrayed by private fundraising and aid from the state.
Click here to see the list of other projects that were, along with the Ramsdell’s, recommended for funding later at the CPC’s Dec. 17 meeting. Click here to see the library trustees’ full application for funding to the CPA and here for the eight other applications received.
In the recording, Smith can be heard questioning Hollenbeck about the libraries’ methodology for counting patrons and visits, but she never said “the attendance numbers are fake.” And it’s impossible to tell from an audio recording whether Smith “pointed a finger at” Hollenbeck, but she never said, “I’m not through with you yet.”
And she did suggest a town meeting to decide on funding for the Ramsdell, insisting that it was essential to get a “town-wide commitment” if town funds are to be spent to renovate the Ramsdell, a Classical Revival structure built in 1909 as a gift from T. Ellis Ramsdell, son of the owner of Monument Mills.
Hollenbeck did not return multiple messages seeking comment for this article. Hollenbeck, a former musicians’ union president, is a classically trained percussionist and orchestrator who has worked extensively with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops. He was reelected to another term on the library board in May.
Kathleen Plungis, secretary of the trustees, told The Edge that she was not at the CPC’s Dec. 12 meeting but had since listened to the recording after endorsing Hollenbeck’s letter.
“This is an unfortunate situation,” said Plungis, who declined to comment further.
Tom Blauvelt, who chairs the CPC, acknowledged Hollenbeck’s letter briefly at the Dec. 12 meeting but said there would be no deliberations on it. When asked by The Edge for comment on the letter, Blauvelt declined because his wife, Marie, works at the Mason Library.
In an interview, Smith said she has not heard from Hollenbeck, nor from any member of the selectboard, regarding the now-discredited letter, but reacted with characteristic bluntness.
“I expect a public retraction and apology at a selectboard meeting,” Smith said. “I believe it could be considered slander and libel.”
She suggested the library trustees acted in haste in endorsing Hollenbeck’s letter, which she characterized as “egregious,” and further suggested there are some in town who would like to pile on.
“I’ve had enough with people taking shots at me,” Smith said.
Smith, a former library trustee, is a community activist and also chair of the town parks commission, which appointed her as its representative to the CPC. She also chairs the town housing authority, where she has been accused by some members and tenants of bullying them.
The accusations came to a head earlier this month when the selectboard held a hearing to consider calls for her removal from the housing authority. Some witnesses vouched for Smith’s integrity and hard work but others accused her of practicing nepotism, creating an environment of “toxicity,” and exhibiting “aggressive and hostile behavior.”
The board was clearly concerned but refused to remove Smith from her elected post; nor did members of the housing authority attempt to remove her from the chairmanship, as Selectman Dan Dailly had suggested.
In an interview, selectboard Chairman Steve Bannon said, though he has seen Hollenbeck’s letter, his board has no authority over the CPC. Bannon added that he has not yet listened to the recording of the meeting in question.
“It would be a matter for parks or CPC,” Bannon explained, “unless one of the selectboard members wants to put it on the agenda.”
Selectman Ed Abrahams, who said at the hearing that he, too, has been bullied by Smith, echoed Bannon and said he does not plan to put the matter on the agenda and that it would be better handled by another body.
“It would be a matter for parks or CPC, unless one of the selectboard members wants to put it on the agenda,” Abrahams told The Edge. “I was on [CPC] for four years with her and I was subjected to her behavior. She can be rough around the edges.”
Smith defenders—and there are many—describe her as candid and blunt. Fellow housing authority member Jim Mercer quipped that “she’s not sugar-coated.” But Smith’s admirers emphasized that she works hard, has a talent for getting things done and has a long history of service to the town.
Smith also led the public relations effort for the unsuccessful 2014 campaign to convince taxpayers to approve more than $50 million for a reconstruction project for Monument Mountain Regional High School. Smith is co-founder of the SawaSawa Foundation.
The library had been going through a quiet phase after controversy erupted earlier this year in response to the trustees endorsement of a plan to put a statue on the Mason Library’s front lawn of legendary civil rights leader and scholar W.E.B. Du Bois. Veterans’ groups came out in force to oppose the plan to honor Du Bois, an African-American who joined the Communist Party late in life.
The state Community Preservation Act is a voluntary state law that allows municipalities to fund projects that support open space preservation, affordable housing, historic preservation and the creation of recreational resources. In Great Barrington’s case, applications must also be consistent with the town’s award-winning 2013 master plan. The town adopted the CPA in 2012, both through town meeting and a ballot vote, by a two-thirds majority.
The CPC voted on Dec. 17 to recommend funding the ACA study for the Ramsdell. Smith’s was the only no vote.
