|
The LWVFNUC urges Newark Council to delay your decision tonight about the joint library project. We share Mr. Huezo's concern about the Ohlone College board's decision-making process, but we believe the public interest is best served by insisting the process be corrected rather than backing away from it. If you abandon your involvement tonight, we collectively lose the ability even to apply for special funds for a joint use facility. It would be a real "lose-lose" proposition. Consolidation of functions among government entities, on the other hand, can be a big win for the public. The joint-use library project has the potential to achieve cost effectiveness that does not adversely affect--and may even improve--the quality of service. Your constituents and their families gain an important new resource in the community and the whole region gets a bigger bang for its tax buck. As for the Ohlone Board's decision-making process, it's urgent that it conform with law. When voters elect representatives, we are delegating authority; we are NOT giving away the right to decide what is good for us to know and what is not good for us to know. The intent section of the Ralph M. Brown Act, the model for California's open meeting laws, states the principal clearly, "The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created." No group is more concerned with protecting open government than the
League of Women Voters. We are glad to see statements from Ohlone officials
in the press about taking corrective action, and we intend to monitor it
closely.
|