Saugus library head looks to resolve budget issue

SAUGUS – Interim Library Director Ewa Jankowsa would like to set the record straight: she appreciates the past and present Board of Trustees, her budget is fine, her staff is happy and the library will never be privatized under her watch.The library has been home to a bit of controversy lately, as the Board of Trustees has seen nearly a full-scale turnover, budget questions have begun to swirl and an issue over privatization has arisen, but Jankowsa said none if it has swayed the library’s mission.”Since this all started . . . the library staff still shows up every day and perform their duties like they should,” she said. “We have staff that’s been here 25, 27, 28 years. They are fond of the patrons and everything they do is for the patrons.”A new Board of Trustees met Monday and elected Pam Gill and Teresa Lyons as co-chairmen, Marybeth Spellman as treasurer and Mary Ellen Picardi as secretary. Jankowsa said she is looking forward to working with the new board, but was quick to add she also appreciates all the former board did for her.The change in the board was a bit unexpected after two trustees, Chairman Jean Bartolo and Linda Call handed in their resignations last week. Trustee Ellen Palleschi was up for reappointment but the Board of Selectmen, with the exception of Stephen Horlick, chose not to reappoint her and instead named three new members. Gill is the only returning member to the board and Jankowsa said there are still two seats open.The selectmen will have to appoint two additional members to round out the board. Horlick hopes to use the existing list so he can put forth Palleschi’s name again, but he will have to wait until Tuesday to broach the subject.In the meantime, the library budget has also been somewhat in flux, but Jankowsa said it is largely an unwarranted concern. She said she submitted her preliminary budget a day before the Jan. 8 deadline knowing it was unlikely she would receive what she sought.Using the state formula set out by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, which is the average of the last three years appropriations divided by 1.025 percent,, Jankowsa asked for $542,638.She said she wasn’t deluding herself and didn’t think she would receive the full amount.And she didn’t. Town Manager Andrew Bisignani issued a revised budget of $400,000, which in itself stunned Jankowsa.”I was thrilled,” she said. “We got $100,000 more than last year. I never expected that but I said I’ll take whatever you want to throw our way.”But in looking over Bisignani’s revised budget Jankowsa said she realized the salaries were all wrong. She had level funded the salaries, which she pointed out were already woefully underfunded and Bisignani had zeroed out two salaries. Jankowsa said she could not move money from the operational side of the budget to the salary line without permission, so she sought out Bisignani’s help. He told her to revise the budget as she saw fit as long as the bottom line didn’t change and he would submit it to the Finance Committee. But Jankowsa said she was under the impression the Finance Committee would not accept it because the deadline for revised budgets had passed.”Now I’m quietly waiting to see what happens next,” she said. “On April 23, we go to Finance Committee (and) our budget is on the table. The Board of Trustees will go and everyone who supports us.”Jankowsa said she also wanted to clear the air on one other aspect of her budget. While she understands the financial crisis within the School Department, she doesn’t appreciate the suggestion that the library be closed and her budget given to the schools. She said the departments should be working together rather than being pitted against each other during this tough financial climate.”I wish the teachers would work closely with us, to give us a heads up on projects,” she said. “Together we could really do something.”Lastly, Jankowsa said she wanted to put her salary to rest. Jankowsa makes $55,857 a year. Part of that