A contentious past was very much present at the Niles-Maine District Library’s swearing–in of four trustees who campaigned to restore traditional services and spending levels at the library after a period of austerity.
Trustees Roberto Botello and Jason Trunco, who were elected alongside previously-serving Trustees Becky Keane and Umair Qadeer, took their seats on the board for the first time May 17.
Their seating tilts the board’s balance of power away from trustees who looked to institute cuts that resulted in a 19-month hiring freeze, deferred maintenance to the library roof and building and various cost-slashing measures — from office supply costs to the library’s membership in the Niles Chamber of Commerce.
In the process, they knocked the library’s budget down by almost $1 million over two years and reduced the institution’s property tax levy to $5 million from $6.98 million at the start of the term.
The new board elected Keane to serve as president for the next two-year term, Trunco as vice president, Botello as treasurer and Trustee Patti Rozanski as secretary of the board.
Former Board Secretary Suzanne Schoenfeldt and outgoing Board President Carolyn Drblik voted no on Keane’s nomination, and Drblik also voted against Rozanski’s nomination as secretary.
In both cases, Drblik told the nominated trustees that she thought their “conduct as a trustee at best raises questions and is most unbecoming of an officer of the board.”
Drblik has racked up a series of explosive clashes with Keane and Rozanski in particular over the past two years, who fought her and outgoing library Treasurer Joe Makula over their agenda for the library at meetings punctuated by sarcasm, screaming and accusations of lying.
Before the reorganization, Drblik had delivered thanks to outgoing Trustees Dianne Olson and Makula, who was not present at the meeting.
Niles Mayor Alpogianis, who backed Keane, Trunco, Botello and Qadeer, addressed the board after the reorganization votes and thanked “the people who step up to the plate to serve our community.”
“We all have a lot of work to do together… we look forward to working with all of you and always moving forward to do what’s best for the village of Niles,” he said.
Alpogianis also said he had heard from former secretary of state Jesse White and sent White’s congratulations to the board, but particularly to Qadeer, whom White’s office appointed to a seat that had been vacant for nearly a year.
That appointment touched off a protracted legal battle that reached down to Springfield and back two times over when the General Assembly passed a law enabling the Illinois Secretary of State to appoint trustees to seats that had been vacant for more than 90 days.
Alpogianis also said Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias had reached out to send congratulations to the board.
After a break for cake provided by frequent public commenter Elliot Osheman, the board heard from a handful of public commenters, including defeated library trustee candidate Steven Yasell. Yasell ran for trustee alongside Makula, Irina Byalaya and Steve Folga in the April 4 elections. Previously, he was also the nexus of a 2021 controversy when the board hired him as a consultant at a rate of $100 per hour.
Yasell accused Rozanski and Keane of using bullying tactics and alleged that supporters of the newly-seated trustees had called him and other candidates evil.
Trunco, whose candidacy for trustee was the subject of a ballot challenge from Makula over his history with the law in North Carolina, briefly responded to Yasell.
“I want to thank you for your public comment tonight but I also want to thank you for running for public office. That takes a lot and I appreciate your efforts of even trying to get involved on the board.”
Keane did not explicitly reference the rancor of the preceding term, but appealed to the rest of the trustees for civility as the board proceeded to its other business.
“As this new board begins its first meeting together, I’d like to ask that we do so in a truly respectful way,” she said. “Let’s treat each other as we’d like to be treated so we can do the work before us.”
