Call Off the Dogs

As Change.org likes to say, "There's a new petition taking off..., and we think you might be interested in signing it."  Well, there is a new petition drive in Biscayne Park, and you might like to know about it.

As always, I am reporting what I know, what I've heard, and what I've been able to learn.  And as always, if I've been misinformed, or if I have misunderstood or misinterpreted something, I want to know about it.

The petition about which I have heard was reportedly initiated by Steve Bernard, and it is to have signers ask the County, and its library, not to discontinue the mobile library van that serves Biscayne Park.

I called the library and spoke to the head of mobile services.  I was told a couple of important things.  One is that the Village does in fact enjoy a library van.  The van comes to us on Saturdays.  We, Biscayne Park, are a heavy user of mobile library services.  We are its busiest, or one of its busiest, stops.  So in that sense, the County library is very happy to serve us.

Yes, it's true, mobile services to the Village are going to stop.  They will end on September 30.  The reason is budget.  The County has decided to end all mobile library services, because it cannot afford to continue to provide them.   The library is losing us as much as we're losing it.  They love us.  Steve entitles his plea for signatories "BP Bookmobile - Gone?," as if we should take the decision personally.  But then he adds "County Library System - Defunded?," to let us know he really knows better.

My impression was that what the County needs from us, and from all who occupy the County, is not demands to provide services.  It needs money.

We rely on the library and its mobile service, and the library knows it.  They appreciate our patronage.  Instead of our asking them not to stop the service (they're stopping all mobile library services, not just to us), perhaps we should take a different approach.  I can think of two.  One is to accuse the County of mismanaging revenue, the theory being that we imagine there is probably plenty of money for the library, but it's being diverted.  We can sue them.  On condition that we're pretty sure they have plenty of money, but are not using it reasonably and legally.

The other approach we could take is to offer to pay for the library van service.  Since there is a lot of usage coming from the Park, and it should be easy to see who the users are (Park residents, MSV residents, CNM residents, residents of unincorporated County), we can either exact a fee from users, or the Village can set aside money to pay for the van.

Steve points this out, too, in his appeal for signatories.  He structures his advice as a recommendation to increase ad valorem taxes to pay for library services, including the "Bookmobile."  And he's right.  That's the way to make the argument.  He also notes the County's decision to increase funding for animal shelters.  This is a perfect example of his point: those who wanted to increase funding also asked the County to increase taxes to pay for it.

But it appears that simply barking, at the County, at the library, isn't likely to do much good.  Shutting down mobile library services isn't someone's caprice or wrong estimate of the services' worth.  It's a fiscal matter.  It's the County doing what Steve and his followers usually recommend the Village do: cut services to balance the budget.  If some of us think the Village can get by without an Assistant to the Manager, without nicely developed medians, without log cabin improvement and maintenance, without the buffering of a barrier along the train tracks, we should have no quarrel with the County's conclusion that it and we can get by without a Bookmobile.