Local: Library vote likely to be deferred

At-large city council member Ryan Spain will likely ask the Peoria City Council for a two-week deferral on the vote on whether to proceed with plans to issue bonds for a $23 million bond to renovate and build facilities for the Peoria Public Library system.

As I’ve previously reported, the council seems evenly divided on this issue, with five in favor and five opposed, and Spain the undecided swing vote.

Meanwhile, 5th District Council Member Patrick Nichting will meet with library board members shortly before the 6:15 p.m. start of tonight’s council meeting.

Nichting is believed to be one of five council members opposed to proceeding. He previously indicated that voters should be allowed to decide whether they want their taxes to increase. Now that they have, and now that the district has devoted close to a year coming up with viable sites for a new North Peoria branch, Nichting seems to be leading the opposition. One issue that he’s bringing up is a desire for the library district to become a completely separate political entity from the city.

Also, it’s come to my attention that posts I’ve written expressing concern about library director Ed Zynaka are being cited by some as a basis for opposing the library’s plans.

To clarify: I wrote those posts prior to the passage of the referendum. The posts were intended to be a “heads-up” to the public and to the council. I’m not a huge fan of political bandwagons, and I wanted to give pause to those who wanted to jump in with both feet.

Since then, the process has been above-board. Except for the glitch in the hiring of the architect (since corrected), there’s nothing of the favoritism that happened in Indianapolis. Most of what bad happened in Indianapolis happened after Zynaka left, by the way.

Anyone opposed to this plan because of Zynaka are missing the big picture. Granted, I’m not as sold on the need for a new library as some are. I’d rather see new taxes go toward fixing sidewalks, repairing streets and expanding the police and fire departments. But the taxpayers wanted library expansion instead.

And I am extremely opposed to hijacking all the work that has been done so far to advance the political and social agenda of a handful of council members who want to pander to a vocal, narrow-minded constituency.