On the County page in the Feb. 9 edition of your paper, you ran an article with the headline, “Presque Isle OKs library budget increase.” I hope people who read the article were not fooled into thinking that the city council was acting in the best interest of the library and its patrons. In fact, just the opposite is true. The motion that was voted on by the council was contrary to concerns that had been expressed by library staff and library users.

In an example of a “penny-wise, pound-foolish” decision, Councilor Paul Underwood made a motion to add $7,900 to the library’s budget, but not to reinstate a position that had been previously cut. The motion passed by a 3-2 vote. Those councilors who voted for this motion did exactly what they are supposedly against, namely, throwing money at a problem in an attempt to fix it. The point had been made several times by the library staff and its patrons that what was really needed was another person, not more hours for the existing staff. For the same amount of money, that part-time staff position could have been reinstated. As a matter of fact, at an earlier budget meeting, this was what the council had told concerned citizens they were actually considering.

Instead of doing something that would really help, what certain councilors are trying to do is micromanage a city department. It doesn’t make sense to hire experienced people to run the departments in a city, and then not listen to their recommendations. Councilor Underwood was quoted in the Feb. 9 BDN article as saying the existing staff should be able to cover the hours needed. The question I’d like to ask is, if you admit to being unfamiliar with the library and its services, as a couple of the councilors did, then how can you presume to dictate how that library should be run? The answer should be, you can’t. You can, however, listen more openly and carefully to the city deparmtnet heads as well as the citizens who know and use the city’s services. Paul Lamoreau Presque Isle