Your End of the Year Contribution

At the risk of sounding like someone on public radio, I’d like to remind you that the year is almost over, and so is your chance to make a contribution that can be deducted from your 2024 income tax. So there is no confusion, there is only one way to make your contribution tax deductible–donating to the EveryLibrary Institute–which is the first link button on our donate page. The other options are not tax deductible, but are very appreciated.

Remember, although the taxpayers of Erie County have already won one lawsuit to uphold the Home Rule Charter, we still await our day in court to Keep Our Library Public.

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“The public library is a place where place and possibility meet.”

~Stuart Dybeck

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

On Monday, Senior Judge Edward Reibman ruled that the county executive violated the Home Rule Charter by issuing vetoes for the 2023 and 2024 budgets to increase spending Don’t forget, he did the same thing with the 2025 budget as well.

More information is available here: Judge rules that Brenton Davis budget vetoes violated Erie County law. Thank you to Erie County Council for filing this lawsuit to make sure the law was upheld!

If you would like to help fund our lawsuit to make sure the rule of law is upheld in the case of Blasco Library, please use the buttons below.

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“The clearest way to show what the rule of law means to us in everyday life is to recall what happened when there is no rule of law.”

~President Dwight D. Eisenhower

Happy Jolabokaflod!

There’s a tradition in Iceland that dates back to World War II where imports were in short supply, but paper was available. Icelanders decided to give each other books on Christmas Eve and spend the evening reading, and they continue this tradition today. Jolabokaflod translates to “Christmas book flood,” and may sound like the perfect way to spend the holidays for many of us. If you want details on planning this for next year: Jolabokaflod: Iceland’s Christmas Reading Tradition Explained.

Happy Holidays from Keep Our Library Public!

Happy Festivus!

You may or may not remember the Festivus episode of Seinfield, depending on your age. After all, we aren’t just four old ladies! If you’re not familiar with it, you can read more about it here: Festivus. There are lots of Christmas stories, but let’s indulge in a Festivus story, and this one is about the recent early childhood ARPA funding. You may remember that the county executive recently vetoed $2.5 million in ARPA funding for child care. Erie County Council voted to override this veto with a 5-2 supermajority.

We’ll start with the airing of the grievances. The funds are to be administered by ECGRA (Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority) with ECGRA contributing matching funds. There are a couple of key points to note about the contract between ECGRA and the county, because the county executive apparently has some grievances. One, the county information officer must be notified when a grant is to be awarded. Note that ECGRA already makes it a practice that the county executive is notified. Maybe because the county executive is out of the office so much, he might not getting the messages. Two, there are now to be two checks issued for each grant…one from ECGRA and one from the county, so that taxpayers know that the county is involved. The checks that have previously been issued have both ECGRA and the county’s name on them. Does he really need his own check to hold? Is he trying to take credit for these grants? These are the same funds he VETOED! And, at least when there is one check, there is another entity checking the math. We’ve seen the relationship between the administration and math, and…yeah.

This contract was still being negotiated last week, with the deadline for appropriation of ARPA funds of December 31st rapidly approaching, and he’s quibbling about large checks for photo-ops?! That might be an indication of his priorities.

And now to feats of strength. This was won by Erie County Council and ECGRA. Thank you to Erie County Council for overriding the county executive’s veto by a 5-2 margin (with Bayle and Schauerman voting against). Thank you to ECGRA for being the adults in the room when this contract was negotiated. Both entities showed that the taxpayers and families are their priority, and showed great strength in their leadership.

And a final airing of the grievances for the taxpayers. Both when the $1.5 million in ARPA funding was granted to Gannon and when the lease in Blasco Library was announced, the county executive claimed how good Project NepTWNE would be for the future of our children. Yet, he vetoed $2.5 million in ARPA funds for those children for early child care. Let that sink in. Then he essentially hard-wires terms in a contract for those $2.5 million to get more photo-ops in a year where he is up for re-election. Let that sink in as well. Happy Festivus!

For more details: Brenton Davis contractually requires ECGRA to tout county’s involvement when awarding childcare grants

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“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”

~Harry S Truman

Happy Birthday, Blasco!

How it started:

How it’s going:

“Save Blasco” a 2nd State Films production coming soon.
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“Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination and the journey. They are home.”

~Anna Quindlen

Santa’s List

The county executive’s latest move has been to demand the return of unused ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds from ECGRA and Diverse Erie for the recent blizzard. Instead, on December 19th, ECGRA approved a $500,000 grant to the county to cover the snow clean-up–more than the amount of unspent ARPA money, acting in the taxpayers’ best interests. Diverse Erie has since filed a lawsuit, since Erie County Council has granted them $1.5 million in ARPA money that the county executive refuses to certify. Again, ARPA funds were granted by the federal government and were distributed to help communities “bounce back” from the COVID pandemic. The county executive habitually accuses both ECGRA and Diverse Erie of a “lack of transparency.” However, both entities undergo routine audits without issues, and their use of ARPA funds benefits a much wider demographic of taxpayers than Project NepTWNE.

No demand was made of Gannon University, however, to return their unused ARPA money. Why not them? Have they undergone audits as to how the money was spent so far? Don’t the taxpayers deserve transparency there?

Considering that the ARPA funds were supposed to go to helping communities bounce back from the pandemic, and $1.5 million was given to Project NepWTNE for what was originally a water remediation lab in the Union Fish Building

2-16-23 Finance Committee Agenda PacketDownload

and is now a display in Blasco Library, maybe the taxpayers are owed some transparency there.

Maybe the county executive is confused about what transparency really means. Maybe Santa could bring him a dictionary, but he’d have to be on the nice list for that, and demanding the return of ARPA money isn’t the way to get on that list. Guess he’ll have to get a dictionary from the library. Oh, yeah….right.

For more details, please take a look at these local media links:

ECGRA solicitor: Erie County executive has no authority to unilaterally redirect ARP funds

Diverse Erie rejects Brenton Davis directive to return unspent American Rescue Plan funds

Diverse Erie sues Brenton Davis for withholding funds approved by Erie County Council

Diverse Erie sues Brenton Davis for refusing to release over $1 million in ARP funding

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“Speak the truth. Transparency breeds legitimacy.”

~John C Maxwell

Preaching to the Choir

Recently, there was an article in the Erie Times-News regarding the tax revenue lost to tax-exempt properties: How much do Erie’s tax-exempt properties cost city government in lost revenues? If you’re familiar with our journey so far, you’ll recall that we called this out some time ago: Taxpayer Facts.

To summarize, Gannon is the largest tax-exempt property holder in the City of Erie. They also don’t pay a PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes). However, they do utilize city services such as police, fire, and (the all important at this time of year) snowplowing. UPMC, Allegheny Health Network, Sarah Reed, Methodist Towers, Church of the Covenant, and and the Alcanon Club pay PILOTs. Heck, even the Erie Housing Authority makes a payment in lieu of taxes. It’s interesting to note that since we’ve been looking into this since the beginning of this year, Gannon’s real estate holdings have increased from 51 properties to 99. If their realtor could take on that workload–and additional 48 properties, it would stand to reason that maybe with all those transactions, they could have found a different location for Project NepTWNE that didn’t take 3200 square feet of your Blasco Library.

Something else that’s interesting is that the criteria for non-profit 501c3 for income differs from the criteria for tax-exempt property. If you’d like to go down that rabbit hole: What are the five prongs that nonprofits must meet to earn tax-exempt status?

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“If this nation is to be wise as well as strong, if we are to achieve our destiny, then we need more new ideas for more wise men reading more good books in more public libraries. These libraries should be open to all—except the censor. We must know all the facts and hear all the alternatives and listen to all the criticisms. Let us welcome controversial books and controversial authors. For the Bill of Rights is the guardian of our security as well as our liberty.

~President John F. Kennedy

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

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“‘Maybe Christmas,’ he thought, ‘doesn’t come from a store.’

“‘Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!'”

~Theodor Seuss Geisel

#FlashbackFridaythe13th

Last year at this time–right before Christmas–while there were 8 positions at the Blasco Erie County Library facing elimination because he had vetoed them from the 2024 budget, the county executive updated his profile picture on his reelection Facebook page with himself pictured as “How the Grinch Stole the Library.” This was after the library lease was signed and protests against the lease had started. This seems to show the disdain that the county executive shows for the library, for its employees, and for taxpayers.

Oh, and this is the same campaign (not official) Facebook page that he has told Erie County residents to use for weather updates during the recent snowstorm rather than the Erie County website, because that hasn’t been updated since before the election.

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“The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season!

“Now, please don’t ask why. No one quite knows the reason.

“It could be his head wasn’t screwed on just right.

“It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.

“But I think that the most likely reason of all,

“May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.”

~Theodor Seuss Geisel

Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth

Highlighting another part of this mess of a budget…Apparently the county executive never heard the old saying, “Never look a gift horse in the mouth.” ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds are a gift from the federal government that will need to be returned if they aren’t allocated by the end of the year.

The county executive vetoed the 0.51 mill tax hike for 2025, but he had a 10.9% tax hike for 2024. What’s the difference between 2024 and 2025? His 2025 re-election campaign starting already?
He vetoed increasing the ECGRA-Childhood Initiative of two million five hundred thousand ($2,500,000.00) dollars, yet he had no problem with giving $1.5 million to Gannon University for Project NepTWNE. In his mind, private college students are a higher priority than the smallest and most vulnerable in Erie County. Fortunately, Erie County Council voted to override this veto. Bayle and Schauerman voted against overriding the veto.

County council failed to override the county executive’s vetoes that defund $2.5 million in American Rescue Plan funds to the Diverse Erie Commission, $750,000 in ARP funds to Grow Erie, and $750,000 in ARP funds to affordable housing. Bayle, Schauerman, and Winarski voted against overriding the vetoes, acting in their usual roles as the the county executive’s rubber stamps.

This is yet another example of how the county executive is breaching his fiduciary duty to the taxpayers of Erie County. ARPA money needs to be allocated by the end of the year or returned–use it or lose it. He’s playing political games with ARPA funds, and the taxpayers can’t afford it.

For more information: Erie County Council axes ‘illegal’ Davis budget vetoes. Administration calls foul.

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“Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries.”

~Anne Herbert