From the responses so far it's clear I need to further clarify. What I believe the president wants is a policy for if I'm gone permanently. She, all on her own, brought the police to the library and suspended me last August. The police chief made sure I left the premises without "making a scene". Then she realized there's no one to do my job. We're very small and I don't have an assistant director. Payroll was the big concern. The personnel committee determined, and the board voted, that I did nothing wrong and should not have been suspended. I was reinstated the day before payday. The president voted no on that, and is trying every day to drum up a reason to fire me. She wants a policy in place when she is finally successful. I have reported to the board I have shown two staff members how to do payroll and created written instructions. I am in the process of updating an existing manual of director responsibilities.
She wants the policy about calling the lawyer because we are spending between $1,000 and $4,000 a month (our annual budget is $350,000) on her constant calls to the lawyers, many to an employment lawyer regarding her efforts to get rid of me. Some board members are understandably upset about that. I think it's possibly illegal for her to spend public funds on efforts to fire the director. It's certainly unethical. So you get the complete picture of this woman, the township that appointed her has officially asked her to resign. She just won't respond. The library board voted to ask her to resign and her response was, I'm not going to and you can't make me. Which they can't. So on she goes, acting unilaterally, with the support of a narrow majority of the board - 3 firmly on her side, 3 firmly against, and 2 wild cards. Today I learned, unofficially and off the record, that she has decided all on her own that four outstanding complaints against me, solicited by her and her partner in crime, won't be dealt with according to our Grievance Policy or by the personnel committee, but by the full board during my evaluation in January. I have finally contacted an attorney. Also, Mardi Link and another reporter at the Traverse City Record-Eagle are very interested in all of this. Sheri McWhirter told me she's never seen anything like it in her 20 years as a reporter. All we need is a murder and it'll be a best seller! Some of you will wonder why I'm still here. One is I have a wonderful staff. This has been a nightmare for all of us, and I worry what will happen to them. I'm too close to retirement and don't want to start over, and love where I live and won't move. And I'm just that stubborn. I am disgusted by hypocrisy, lying, and attacking anyone who dares ask questions. A new Friends president resigned in a matter of weeks because of the personal attacks she endured when she asked questions. She submitted a complaint to the Attorney General but that appears to have gone nowhere. I periodically need to check in to see what normal libraries do in certain situations. Thank you for listening to this strange saga (possibly an upcoming Netflix series!), and for providing the reasonable answers I know exist. Nannette On Tue, Dec 1, 2020, 2:49 PM Nannette Miller <erlib.director@gmail.com> wrote:
Good afternoon.
My board president wants two policies created. One is, "what to do if the director isn't available policy", and the other is "calling the lawyer policy". My thought was the first one would be included in our Emergency/Disaster Policy, and simply refer someone to the Director's manual. That isn't what she wants apparently. Does anyone have any policies covering those issues, if so what do you call them, and are they separate or part of another policy?
Thank you so much. I always get such great information from you all!
Nannette
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Nannette Miller | Director Elk Rapids District Library 231.264.9979 | erlib.director@gmail.com | elkrapidslibrary.org