NORWICH – A crowd of nearly 40 people gathered at Guernsey Memorial Library Thursday night for the first library board meeting to take place since the results of the State Comptroller’s audit was released. With emotions running high, the Norwich City Police Department was asked to stand by in case matters got out of hand.
The audit, released July 31, identified $15,000 in questionable purchases made by Guernsey Director Melanie Battoe between July, 2005 and August, 2007.
The board presented a shortened agenda for the night in order to leave extra time for public comment at the end of the meeting. After appointing a new board member, Angela Levesque, and presenting the monthly report of the newly-formed finance committee, which found nothing questionable in the July bills, Board President Craig Lawson addressed the crowd.
Lawson explained that since the audit had been done, the board has worked to make additional policies and update the many already in place. “We began revisions as soon as the deficiencies were brought to the board’s attention,” Lawson said. Since the audit, the board has appointed a finance committee to review bills before payment; revised the purchasing policy; entered into a legally reviewed and signed contract for computer services with Battoe’s husband and is currently in the process of further revising policies for credit card use, travel, meals and refreshments and petty cash.
“I’m aware there are many questions with regard to the library director,” Lawson said. “Employment status is a confidential matter, and until a decision has been made by the board, we will be unable to answer those questions,” Lawson said.
Community members spoke out for and against Battoe. Richard Fahey, Oxford, explained the many things Battoe had done for him and other library patrons. “Melanie has made the library a more productive place. If she didn’t follow the rules, first ask the question, were these things done to help or hurt the library?” Fahey said.
Other community members weren’t as kind. “Melanie, you seem like an experienced person in all areas of the library and financial life. So why eight years into being the director did you start doing things questionable enough that the state comptroller had to come through and say were doubtful?” said Brendan Burchill.
Battoe responded that she thought the audit was done not because of individual actions, but because the comptroller’s office was systematically going through school districts and got to Guernsey. “I’ve always worked closely with the board and acted with their guidance,” Battoe said. “I’m relieved by their efforts to explore our policies and I’m thankful those things were pointed out in the audit ... Everything I did, I did for Guernsey Library.”
Dr. Joseph Mirabito of Norwich encouraged the crowd to read the full audit from the state office. “You’ve lost the confidence of the community and you have pervasively deprived us of our rights. You’ve also embarrassed us at the state level. It’s clear you didn’t do your job before, and now you’re closing the door after the horse is gone. The audit only looked at two years; she’s been here for eight,” Mirabito said. He explained the library director should have every opportunity to exonerate herself, but he encouraged the board to take some kind of action such as suspension.
“If we do anything with Melanie as the director, we cannot discuss it in an open meeting,” Lawson reiterated.
Another community member questioned the board’s actions as well as Battoe’s. “I’m also on a finance committee and on the board at the YMCA,” said Donna Wood-Craig. “My specific interest is in how your financial report is developed here. We get a report every month and if our executive director had questionable spending, we’d be the first to know.”
“Until the audit, we had no policy to routinely review invoices. It’s a lame excuse, but there never has been a process in place to review invoices on the board,” Lawson said. That policy has since been instituted.
“You can’t just start fresh. If you want to start fresh, get a new director, and we’ll start fresh,” said Sharon Reihl, a library employee.
One community member asked Battoe to explain the things in the audit that looked bad, such as buying groceries and gifts with library money. “I could go through them one at a time. We had employee picnics, and I asked people what they wanted to eat and bought steak for some and hot dogs and hamburgers for others. The employees here don’t make much money. If I can buy them muffins for a staff meeting or steak for an employee picnic, it helps,” Battoe said.
Another community member questioned Battoe’s reasoning. “The few employees I’ve talked to haven’t gone to company picnics or gotten jewelry, but they did have to pay $10 to rent the conference room for their employee Christmas party.”
“The library now is a black cloud in the community. When the library needs money, unless something is done specifically, people who don’t love the library are going to say no. Melanie, I know you love the library. Do you feel that you should resign for the good of the library?” one woman asked.
“I am not going to resign. Guernsey is as important to me as it is to you,” Battoe said.
The board could not comment on Battoe’s employment future, but they plan to discuss the matter in a future executive session. Lawson said policies will continue to be revised as they move foreword and some changes may be made. Board Vice President Kathy Darrah said a lot has been done since the audit. “If you have input, we have open meetings once a month.”
“We can’t go back and correct what we did before. It’s after the fact, but we can make sure the loopholes are filled,” Lawson said.