A Gary library board member was dismissed and has filed a lawsuit to be reinstated
All is not well inside the Gary Public Library Board of Trustees.
A Gary library board member was dismissed and has filed a lawsuit to be reinstated. In connection, the state says the Gary school district’s Advisory Board violated Indiana’s Open Door Laws.
It all began, says Robert Buggs, when he brought in a videographer to record board meetings. Buggs is a member on the Gary Public Library Board of Trustees and is the president of the Gary Community School Corporation Advisory Board.
After the state takeover of Gary schools in 2017, the Gary Board of School Trustees transitioned to an Advisory Board with no responsibilities. But it could continue to name 3 appointments to the seven-member GPL Board. The board can fill vacancies, select officers, and make appointments to the library board; and present awards, recognition, and certificates to employees or supporters of the school corporation.
The Advisory Board is permitted to meet 4 times a year or every 3 months. GPL Board meetings are held monthly, on the 4th Monday.
Buggs said he hired the videographer for a school board and a library board meeting, both in December. “I don’t know how to video. I paid to have the video done so I could take it to be shown on Gary’s public access channel.”
The lawsuit was filed by Atty. Jewell Harris, Jr., representing Jacquese White, vice president of the GPL Board. White claims Buggs and 3 Advisory Board members acted wrongly when they met on January 27th and voted to removed her from the library board. White received a letter from the Advisory Board, dated February 1, that she was no longer a library board member.
White was appointed to the GPL Board by the school Advisory Board in July 2021.
Buggs said he called the Advisory Board meeting because of complaints the videographer had filed against vice president White. “After the GPL Board meeting on December 19th, the videographer called me at home. She was upset at White’s questioning and comments to her. She felt she was being harassed.”
“The videographer filed a report with the Gary Police and with the Lake County Prosecutor. According to the law, since we received two written complaints and a copy of the police report, we could withdraw our appointment,” Buggs said.
White claims the Advisory Board meeting was held illegally because the board can only meet every three months. According to the summons for Buggs, Mary Ann Canty-Reedus, Lovetta Tindal, and Amelia Brown, “The last official meeting of the Advisory Board was held on December 13, 2022. The Advisory Board cannot meet before March 13, 2023.”
Atty. Harris is asking the court to void the actions of the January 27th meeting and the February 1 letter; and reinstate White to the library board. Atty. Harris also asks for a Temporary Restraining Order preventing the defendants from removing White from the library board until they comply with the meeting requirements of the school Advisory Board.
The lawsuit includes an opinion from the Indiana Public Access Counselor that the Advisory Board violated the state’s Open Door Laws when it appointed two members to the school district Advisory Board in December. Those two members were among the Advisory Board members who voted to remove White.
The next GPL Board meeting is Monday, February 27 at 5 p.m.
