Library Director Buthod under fire

This week has been a busy one to say the least. I was pleased to see the Metro Council, primarily Kelly Downard, Hal Heiner, and Jim King finally say enough is enough to the library debacle.

Here is a link to the story: http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008806110899

It was interesting to note that Stuart Benson actually asked the question if Jerry was pressuring Buthod. It was about time someone publicly asked it and kudos to him for doing so.

Buthod has a history of failure in regards to library funding and is evidenced by his time in Seattle when they tried to force a library tax on the people there as well. The following links are for your review:
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19941026&slug=1938104
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19941109&slug=1940704

The Seattle issue was the blueprint for what we are going through now.

It is time for Buthod to go.

On a sidenote, if I may, many of you know there have been instances where I have been critical of Council President Jim King and I believe rightly so. With that being said I also believe in giving credit where credit is due.

Council President King should be given credit for his work with Hal Heiner and others for their efforts on funding libraries and his dedication to finding the money for the Newburg Library is commendable. Though Newburg is his area this is a greatly needed funding initiative that would certainly help the neighborhoods.

To quote Council President King from the C-J:

Paying for operations "is where the rubber meets the road,"

I could not agree more.

I hope these kind of efforts continue to be a sign of things to come. We must start working together on issues and this is a good start.