HomeMy WebLinkAbout1/14/2014 - Board of Library Trustees Public Written Comments(10)January 14, 2014 BLT Agenda Item Comment
Comment on Newport Beach Board of Library Trustees (BLT) special agenda item, submitted by:
Jim Mosher (jimmosher@yahoo.com ), 2210 Private Road, Newport Beach 92660 (949-548-6229)
Item 4(a) Consideration of the appointment of Mr. Tim Hetherton as
Library Services Director
Since it has been scheduled at the same time as a City Council Study Session, I regret that I will
be unable to attend the Special Meeting at which the Board of Library Trustees will, as Chair
Johnson-Tucker has characterized it, be making what is likely to be its most important decision
of the year: namely its approval or disapproval, on behalf of the people of Newport Beach, of
the City Manager’s selection for the next Library Services Director.
I am entirely confident that Acting Director Hetherton will, if approved, make an excellent
permanent Director. However, in the interest of transparency, I hope that the Board, in their
deliberations, can, to the extent they are familiar with it, identify the composition of the
professional panel that made the recommendation to the City Manager, and what the panel’s
recommendation was based on. Also, to the extent the Board knows about the other
candidates that were under consideration, I think it would be helpful for the Board to discuss
what the Board found attractive and wanting in them. If nothing else, such a discussion, placed
in the public record via the Minutes of the BLT, would help to justify the expense of the
recruitment effort.
Thank you for your consideration of this comment. Tim is a valued member of our community
with a deep understanding of the culture of Newport Beach, and I will trust to your judgment.