The same three who short-circuited the library's proposed expansion support a reduced library budget at workshop.

NARRAGANSETT — The library budget was cut in half at a Town Council work session Thursday by the same majority that had voted to scrap plans for a long-anticipated library expansion and sell the building acquired for that purpose.

A video linked from the Narragansett Town Council Forum Facebook page shows the backs of people in the audience, with the only faces visible those of Council President Matthew Mannix and Councilman Patrick Murray. The six-minute segment, however, captured the full audio.

In it, Murray and Councilman Jesse Pugh argue in vain against cutting the $841,000 library allocation to $400,000, saying that the library will lose a state allocation of $181,000 if the council doesn't at least level-fund the library.

Periods of talking out of turn and name-calling ensue, until Mannix calls on President Pro Tem Jill Lawler, who says she agrees with Councilman Richard Lema that any department operating with a surplus, "a very high surplus ... that money should be used to operate the library."

She adds, however, that the library's insurance costs had gone up, so "we should add additional money to provide insurance."

Murray argues that under the state Maintenance of Effort Law, the library will lose $181,000 if the town doesn't allocate the $840,000 it budgeted for the library last year. Mannix, a lawyer, said his reading of the state law does not lead to that conclusion, ignoring Murray's suggestion that they not cut library funding until the council's solicitor interprets the law.

Mannix notes that three members support the cut and two oppose it, so the library allocation was set at $400,000.

Mannix, Lawler and Lema are the three who voted to sell the former Belmont supermarket, once an IGA, in the Pier Marketplace. The town, under a different council, had bought it in October to house the Maury Loontjens Memorial Library, which has outgrown its building and doesn't comply with federal rules to accommodate people with disabilities.

In the video, Mannix mentions a library surplus of $686,000 "that's just sitting there" and says, in answer to challenges by Murray and Pugh and members of the audience: "We're going to sell the building. It's a bad purchase. We're trying to stop the bleeding."

Thursday's workshop dissolved into an uproar, with "you should resign" and "liar, liar" discernible in the din before Mannix regained control and continued to the next item.

Mary Ann Grintchenko, president of The Friends of Narragansett Library, used the council forum Facebook page to announce a May 6 protest march to the next regular council meeting. Marchers will gather at the library at 6:30 p.m. "Bring your Voices and flashlights," the post said.

Grintchenko began the post with her reaction to the budget cut, saying, "I thought the selling of the Belmont Building was a nightmare but this proposed budget is devastating! It will cripple our library!"

On April 1, independent of the Town Council, the library board of trustees voted to request bids from architect/engineering companies for the proposed expansion into the Belmont property. The request for proposals was sought because potential private donors wanted a detailed cost analysis.

-- This his report was first posted at 11:20 p.m. Sunday and updated at 7:58 a.m. Monday.

— dnaylor@providencejournal.com

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