Derrick DePledge: Behind the News: 'You would hope people get that bigger picture'

Nov. 26—One of the surprises in the November election was the failure of a levy that pays for operations at the Warrenton Community Library.

Measure 4-215 would have increased the tax rate from 33 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value to 38 cents. The 5-cent increase would have helped improve staffing and programs.

The levy was expected to generate $1.5 million over five years.

While there was no organized opposition to the ballot measure, the close vote — 51% to 49%, 71 votes as of Wednesday — caused some second-guessing about the message.

Did voters focus on the 5-cent increase and not the fact that the levy is the sole funding source for the library? Was the increase too soon after voters approved a jump in the tax rate from 9 cents to 33 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value in 2017?

The answers are critical as the city prepares to go back to voters in the May election to try to extend the levy before it expires in June.

"There's quite a few options. I mean, the worst case would be the library closed, which we do not want to have happen," said City Manager Esther Moberg, the former library director in Seaside. "Obviously, as a previous library director, I want to say not on my watch. But that is up to the community."

In an interview, Moberg and Kelsey Balensifer, the chairwoman of the library board, talked about the importance of the library and the consequences if the levy fails again.

Q: It appears that some voters were not aware that a "no" vote on the levy meant no operations funding for the Warrenton Community Library. If you could do it over, what, if anything, would you have changed about the messaging?

Moberg: We will be bringing it forward on the May ballot. And we are going to make sure the message is very clear regarding that this will keep the library open.

It was a little bit buried in the measure description. It was at the very bottom, in very small letters.

And some of that, I think, was just that transition between one city manager retiring, an interim, and then going to the new. So we will definitely make sure it's a little more concise.

I know, for some people, readability was a little bit of an issue on the measure. They just didn't get the whole context, unfortunately. So that was one piece, we do believe.

Balensifer: We also have to consider that we're unique in Clatsop County in how we fund our library. It's not a line item in the city's budget.

So it's constantly a process of familiarizing people with how the library exists in Warrenton and how it's different from Seaside and Astoria and Cannon Beach, or maybe from other municipalities that people may have lived in elsewhere, as well.

Moberg: Most people see a levy as additional funding and don't realize this library levy truly keeps the library funded.

Q: How important is it for Warrenton to have its own library?

Balensifer: I think it's of the utmost importance.

We do see a lot of people who regularly use the Warrenton library who don't have the ability to go to Astoria or Seaside's library. We have people in our community still who don't have home internet access. So having a place that's free. It's not Starbucks. It's not going to require you to buy a coffee.

Having a place that's free, to be able to access the internet, access those resources that are becoming increasingly more important in our internet-connected world.

In my personal experience volunteering on the weekends, I've had people come in and make copies on the copier of medical documents they needed to send in. I've had people print out hotel reservations. I've had people filling out government forms online.

So it really is a huge resource for our community, and it's a vital one.

Moberg: Internet connectivity is huge for many people. And it's also, for many people, just a lifeline ...

Even during COVID, I heard stories at the library I was at of people literally had two places they went in the community and one was the library. And that was their only social lifeline for two years. They would go to the grocery store, the swimming pool in Seaside and the library.

And I'm assuming it was exactly the same with Warrenton. People were very cautious, so I'm assuming the Warrenton library was the same. It was the one place they went for a little bit of social interaction. They could get their books and movies and things.

But also the collection and the programs are tailored specifically to the Warrenton community. Some people say, well, can I get that in Seaside or Astoria, but that is not tailored to the Warrenton community. The collection has been very carefully curated by the librarians and the programs have been selected based on the community.

Balensifer: We've got some fantastic programs. We've got activities for children, such as story time. We've got STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) activities that kids can come participate in and learn. For teens and youth, we've got the teen advisory board, so the young people can actually have a voice in their library and what kind of programs they want to see offered there.

We've got a game club. The Lego club with the kids has been wildly popular. I personally love going in and seeing the two-weeks' worth of Lego displays in the children's area. The kids are very creative.

And we've still got adult programming, as well. We've started the Library After Dark series, which has been very popular once a month bringing in a local author to talk about their process, how their books have been written, to share about their adventures in writing.

And it's been great to have that outlet, have that community connectivity, in a place in Warrenton, because there really isn't another avenue for that. The community center is open for special events only, pretty much. It's not open on a regular basis. We don't have a movie theater in Warrenton.

So the library really serves as the hub of downtown Warrenton and the community.

Q: The library director, in announcing her departure, was critical of the lack of financial support from the city. Is it time for the city to consider a subsidy for the library in addition to the levy?

Moberg: It's really hard to do that because we have such a fixed income tax rate. And then also how the general fund is set up ...

I can tell you each dollar that's already in there is already pretty stretched fairly thin. So to say, let's just take a big chunk of that and make it the library's, it is a stretch, because we're not increasing exponentially our fixed tax rate ...

I would absolutely love that, if it was possible. But looking at our budget right now, it's a very hard stretch, unfortunately.

Q: When you try again in the May election, are you going to ask for an increase in the levy by 5 cents or another amount?

Balensifer: The library board has not met in person — we only meet quarterly — since Election Day. So our December meeting will be very telling as far as what the board wants to recommend to the City Commission. And, of course, the City Commission can choose to run with that or change that. They're the ultimate deciding authority.

So I think it's a little early in the discussion process to say what the levy rate will be on the May ballot, but we should know more soon.

Moberg: The feedback we have received, though, from the community is that it was a little too soon to increase the rate. That has been a strong message.

I don't think it was about keeping the library open. I think it was about the increase.

Balensifer: We also know that it's a challenge to run a library with three people — with one full-time staff member and two part-time staff members.

So we had the hope that we would be able to increase programming, expand hours, expand staffing, to basically continue offering Warrenton a better and better library, because, you look at the staffing levels of Astoria's library, the staffing levels of Seaside's library, it's significant, that difference.

We're trying to be realistic as far as what the voters will go for and what we need to run a library.

Q: What is the likeliest scenario for the library if the levy fails again in May?

Moberg: There's quite a few options. I mean, the worst case would be the library closed, which we do not want to have happen.

Obviously, as a previous library director, I want to say not on my watch. But that is up to the community.

We could have to very drastically cut back hours and staffing, which, when you're only at three people, to say we have to cut way back, I mean, what are you looking at?

... There's a couple of other options we could look at but, quite frankly, they wouldn't necessarily suit the needs of the community. And to go back to a volunteer-only run community library would be, honestly, very sad, because you've then lost the expertise and experience.

And, quite frankly, the time involved for collection development, for program development, for connecting with the other libraries.

Q: If you could speak individually to skeptical voters, what is your best pitch?

Balensifer: Honestly, come visit the library. Come experience it.

I have been involved in the library board since 2016. I have been a lifelong library supporter and user in the various communities that I have lived. But I think I got a much better picture of how vital the library is just by showing up to volunteer and experiencing the stories of why people are in the library, why they see it as valuable.

Just come for 15 minutes, come for 20 minutes, and interact with other library patrons, get to know the users and why they're using that space. It changes your perspective. It really does. It gives you a deeper, richer view of why the library is so important in this community.

Moberg: For those community members who are not using the library and are just looking at their tax overall, I would hope they would understand a little bit of a bigger picture of what their city does, and also what they are actually supporting.

So, for example, schools only check out two books at a time to a child. To grow a child's vocabulary from zero to 10 years of age, they need access to thousands of books, literally. And so the library is the one place. We have access through our cooperative to over 250,000 books. We're talking millions of dollars worth of books.

If you're pulling that back from your community, you're saying I don't care about the children in my community, I don't care about older people in my community — that this is their lifeline — you're basically saying you don't care about your community as a whole.

So you would hope people get that bigger picture, a sense of, my community with a thriving library in it says volumes about my city and my community, because, often, when a library closes, it says the city and the community is in trouble.