Turning out in record numbers, residents voted Tuesday by a more than two-to-one margin to reject a 20.8 million referendum to expand and renovate the Main Branch of the Great Neck Library.
More than 4,200 voters turned out Tuesday with 2,924 voting against the bond and 1,286 voting in favor.
“Obviously we’re disappointed, and thought we had a good plan for the community, but clearly the community does not want this plan and we have to regroup and see what we want to do next,” Great Neck Library Director Jane Marino said Wednesday. “The board will have to learn from that and make a decision on what to do next. I think the economy has a lot to do with it. A lot of people thought it was unnecessary and I think that the board has to listen to that message in their deliberation of what to do next.”
Great Neck Library Board President Janet Esagoff said in a statement following the vote that the board was “disappointed” with the results, but their goal of renovating the Main Library remains constant and blamed misinformation for one of the reasons of the defeat.
“Perhaps the library did not do as good a job as it could have in making its position clear to the public,” Esagoff said. “Staunch opponents to the building plan criticized the board’s every move, including our decision to hire a public relations firm at a relatively nominal cost given the scope of the project.
Esagoff said regardless of the outcome “Renovation, at the very least, remains essential and the library board will make it its main goal to present a new or revised plan to the public for its consideration.”
“This 40-year-old building must be restored and the Library Board will meet as soon as possible to discuss the options open to them given the results of the vote,” she said.
She added that to renovate the library “Monies will have to be borrowed, and a future referendum is likely.”
Leaders of the Great Neck Library Watchdog group, a group comprised of former library trustees and residents who opposed the referendum, said they believed the vote was a win for the taxpayers of Great Neck.
“We’re obviously exhilarated the taxpayers made a resounding statement that they don’t want to pay unlimited taxes when there is a limit,” said Norman Rutta, a leader of the Great Neck Library Watchdog Group. “I’m hoping the board will hear this message and come back with a plan that is not so exorbitant. I’m certainly glad the community spoke, and no one can say that one group made a difference. Many groups from all parts of the community came together and said they don’t want higher taxes.
“I’d like to see this board take the opportunity to do what the community wants,” Rutta added.
If the bond was approved, the Main Branch would have been closed for up to two years in a renovation and expansion what would have added 8,600-square feet to the Bayview Avenue facility and made the building accessible to patrons with disabilities. The construction would have also done away with the mezzanine, made the library ADA compliant, isolate computers, and expand the children’s room, teen center, and audiovisual department.
Proponents for the project such as Steven Markowitz, a member of the Committee for a 21st Century Great Neck Library, said he believed the economy had a lot to do with people’s decision making.
“I am surprised and disappointed at the results,” Markowitz said. “I thought the residents of Great Neck would better understand why this project was so important to the future of our community. But, apparently after speaking to a lot of voters, the concerns of whether this is the right time to be spending money the issue is people are feeling insecure about the community and the value of their homes. They were just uneasy on spending money on a capital project.”
Markowitz said he is still convinced that the renovation and expansion of the library makes a lot of sense and “importantly” says a lot about what kind of community they want to be.
Library officials said the renovation and expansion of the Main Branch would have cost about $80 per year for a house assessed at $1 million.
A plan rejected by trustees, which was known as Option A, would have renovated the Main Branch without an expansion. It was estimated to cost $15 million, which would cost an additional $50 per year on a house assessed at $1 million.
Library officials said the Main Branch, which was built in the late 1960s, is out of date and in poor repair and would extensive work regardless of referendum’s outcome.
Criticism of the referendum before the vote centered around the 8,600 square foot addition, with an ad by Watchdog members saying construction would turn Udall’s Pond into a “muddy construction site;” that the bond, which authorizes up to 5.74 percent interest, is a junk bond rate; and Great Neck deserves a board that “can plan and execute,” not one that is “inept, inefficient, and inexperienced.”
The Committee for a 21st Century Library members, acknowledged criticism of the board but said the vote was not about the effectiveness of trustees but fixing the building. They said the expansion was a “moderate” increase in size, and a yes vote would have reaffirmed the community’s commitment to maintaining “the highest quality public institutions.”
In the weeks before the election, questions were raised when Esagoff’s 19-year-old son, Sam, was arrested with six other students or former students of Great Neck North High School in connection with an alleged SAT cheating scandal. One library board member, who asked not to identified, called for Esagoff’s resignation following the arrest but was rejected. Both supporters and opponents of the referendum maintained that the arrest would have no bearing on the outcome of the referendum.
Marino said prior to the referendum that if defeated trustees could put out the exact same referendum, which could take at least 60 days, put out an amended referendum, or choose some other option.
In her statement following the referendum’s defeat, Esagoff said “There are many items in our Main Library we must fix and need our urgent attention. Renovation, at the very least, remains essential and the Library Board will make it its main goal to present a new or revised plan to the public for its consideration.”
Residents north of the LIRR station in Great Neck voted at Baker Elementary School and Residents south of LIRR voted at Great Neck South High School. But there was little in the voting outcome between the two. Residents north of the LIRR, in District 1, voted 855 yes to 1,855 no. Residents south of the LIRR, in District 2, voted 431 yes to 1,069 no.
Eligible to vote were all residents of Great Neck except a small part of eastern Great Neck around Northern Boulevard that is part of the Manhasset Union Free School District, and residents of parts of unincorporated New Hyde Park and Manhasset Hills.
