Recall looms for trustees
By Caitlyn Kelleher Journal Staff Reporter

Polls are open for the Special Election at Ashby Elementary School on Tuesday, Dec. 19 from Noon to 7:30 p.m.

Ashby voters are being asked whether they should close the book on the terms of the town's three library trustees.

At a special election on Tuesday, Dec. 19, voters will be asked to decide whether to support a recall of the trustees Paul McGrail, Lisa Gordan and Matthew Alfond.

The election was called through petition, which cited voters' disagreement with the management of the library personnel and the design and oversight of the library building project.

Voters will decide not only whether to recall the individual trustees, but if the recall succeeds, who to fill the positions.

There are three candidates vying to unseat the incumbents.

Gordon, McGrail and Alfond stand by their decision regarding the building design and about Library Director Marja LePoer's termination.

"I think (the charges) are very misleading and fraudulent," Gordon said. "Everything was done in open meetings. We did nothing behind anyone's back."

Annette Acosta, Barbara Despres and John Steffian are running against the incumbents. The candidates say they are running as a group and even requested they be interviewed together.

"We are running together because we believe in the same things," Despres said.

Steffian added, "We met each other and we discovered we are running for many of the same reasons."

The three don't believe the processes used to design the renovated library or to deal with the termination of LePoer were handled publicly enough.

"The recall is not a cause but a symptom," Steffian said. "The library shouldn't be somebody's fiefdom. Everyone in town has the right to participate in its livelihood."

The three say the workings of the library board of trustees must be made more public through better communication with residents.

"We'd like to have new faces on the Board of Trustees and new ideas on how the band is run," Acosta said.

The trustees' termination of LePoer over the summer became a source of debate when she appealed her termination to the Board of Selectmen. The selectmen ruled that they did not have jurisdiction over the grievance.

"People are very upset by Ms. LePoer's termination," Acosta said. "My experience, anytime I went into the library, was that she was always very helpful."

Despres agrees with Acosta, saying she worked with LePoer both as a patron of the library and, through her how job as librarian with Westminster's Forbush Memorial Library.

Alfond and Gordon said the termination happened after months of poor performance and reviews.

"It was the accumulation of poor performance," Gordon said.

They said the ultimate redesign of the building's exterior was done while keeping in mind the voters' desire to not spend a lot of money.

"Every single meeting of the board is open to anyone to come in and comment," Alfond said.

The trustees say people had many chances to participate in the design process very few did.

"There was very little public input offered," he said. "You can't force people to participate."

Gordon has served on the board since 2003 and she says she's never missed a meeting. She serves as the board secretary.

"I would like to stay on the board because I would like to see the library continue to move forward," Gordon said.

"This is a really strong board," Alfond added. "It's a good group of people. I've started a job and I'd like to see it through."

Steffian said he has experience working within library systems. He spent nine years as a member of the Council of Associate

Members of the Athenaeum in Boston, and worked to help establish a book fund to increase the library's collection, helped organize events and served on board of directors' committees.

"We always had to interface with the staff of the library," he said.

Acosta believes her job working in the quality management area of the health care field will help her bring a new perspective to the board.

She said it's important to have a handle on the local and state regulations for the roles of trustees as well as the suggestions from the Massachusetts Library Board of Commissioners. She said she is not familiar enough with the regulations to say whether the board has stepped beyond its guidelines.

Steffian said trustees must look at the condition of the library's collection, the building, the relationship with the town, the operations and the finances.

"Unfortunately it seems like the condition of the library is something you can only find from the inside," he said.

Despres' is a former member of the Ashby Free Library Board of the Trustees (2000-2002). She left the board because of a number of family issues, which were taking up her time and have now been resolved. She said she now has the time to devote to the board.

Despres has worked for 12 years as the children's librarian at Forbush and at the Boylston Public Library.

Steffian said if he's elected to fill out a trustee term, he will run for re-election when his term is up in the spring.

Both Acosta and Despres are running for terms that expire in 2008.