Letters to the Editor - Time to get something done on Webber Library - Time to get something done on Webber Library

Thank you to Sue Quist for staying on top of the ongoing saga of the new Webber Park Library and keeping the community well informed in the Camden News. I’m extremely disappointed in the Hennepin County Board’s vote to remove funding for the library from the 2012 and 2013 budgets. What used to be a $15 million new library that was to begin construction in 2009 is now a $12 million pipe dream with no start date in site. The money allotted will be worth much less in construction dollars after the five to 10 years that Commissioner Opat is willing to wait for the Holler property according to his quote in the Star Tribune.  All we citizens can do during this standoff is hope that economic issues don’t again force the county to cut funding.

The North Minneapolis that Commissioner Opat was born and raised in, which he uses to rationalize his stance, is not the North Minneapolis I live in now.  When I go down my block I see board-ups, teardowns and tarped roofs.  The one thing I don’t see is boulevard trees. I never imagined that I would need to call 911 so frequently in my life. I echo the thoughts of other Camden residents I have spoken to when I say we are simply looking for a sign of hope, a reason to stay, and will gladly take what Opat describes as a “second best” library if it means construction will begin. I think the North Regional Library on Lowry is a perfect model of what could be done on 44th Ave.

I’m not sure where Commissioners Opat and Stengleins’ staunch unwillingness to compromise has come from. They were more than willing to compromise the North Minneapolis citizens’ right to a vote when it came time for ballpark funding. Expanded library hours cannot be dangled like a consolatory carrot when they were supposed to be one of the benefits to us from the sales tax increase.

I noticed the phrase “world-class” sprinkled throughout Opat’s responses about the library. This is an attractive but distractive phrase with the real definition “of the highest caliber in the world.” If this new library is really to be this worldly, there should be no issues with compromising the rights of two more citizens and moving forward with the eminent domain process. Mr. Opat, you once said, “The people of North Minneapolis don’t ask for much and they don’t get it either.” I’m asking you and Commissioner Stenglein to listen to your constituency and lead. Compromise if you have to; just get the new library done now.

Joseph Mauch

Webber-Camden